Chatterbox - still talking nonsense

This was an intense hour and 45 minutes.  It's based on Genet’s play about two maids conspiring against their overbearing, self obsessed and unpleasant mistress, who in this iteration is some kind of online lifestyle influencer.  This turns into a fast and furious critique about celebrity culture, social media and online influencing whilst mostly keeping hold of the original plot.  Visually stunning, this makes one of the best and most innovative use of screens I have seen, with live streaming from iPhones into the massive mirror/screens that fill the back of the stage.  The use of filters and personas is inspired, and helps with the sense that reality and fantasy are getting more and more blurred.  The maids don't just try on her clothes, but also her online persona.   The three person cast (Phia Saban, Lydia Wilson, and Yerin Ha), are all fabulously on point with this, although it is sometimes hard to focus on them, given the amount also going on on ...

Down Cemetary Road - Based on a novel by Mick Herron, the man responsible for Slow Horses, I am only two episodes in but it has a great cast, and it's fast moving and lots of fun.  It’s a slightly odd mix of thriller and comedy in a way which actually isn't very different from Slow Horses, but some of the characterisation is a bit too broad, so it sometimes feels a bit clashy with some actors thinking they are in a comedy, others in a dark thriller.  Of course, it can be both, but it isn't quite as subtle as Slow Horses.  Despite some tiny reservations the dialogue is pretty snappy and I am enjoying Emma Thompson as the stylish equivalent of Jackson Lamb.  It’s being released one episode at a time so let’s see how it develops. ( Series, streaming on AppleTV+) Film Club - Romcom vibes, but with the rom being more of a tease rather than any action, this is a well put together family comedy drama written by and starring Aimee Lou Wood as a young woman who holds a film ...

This is a hit play that has been around for quite some time although it has only got to London this summer. A uplifting play about mental health, depression and the small joys of life, with one performer telling the story of their mother and something of their own life with the help of audience members.  The different performers plus the audience interaction means it is different each night and in this run we have already had Lenny Henry, Sue Perkins, Ambika Mod and Jonny Donahoe (one of the original co-creators) .   When we arrived, Minnie Driver, the final performer in this run, was already bustling around the auditorium, talking to audience members as they arrived, and handing out cards.  We were in the gods so too far away to be involved. The actual play itself is pretty short but effective, and I absolutely get why the audience were given the cards to read out, although I couldn’t always hear what was being said, depending on how loud or where in the auditorium ...

Despite the underpinning themes of American colonialism and the westward landgrab vs modern America, this is a suprisingly intimate play, although as it is written by Samuel D Hunter who wrote The Whale  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.   Jake, a well to do liberal arts graduate has been following the westward trail towards the Pacific taken by his ancestor, but he washes up 300 miles short in the small town of Clarkston and gets a night job in Costco where he meets Chris.  Chris is trying to get into a writing course, but has an addict mum to worry about.  So that’s the set up, which doesn’t sound particularly promising but this ends up being a tender play about people trying to find connection and make the best of their lives, despite the challenges they face.  It’s a bit clunky with the amount of exposition, but the central performances are excellent and I found myself drawn into the lives and concerns of the young men.   Joe Locke plays Jak...