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?”

LONDON FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: FRANKENWEENIE

FRANKENWEENIE
Release Date: 17 October 2012 (UK)
Director: Tim Burton
Running Time: 87 Minutes
Starring: Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Charlie Tahan (Voices)
Screening Reviewed: European Premiere/London Film Festival Opening Gala

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

It's difficult to have not felt repeatedly disappointed with the output of Tim Burton of late - in particular his most recent releases Dark Shadows and Alice in Wonderland seemed to have lost much of his original edge and flair in favour of more generic, CG-fuelled franchise fare. There was imagination, to be sure, but nothing that felt inspired, personal or quintessentially Burton-esque. They seemed products of a director no longer so sure of his own creativity and ideas, a bowing to a more commercially driven and stereotypical ideology. And as celebrated as some of his pairings with Johnny Depp have been, and the given versatility of Depp as an actor, it was all threatening to become a bit formulaic and stale.

DARK SHADOWS: GIVEAWAY COMPETITION!

To celebrate the release of Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows' on DVD, we're teaming up with distributors Warner Bros. to give away a copy of the film on Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack!

TO ENTER: Simply head on over to our Facebook page (click HERE), like the page and the relevant post. Everyone who has liked our page and the post will be entered into a draw for the free copy of the DVD/Blu-Ray combi pack on Monday 15th October!