Stage: Cheeky deities

Return of the Godz
by Head First Acrobats
performers Callan Harris, Liam Dummer, Thomas Gorham, AJ Saltalamacchia, Mat Piva
costumes Chelsea Angell, Bryn Meredith
Peacock Theatre, London • 10-20.Jun.26 ★★★★

Australia's Head First Acrobats brings an updated version of their audience-favourite show back to Peacock. And the five performers are having so much fun that they infect the audience with their cheeky charm. These men are seriously gifted at feats of strength and balance, but they're also relentlessly silly, sexy and a lot of fun.

A loose story establishes them as the family of Zeus, who in voiceover insists that they behave. But they enjoy playing far too much, led by the charismatic Hercules (Callan Harris) and egged on by Cupid (Liam Dummer), Apollo (Thomas Gorham), Dionysus (AJ Saltalamacchia) and Hermes (Mat Piva). They kick things off with a series of remarkably slow, controlled movements with impressive hand and head stands that are peppered with amusing moments.

Indeed, witty touches are everywhere, including continual asides to the audience in the form of poses and grins. Their personalities spark on-stage, creating strong characters that add a kick to their physical prowess. There's ladder balancing, flaming batons, knife throwing, a tower of chairs, flips and tumbles, extreme aerial work and some outrageous juggling. In between is plenty of goofy schtick, including a bit of audience participation and some flashy choreography. 

Just after the interval, they get up to a series of outrageous manoeuvres completely naked. The challenge is to protect their dignity while striking Greek statue poses, with plenty of distractions from their colleagues. So while the narrative spirals wildly out of control, there's a nonstop series of entertaining acrobatics that often take the breath away with sheer skill and audacity.

Thankfully, the stag remains relatively simple, with accompanying snappy pop tunes from Need You Tonight to Filthy Gorgeous. The resulting atmosphere echoes a freewheeling circus, offering moments that feel improvised as these guys continually poke fun at each other. This also allows the focus to remain balanced between their impressive physicality and their sparky flirtation. 

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Beck Stone, Jacinta Oaten • 10.Jun.26

Stage: A screaming good time

Ghost Stories
by Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman
directors Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman, Sean Holmes
with Jonathan Guy Lewis, David Cardy, Preston Nyman, Clive Mantle, Lloyd McDonagh, Simon Bass, Harry Rundle
sets/costumes Jon Bausor • lighting James Farncombe
sound Nick Manning • effects Scott Penrose
Peacock Theatre, London • 30.Sep-8.Nov.25 ★★★

After its 15th anniversary tour, this acclaimed show returns for another run in London, at long last giving me the chance to catch up with it. It's marketed as the most terrifying theatre experience ever, but perhaps I watch too many movies, so I need more than well-executed jump scares. So while everything about this production has been expertly designed to freak out the audience with lots of atmospheric nastiness, it's actually more funny than frightening. And the way it plays with the premise is very entertaining.

It's ingeniously framed as a sort of Ted talk by Professor Goodman (Lewis), who uses slides to trace how tales of hauntings have been passed down throughout human history, leading to our current viral social media age. It also quickly becomes apparent that he's hiding something about his own experience with the supernatural. Along the way, he highlights three stories of men he has interviewed about their encounters with spirits. These are enacted on stage one by one, and they ultimately draw the professor right into the mayhem.

First is Tony (Cardy), a night watchman whose comatose daughter feeds into something he sees in the dark. Then student Simon (Nyman) is driving home after a party when he has a nerve-jangling encounter in the countryside. And finally workaholic businessman Mike (Mantle) is juggling his constantly pinging phone with his expectant wife's fear of their new nursery when he witnesses some inexplicable goings on. Then all of this comes circling back around the professor in a whizzy final sequence packed with superb visual flourishes that keep us on edge. The cast is superb, especially the wonderfully offhanded Lewis.

