MISS SAIGON - THEATRE REVIEW

MISS SAIGON AT THE PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE, LONDON

Theatre Run: Continuing
Performance Reviewed: Thursday 31 July 2014

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

‘Out with the new and in with the old’ seems to be the current dominant ideology pervading the West End at the moment, as even new productions by the industries’ heaviest hitters flounder whilst revivals and re-imaginings wade in over their corpses to rapturous reception and unprecedented box office (this show supposedly broke London pre-order ticket records). A trifle melodramatic an opening, perhaps, but one that is both true and quite tonally fitting for Cameron Mackintosh’s lavish, celebrated resurrection of the mawkish, histrionic yet spectacular Miss Saigon. Lloyd-Webber and Rice recently brought us the likes of Stephen Ward and From Here To Eternity respectively, and London even dipped its toe into the mass mass market with Harry Hill and Simon Cowell X-Factor pastiche vehicle I Can’t Sing. An ecclectic and diverse musical trifecta, yet all three suffered poor sales and abrupt, early closure, and in their place we have seen West End return announcements for the likes of Cats, Evita and, of course, Saigon. 

GOOD PEOPLE - THEATRE REVIEW

GOOD PEOPLE AT THE NOEL COWARD THEATRE, LONDON

Theatre Run: Runs until Saturday 14 June 2014
Performance Reviewed: Thursday 05 June 2014

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Good People is ostensibly a show about class. Or rather peoples relationship with class and the social, financial and even emotional barriers it places upon oneself. Do we allow ourselves to be both defined and confined by our roots and upbringing, or is the idea of any choice in the matter a fickle illusion orchestrated by a mixture of luck and lifes happenstance? It’s a concept that is far from new to theatre, but in this, David Lindsey-Abaire’s Boston-set drama, it is given fresh life and perspective by dint of being filtered through the American psyche and in the form of two flawed, interesting, contradictory yet strangely complementary lead roles beautifully performed by Imelda Staunton and Lloyd Owen.

URINETOWN - THEATRE REVIEW

URINETOWN AT THE ST JAMES THEATRE, LONDON

Theatre Run: Continuing (Limited Season ending Saturday 03 May 2014)

Performance Reviewed: Saturday 08 March 2014 (Press Night 1/3)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

The name.

That name.

Going into Urinetown, I was confident I would be prefacing my review with some astute, witty reference to the production’s characterful, if somewhat potentially off-putting titling. ‘Despite it’s bizarre name, Urinetown is...’ was just one of the potential openings already formulating as I took to my seat in the compact yet impressively sleek and contemporary confines of St James’ Theatre in Victoria. However, within literally minutes of this barnstorming, gleefully anarchistic and wonderfully unconventional musical theatre delight beginning, Urinetown had already pulled the rug from under my feet by seeing fit to poke fun at both itself, its title and the natural pre-conceptions and potential audience stigma surrounding it.

“Who’s gonna wanna see a show called that?”

THE MOUSETRAP - THEATRE REVIEW

THE MOUSETRAP AT THE WOLVERHAMPTON GRAND THEATRE

Theatre Run: Monday 27 May - Saturday 1 June 2013

Performance Reviewed: Tuesday 28 May

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

As one of her most prolific and familiar works, The Mousetrap is quintessential Agatha Christie fare and for those few who are not already familiar with the production or its story, they should nonetheless have a good idea of what to expect going in. A group of assorted strangers stranded in a stately guest home, each bringing their own particular brand of suspicion and secrets to the fray, links to a tragedy of yesteryear and a much more recent strangling nearby, enough red herrings and twists to keep Marple or Poirot on their feet, it remains in many ways the archetypal and definitive murder mystery experience, and yet one that has defied the odds (Christie herself initially predicted the show would only last 8 months) and evolved into something of a curious, almost inexplicable paradox and enigma in and of itself - a murder mystery play with a single outcome that has nonetheless gone on to become the longest running show of any kind anywhere in the world. Ever. And now, as a further testimony to its longevity and success it is being celebrated with this diamond anniversary production, which itself is quite surprisingly the first time the show has toured the UK.

SPAMALOT - THEATRE REVIEW

SPAMALOT AT THE PLAYHOUSE THEATRE, LONDON

Theatre Run: Continuing
Performance Reviewed: Monday 20 May 2013

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

It’s impossible to deny the massive cultural impact Cleese, Idle, Palin and pals had on the comedy landscape with their brilliantly original and decidedly before-it’s-time output of the 70’s, 80’s with Monty Python and beyond, and it’s no hyperbole to say the impact of their invention and inspired ludicrousness can still be felt in a swathe of comedy performers, shows and writing to this day, so it is with little surprise that Spamalot remains one of the most eccentric, self-reflexive and downright postmodern shows in the West End. It is also a heck of a lot of fun, being disarmingly witty, frequently hilarious and gloriously silly from the off. Loosely following (or ‘lovingly rips off’ as the show prefers) the plot of the 1975 Python classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail, following the exploits of King Arthur and his colourful troupe of knights on their hunt for the titular chalice, consequently replicating some of the films most beloved sequences whilst allowing for cameos from favourites such as the The Black Knight (complete with detachable limbs) and the shrubbery-demanding ‘Knights who say Ni’. 

MATILDA THE MUSICAL: THEATRE REVIEW

MATILDA THE MUSICAL AT THE CAMBRIDGE THEATRE, LONDON

Theatre Run: Continual

Performance Viewed: Press Night Wednesday 13 June 2012

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Occasionally a musical theatre production will come along that is so strikingly original and confidently self-contained in its execution that you can't help but be instantly won over by it. Matilda the Musical, based on the beloved children's novel by Roald Dahl (and thankfully nothing to do with the egregious 1996 movie adaptation) is one such experience and quite simply one of the richest, freshest and most irresistible musicals to hit the West End in quite some years.

As with the book, the show follows the story of Matilda Wormwood, an exceptionally gifted young girl with talents and abilities beyond more than just her age, as she is forced to endure unappreciative parents (Steve Furst and Josie Walker, both excellent) and the horrors of her new school and it's larger-than-life behemoth of a headmistress, Agatha Trunchbull (Bertie Carvel, more on whom later...). Amongst the suitably Dahl-esque mischief and mayhem, Matilda finds solace and comfort in her kind-hearted teacher Miss Honey (a beautifully tender and earnest Haley Flaherty), telling stories to local librarian Mrs Phelps (Melanie La Barrie) and befriending some of her fellow terrorised pupils.