Lyric Hammersmith, LondonVikki Stone’s playful fairytale is staged with fabulous costumes and high-energy songs but falls short of delirious comedyIn 2021, Camila Cabello was a screen Cinderella with dreams of opening a boutique for her dresses. Last y…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThis one-woman play aims to dramatise Wax’s globe-trotting spiritual quest but gets sidetracked into anecdoteThis isn’t what she usually does, Ruby Wax confides in the preface to her show; this is a play. And so an expectation is se…
Continue ReadingThe opening shows at London’s Underbelly Boulevard – Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett and Batsu! – are less edgy than you might expect, and more pricey, but there are some impressive turnsIt was one of the birthplaces of alternative comedy. Then it was a …
Continue ReadingThe opening shows at London’s Underbelly Boulevard – Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett and Batsu! – are less edgy than you might expect, and more pricey, but there are some impressive turnsIt was one of the birthplaces of alternative comedy. Then it was a …
Continue ReadingThe show must go on for the trio of hapless performers in Parolin’s new production Zonder, which finds the funny side in failureContemporary dance and comedy don’t exactly go hand in hand but Ayelen Parolin is a choreographer with funny bones. In her n…
Continue ReadingHampstead theatre, LondonRichard Bean’s new play touches on ageing and alienation, care and family love, but focuses on making us laughYou might guess what kind of night you’re in for by To Have and to Hold’s fabulous opening: the first painstaking ent…
Continue ReadingA mixed bill of standups, presented by the Nanette star and due to be recorded for the streamer, is a valuable response to its Dave Chappelle controversyWhen Dave Chappelle released his Netflix special The Closer, widely condemned for its transphobia, …
Continue ReadingAs her play about toxic secrets and old friends hits the stage, the host of The Guilty Feminist podcast explains how studying Wilde and Shaw showed her the subversive power of laughterI’m a feminist, but … I went to university in 1997 and in those days…
Continue ReadingFresh from this year’s jubilant festival, I’m not the only one hoping that it has given up its addiction to growth“Ticket sales still 19% down on 2019.” “Can the Edinburgh fringe survive?” It was surprising to leave a jam-packed, jubilant festival to r…
Continue ReadingAs the curtain falls on this year’s fringe, we ask performers and producers how it was for themBy the end of the Edinburgh fringe, anyone who has been here all month will tell you how tired they are. There have been highs – after a tentative return las…
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