The stage design majors in inky blackness, so pretty much the only things visible are illuminated in spotlights. This makes some of the effects sequences a bit difficult to see, but they still send chills up the spine, simply because they're so well-timed to catch us off guard or cleverly misdirect us from other magical trickery. The soundscape is also key, rumbling with increasing intensity until it peaks with a nutty vocal phrase or full-on aural explosion. So it's difficult not to jump in our seats, even if the suspense has been constructed with expert stagecraft, rather than character detail. That said, the show's most inventive point is that we know ghost stories are fake, but we're still frightened because, just maybe, it's true after all.

Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman

For details, GHOST STORIES >

photos by Hugo Glendinning • 7.Oct.25

Dance: Perfect synchronicity

Murmuration: Level 2
by Sadeck Berrabah
music TRex
featuring Berrabah alongside 30 uncredited performers
costume, lighting and stage designers are also uncredited
Peacock Theatre, London • 10-20.Sep.25 ★★★★

After a sold-out tour through France, dancer-choreographer Sadeck Berrabah stages the UK premiere of the second version of his acclaimed Murmuration, named after the way birds flock together, creating shapes in perfect sync. It's a mesmerising show that mixes a range of movement, from ballet to hip hop, also inckluding elements of mime and martial arts. And it's set to a carefully curated mix of smooth music and eye-catching lighting.

The performers' precision is astonishing, as they never miss a beat. Much of the show consists of them arranged as a choir, creating rippling shapes with their arm, as well as some colourfully reflective props. And there are several more varied scenes featuring solos, duets or groups moving around the stage. Berrabah often appears as their conductor, injecting personality into the show. Dressed in baggy black costumes, the dancers mainly maintain neutral facial expressions. Then when the energy kicks up, they flash the occasional smile.

Energy is an issue with this show, because the sleepy muzak-like compositions and repetitive movements have a hypnotic quality that weighs heavily on the eyelids. Inventive lighting effects help spice things up, especially with some rich colour washes and a thrilling use of UV. Several segments also bring stronger beats both in the music and movement, as these hugely gifted and disciplined performers remain stunningly connected to each other. There are also brief moments in which a moment of spontaneous joy bursts out among them.

It all wraps up in a terrific one-two punch, as the good-natured Berrabah takes the stage to teach the audience an extended bit of choreo. This leads into a finale that is a real heart-stopper, as clever props and costume changes create magical effects along with a final text message spelled out beautifully with the cast's armography. This show is thoroughly entrancing. But perhaps for Level 3, Berrabah could encourage some improvisational spark to more effectively reveal the individuals who make up this exactingly singular company. 

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Fabien Malot • 10.Sep.25

Stage: Crowd-pleasing precision

Drum Tao: The Dream
director Ikuo Fujitaka
performers Taro Harasaki, Junnosuke Kodani, Haruki Kawazu, Kyota Sonoda, Koki Sato, Haruto Mizuno, Takumi Azami, Ryusei Ishida, Daiki Sakai, Shima Sasaki, Ai Anekawa
lighting Ryo Harada • sound Kenichi Horiuchi
Peacock Theatre, London • 11-15.Mar.25 ★★★★

Drum Tao has been touring the world for more than 30 years, only just now finally arriving in London. And it's worth the wait. Their show is a hugely entertaining mix of taiko drumming, dancing and music, performed with a blast of personality as these 11 young performers infuse their athleticism and precision with cheeky wit. Since they're having so much fun, so are we. And they definitely know how to play to the audience, which makes it feel like they bring us up onto the stage with them.

The staging is relatively simple, making the most of spinning shiny backdrops, Matrix-like outfits and clever lighting. There is also of course a dizzying array of drums, accompanied by various flutes, stringed instruments and cymbals. Performers continually switch between the instruments, taking the stage for solo pieces, duets, duels and outrageously lavish numbers in which everyone joins together to create ripples of textures, rhythms, sounds and visual shapes. The patterns are complex, and the thrilling musical synchronicity is both exacting and carefully nuanced.

