Reviews by KarenI had a London Theatre Direct voucher and with a dynamic price reduction on the day I got a good seat in the Royal Circle.
The show was brilliant, although some bits were slightly blocked by the upper circle overhang if it was on the highest levels.
There was an understudy child performer on for the permanent Artful Dodger, and he was very good.
9/10
I got a ticket for a cheap seat innthe Upper circle to see this show.
I hadn’t seen this classic from the 1980s. The story spans from the late 1950s up to the 1980s and focuses on Mrs Johnstone a working class abandoned mother in Liverpool who has a lot of children and twins on the way. She is a cleaner for a rich infertile woman and a plan is made for her employer to raise one of the twins as her own.
It looks at the problems this massive secret causes
The ending is not that much of a surprise as a version of the final scene is performed at the start but despite the warning people did still jump at one point. It was also nice that Wimbledon got a mention in the show – in relation to tennis.
8/10
I got a reduced price ticket in the Black Friday sale. The view was good and only slighly spoilt by the poor rake in the stalls.
It was a funny show with a lot of laughs, particularly if you are familiar with the novel and the BBC adaptation from the 1990s.
A cast of 5 play the overlooked servants and they act out the story of the Bennett sisters in their search for husbands. With a lot of quick changes they portray the main characters and it was a lot of fun.
They also had a short pre-show where they walked down the aisles, cleaning and dusting the auditorium.
9/10
I went to the extra matinee at Woking that was added to Chris McCausland’s stand up tour.
He was supported by Jon Long who performed music and jokes before an early interval, followed by the main event that included various jokes and stories with a bit on his Strictly Come Dancing Journey and his yet to be written book.
It was all very entertaining and funny.
10/10
I got a deal with TodayTix for this show and it was my first trip to this theatre in Islington.
They had got new seats fitted just before this run and for some reason the numbers didn’t match all the tickets. However, as there were spare seats front of house sorted the problem quickly.
This show was a musical set in a public toilet and was about the women who use it and the issues they are dealing with. It was a thrust stage set up with the audience on 3 sides, so everyone had different restricted views at various times, but it was a short and interesting story.
6/10
I got a cheap seat up in the balcony.
The show was a lot of fun and the story involves a lot of laughs,comedy, misunderstandings and disguises.
It did seem A LOT of people were not that bothered about the play and were just there to see Tom Hiddleston, who played Benedick, with whoops and screams when he walked on stage, spoke, danced, undid buttons on his top and sang. The show did include a brief reference to the Marvel characters that Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell (Beatrice) played, which was a joke that those completely unaware of them would not get at all.
For the majority of the show the crew was good, but for one major scene involving a wrongful accusation, the view was completely obscured as the performers were at the front of the stage, and the curve of the balcony blocked the view.
9/10
I managed to get one of the 12 noon release of return tickets for this sold out show before it closes.
It tells the story of how a community joined together, led largely by left wing socialists and communists to stop fascists from marching through the East End.
The theatre felt a bit cramped and a lot smaller than when I saw Stranger Sings in the same space due to the different seating formation.
Some of the subject areas seemed a bit odd to be singing songs, and most of the small cast played multiple parts covering all sides, which could be a bit confusing. At times it was also hard to hear the words as the music felt louder than the singing.
There were some laughs – I liked the bits where they sang about the headlines across the media (mainstream and non-mainstream) and how the media can at times twist the sane story depending on who owns it.
7/10
This was the second show I saw on a 2 show day at the National Theatre complex, both of which were £10 tickets in the weekly Friday Rush.
This play is a comedy drama about a family get together. There was a lot of characters that didn’t really impact on story and made it feel a bit long,but it had quite a few laughs and an interesting revolving set.
7/10
I got a £10 Friday Rush ticket to see this, at my first attempt.
It was in the circle and not very close, but I could still see everything on stage.
This is a play (that includes a musical number) about the founder of the NHS.
It was an interesting – and at times slightly surreal – play that told the powerful story behind the man who created the NHS and how he overcame the opposition he faced against introducing such a socialist concept. A concept that (from the stats shown at the end of the play) has decreased infant mortality rates, increased life expectancy and treats over 1 million people per day based on clinical need rather than how much they can afford.
10/10
I got a Rush Ticket, and it was a great seat in the Dress Circle.
This is a musical about how the Live Aid concert to raise money for the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s happened.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would despite the fact I’m not familiar with all the songs or know who all the people portrayed or mentioned were.
8/10