Movement is demanding and constant, with high-energy choreography that involves acrobatic gymnastics and displays of strength. So it's no wonder that they're all so lean and muscled, and they never break a sweat even though they're constantly in motion. The two women in the troupe get frequent costume changes, which provide some lovely colourful touches, one of the men has a beefy shirtless number, and a group of guys perform an ab-crushing piece that involves remaining in a half sit-up while gripping drums with their toes and pounding on them with huge sticks. These kinds of variations make sure that the show never feels repetitive over two hours.

They also happily play up their personalities, smiling and grandstanding to create impact as individuals within the group. And watching them live allows us to hear some of the more subtle tones in isolation, as they use a full range of methods to create seemingly endless sounds with one stick on one drum. All of this results in a show that's almost overpoweringly upbeat, both because of the nature of the music and the way the sparky performers maintain a connection with the audience. These are astonishingly skilled musicians and dancers. And at a time when we need as much happiness as we can get, their joy is infectious.

For info, SADLER'S WELLS> 

photos by Drum Tao • 11.Mar.25

Stage: Rhythms from rubbish

Trash!
direction Yllana • music Toompak
with Gorka González, Fran Mark, Bruno Alves, Harold Gazeau
artistic direction David Ottone, Jony Elías, Gorka González
choreography María Rayo
set and costumes Tatiana de Sarabia
sound Nacho Ramírez • lighting Lola Barroso
Peacock Theatre, London • 18.Feb-1.Mar.25 ★★★★

From Spain, theatre company Yllana and percussion artists Toompack combine forces for this explosion of rhythm and rubbish. As with Stomp or Tapdogs, this show is a series of numbers performed using unconventional methods, in this case seemingly random items in a recycling centre where four outrageously talented men create an explosion of music and comedy. It's a hugely entertaining show, largely because the buoyantly energetic performers are having so much fun that the atmosphere becomes electric.

We meet these guys when they're in giant black bin liners, tapping out beats in the plastic before emerging to continue drumming on barrels. Because it's so enjoyable, it's easy to underestimate the talent we are witnessing, as they play with complex synchronicity and syncopation to craft layered textures of sound with whatever it is they have to hand. This includes tyres, toolboxes, umbrellas, basketballs, gas canisters and a vast number of plastic bottles. Of course, all of this is impeccably planned out and choreographed, but there's still a wonderful sense of chaos about it, most notably in the performers' comical interaction.

Along the way, each one gets a chance to stamp his personality on the proceedings, with witty gags, hilariously rebellious moments and bursts of song. They also speak to each other and the audience in Minions-style gibberish, which makes all four of them almost ridiculously endearing. This draws us in even further than the toe-tapping range of musical numbers, most of which feature genuinely jaw-dropping moments in which these guys demonstrate their expertise. And each one has serious skills.

It's impossible to pick a favourite moment, as the impressive musicality and goofy jokes keep the adults in the audience gripped and the kids giggling. With his rumbling voice and lightning-fast hands, Gorka González is clearly the leader, while Bruno Alves steals the show with cheeky bursts of anarchy and soaring musical riffs. Harold Gazeau has more energy than he can contain. And Frank Mark's marimba-style piece using bottles and a shopping trolly is a stunner. Then after some amusing audience participation and several call-and-response sequences, a flurry of sparks creates a triumphant climax.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Illana and Toompack: Trash! • 19.Feb.25 

Dance: Run, stop, fall, rise

Stories
by Romain Rachline Borgeaud
with Paul Redier, Angel Cubero, Lisa Delolme, Sandra Pericou, Geoffrey Goutorbe, Deborah Lotti, Antoine Nya, Aaron Colston Avella Hiles, Camille Lambese, Malory Hyvelin
sets Federica Mugnai • lighting Alex Hardellet
costumes Margaux Ponsard & Janie Loriault
Peacock Theatre, London • 23.Oct-2.Nov.24 ★★★★

After a sold-out tour of Europe, France's Got Talent finalists RB Dance Company present the UK premiere of their thumping show in London. A refreshingly new take on tap dance from writer-director-composer-choreographer Romain Rachline Borgeaud, this a loose take on the Icarus myth is packed with show-stopping numbers and breathtaking stagecraft. The plot may be a bit blurry, and the group numbers may sometimes feel repetitious, but this is a thrilling night at the theatre.

Set in a pastiche of Prohibition-era America, the show centres on a rising-star actor (Redier) who is pursued by both fans and the tabloids. But he is struggling to control his own destiny in the face of a movie director (Cubero) who calls the shots both on the set and in his private life. This leads to a fierce confrontation and a swirling nighttime odyssey into the city's streets, alleyways, hotels and speakeasies. Along the way he contends with a fiery femme fatale, an angry club owner and violent goons. But it's the director who guides his actions.

All of this plays out with enormous energy, as the company performs elaborate, pulsating tap numbers with staggering precision to a catchy collection of rhythmically growling songs. Even the sets themselves are in sync, moving and transforming accompanied by inventive lighting flourishes and visual trickery that add to both the narrative and the mood. The tone is robust and very masculine, even if half of the dancers are women, because the choreography demands strength and intensity. And along the way, there are several heart-stopping moments, including a couple of dives from dizzy heights.

Even more impressive is how the story generates a powerful emotional connection, allowing us to experience big feelings along with this tenacious young man. The story is very dark, sometimes downright grim, but it continually erupts in wildly energetic colour and movement that reflects the need for release and expression. Sequences around a gambling table, in lively bars or a bustling hotel lobby are remarkably vibrant. And in the end we're left almost as out of breath as the seriously gifted performers.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Aline Gérard • 23.Oct.24

Dance: Lighten up

Chicos Mambo
Tutu
choreography Philippe Lafeuille
with Marc Behra, David Guasgua, Julien Mercier, Kamil Pawel Jasinski, Vincent Simon, Vincenzo Veneruso, Corinne Barbara
costumes Corinne Petitpierre • lighting Dominique Mabileau
Peacock Theatre, London • 1-5.Oct.24 ★★★

Barcelona-based Chicos Mambo brings their playful show Tutu to London, and it's a real crowd-pleaser, peppering a range of dance pieces with cheeky humour and lively slapstick. And it continually finds clever ways to invert masculine cliches and gender issues, continually poking fun at social structures. For dance fans, it might be a bit frustrating that they can't get through a single number without some shameless clowning. But it's beautifully designed for a family audience, naughty enough to get children giggling and impressive enough for adults. It also has some very strong points to make, which are impossible to miss.

Many sections in this show are pure pastiche, such as the Swan Lake segment in which the dancers prance around in furry duckling outfits, or goofy takes on both Strictly Come Dancing and Dirty Dancing. There are also random gags, such as a perplexing hair-ography piece later on in which whey march around in long dresses flinging their wigs around. Most of this is very funny, stirring a wide range of music, dance and humour together in an entertaining way. And much of it is aimed at children, including some big circus-style touches and a segment featuring fluffy nappies.

Through all of this these six boys (plus one woman) play on their diversity, with differing ages, ethnicities and body types, while injecting moments of big personality. Each also gets his one stripped-back solo. Their dialog often sounds like hilarious Minions-style gibberish. But under the silliness, these are serious dancers, displaying both lyrical fluidity and feats of physical strength. Much of the movement is classical ballet, often impressively en pointe, although poses are exaggerated, faces are pulled and hand gestures continually puncture the tone. But several moments have a stronger impact in between the gags, such as a muscly solo in which the dancer doesn't move his feet.

Colourful lighting and costume tricks add to the visual impact, with characters clad in black assisting with some epic lifts, while a shimmering tutu floats through the show until Barbara reveals herself in the curtain call, which turns into a lively call-and-response dance class with choreographer Lafeuille. In the final act, a deeper theme emerges to comment on how it feels to be a male dancer in a world of machismo. The point is sharp, and quickly expressed before moving on. But watching these muscly men in tiny tutus expressing pure joy for 100 minutes or so is wonderfully infectious. And it's a terrific reminder of the importance of artistic expression, freestyle playfulness and staying in touch with your body.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Michael Cavalca • 5.Oct.24

Stage: Queens of the night

The Opera Locos
created and directed by Yllana
with María Rey-Joly, Mayca Teba, Jesús Álvarez, Enrique Sánchez-Ramos, Michaël Koné
music Marc Álvarez, Manuel Coves
choreography Carlos Chamorro
sets Tatiana De Sarabia, David Ottone, Yeray González
lighting Enrique Toro • costumes Tatiana de Sarabia
Peacock Theatre, London • 8-11.May.24 ★★★★

A spicy blend of music, clowning, melodrama, mime and slapstick, this show centres around a series of proper operatic performances, delivering a greatest hits of popular pieces that pretty much anyone will recognise (such as O Sole Mio or Nessun Dorma), plus several lesser-known numbers and a few snippets of pop songs. There might be too much opera here for mainstream audiences, and it might be a bit broad for purists, but everyone will have a great time with these talented singer-comics.

The five performers from the Spanish theatre troupe Yllana play out three interwoven romances as they move from one sketch to the next, vocalising their dialog without using words and performing arias at full belt. The introductory piece highlights each of their colourful personalities before dissolving into a hilarious competition between Jesus Alvarez and Michael Kone, who ultimately dissolves into a full rock-god style performance of Mika's Grace Kelly. There are no more pop intrusions until the big finale, unless you count Alvarez's darkly amusing version of My Way. Instead, scenes feature seriously powerful renditions of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet and more as the performers playfully enact their running plot threads.

The central plot is a straightforward backstage love story between a tenor (Alvarez), who feels beyond his heyday and is having suicidal thoughts, and an ardent fan who becomes a rising star soprano (Rey-Joly). Meanwhile, the baritone (Sanchez-Ramos) is trying to get the counter-tenor (Kone) to take the music more seriously, and it takes awhile for their flirtation to blossom into something sweet. Finally, the mezzo-soprano (Teba) cheekily courts a partner in the audience. All of this takes place vaudeville-style on a fairly simple steampunk stage augmented by rich-hued lighting and fantastically camp costumes and hair.

Yes, there's quite a bit of audience participation, from stand-up style comedy bits to Sanchez-Ramos' operatic masterclass, in which he gets puts various attendees on the spot. There are also a couple of enthusiastic sing-alongs as well. All of this is a lot of fun, with a continual stream of witty gags to keep us chuckling. And the songs are performed with big emotions, so they're hugely involving. But the troupe misses a trick by leaving nuance and surprise from the storylines, and they only rarely play around with the intriguing connections between musical genres. 

As a result, the medley of pop hits at the end feels triumphant, a reminder of what a serious singer can do with any song.Scattering more of this clever juxtaposition throughout the show would have deepened the experience, but there's plenty of passion among these adept performers, and their camaraderie is infectious. So even if, at just over 90 minutes, the show feels somewhat slight, it's a lot of fun. And the sparky cast gets us on our feet cheering at the end.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Lighuen De Santos • 8.May.24

Stage: Be more Myra

Myra DuBois: Be Well
with Gareth Joyner, Lucy Frederick
Peacock Theatre • 13-16.Sep.23

Now on a national tour, the fabulous drag queen Myra DuBois makes a triumphant return to the West End with her new show, which takes on mindfulness and mental health in meaningful ways while also remaining resolutely ridiculous. Performers Gareth Joyner and Lucy Frederick are deeply dedicated to these characters, and rightly have a fiercely loyal fan base.

Frank Lavender is back as Myra's brother-in-law and opening act. An old school comic with dated material that's flatly offensive, Frank skates very closely to the edge but survives as a character who cleverly blurs the lines. So the humour comes from the delivery rather than the groan-worthy punchlines. And the audience involvement is hilarious because of how Frank plays it, making fun of himself at every step. All while his wife Rose, Myra's estranged twin sister, continually steals the show with her good-natured energy and the way she punctures Frank's ego at every turn.

After the interval, Myra takes the stage announcing her retirement from show business. Instead, she is going to lead the audience in a healing session. She has brought two leopard-print chairs and her tiger-print bar from home, and has a one-step process to share with us. She also sets out to find people with particular need in the audience, sensing their conditions and bringing them to the stage where she blithely continues her raucously funny chatter while insulting their clothing and mercilessly picking on hecklers.

Myra's syruppy tone amusingly conceals her bitterly nasty comments and expert double entendre, and she reels off one-liners so quickly that we can't catch them all. Her improvised comebacks are razor sharp, so fast that they elicit huge laughter. And while she's as self-deprecating as ever, she also knows that she has something special, so indulges in rather a lot of hilarious diva behaviour, happily pouring cocktails for herself while ignoring the guests seated on-stage.

All of this flows into a larger narrative, which she calls "abstract", looking at how Rose has betrayed Myra by publishing a tell-all autobiography. (Rose turns up to read excerpts.) And Myra has also been failed by her mother and her guru. Indeed, even as she is offering healing to others, she needs care herself. And maybe the answer is inside her. It's a delightfully simple gimmick that is so thoroughly winning that we'd happy follow Myra anywhere.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >    

13.Sep.23

Stage: Dance around India

Beyond Bollywood
writer, director, choreographer Rajeev Goswami
with Alessandra Whelan, Sahil Mayenkar, Pooja Pant, Goral Joshi, Sudeep Modak, Soham Josh
music Salim and Sulaiman Merchant
lyrics Irfan Siddiqui
costumes Prajakta Gore
Peacock Theatre, London • 24.Aug-3.Sep.22

Setting out to explore the various dance traditions in India, this high-energy stage show is colourful and often beautifully performed. And with its 600th performance now under its belt, it's the company's cheerful and soulful talent that sustains what sometimes feels like a slightly undercooked show. When it focusses on either sheer spectacle or ancient traditions, the show is at its best, offering both riveting entertainment and some lively schooling in India's artistic gifts to the world.

Numbers are linked by a narrative about Shaily (Whelan), a young dancer who has grown up in Germany. Her late mother Jaswinder (Pant) drew huge audiences at an Indian dance theatre in Munich, and as Shaily takes over the show she struggles to understand her heritage. So she travels to India with her friend Emma (Joshi), where she meets sparky choreographer Raghav (Mayenker) and his goofy assistant Ballu (Modak). Together, these four adept hoofers travel around the country, learning a range of steps including kathak, lezim, bihu, garba and kalbelia.

Bollywood is a combination of these and other traditions, including more modern dance, deployed to tell emotional stories. So the show merrily mixes styles together in elaborate set-pieces, complete with often jaw-droppingly beautiful costumes. While some of the more modern numbers have a flashy charm (including a purely random Kinky Boots-esque burst of It's Raining Men), it's the traditional steps that catch the attention. And while the plot centres on the movie-style romance between Shaily and Raghav, the true star of the show is Pant, whose performances as Jaswinder are show-stopping.

Scattered between the dance numbers are little scenes with the characters, ranging from broadly silly slapstick to yearning melodrama. A team of first-rate dancers surrounds the lead figures all the way through the show, providing lots of spark and an almost blinding number of sequins. Their physicality is expressed joyfully, complete with some lively audience interaction. And the main characters dive in amongst them with even shinier costumes and full-on bravado. In the second act, there's even a gorgeously performed aerial interlude.

It's unsurprising that the show as a whole is uneven, partly because the stage set consists only of giant video screens with often dodgy digital backgrounds. This makes most of the more modern-tinged numbers feel thin, even if they're thumping along to a great track like Jai Ho. By contrast, the folkloric pieces are much more mesmerising, combining intricate movements that carry the weight of centuries of meaning. And there are enough of these to tilt the show's overall balance in the right direction.

For information, visit SADLER'S WELLS >

photos courtesy Sadler's Wells • 24.Aug.22