The Seafarer at Greenwich Theatre

Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer is a masterclass in dark, comic Irish storytelling and the Putney Arts Theatre transfer their production to Greenwich Theatre with total confidence. The result is an authentic, engaging, and atmospheric evening which does total justice to the original script.

Set in a slightly run-down North Dublin home just before Christmas, the play follows two brothers and their friends in their slightly chaotic, alcohol-fuelled lives. It explores the relationship and loyalty between them as well as their struggles and secrets. Darker moments from their past re-emerge amongst the banter and ribaldry. And then there’s an unexpected visitor who disrupts their status quo.

From the moment the show opens, the environment feels completely real with the set design showing great attention to detail. Occupied and visited entirely by men, the room looks appropriately worn and lived-in without ever feeling claustrophobic on Greenwich’s wide stage. Subtle touches, such as the flickering candle beneath the Sacred Heart image on the stairs, the light in the window, and the glowing fire grate, all add depth to the space. The use of the off-stage areas was well done too so although we could only see one room, it did feel like a whole house. Well-observed costumes, solid sound effects, and simple, effective lighting round out the production seamlessly. 

The cast handles McPherson’s natural, fluid dialogue with precise comic timing. Physical and verbal comedy balance the play’s darker and more supernatural elements effectively. This is a play that reveals secrets and the fallibility of the human condition with both a dose of reality and of the supernatural.

Eugene Duffy leads the company as James ‘Sharky’ Harkin. Duffy delivers a grounded, multi-layered performance, capturing Sharky's struggles and dark past intertwined with the reality of living with and caring for his older brother. Ian Cooke is equally strong as Sharky’s blind, ruffian brother, Richard. Playing sightless is a difficult technical challenge, but Cooke delivers it well. James Ross Turner stands out as Ivan Curry, serving as a brilliant foil to the two brothers yet has his own struggles and secrets which are revealed as the play progresses. Turner also brings some fantastic physical comedy to the role, making the hapless Ivan endearing and easy to root for.

The supporting cast completes this tight ensemble. Nick Thomas injects fresh energy and humor into the room as Nicky Giblin. Matthew Flexman brings gravitas to Mr. Lockhart. Flexman executes his late-play monologue with poetic precision, landing its full emotional weight. Throughout the night, the cast uses every inch of the stage, and the space offstage, to build a vivid world.

This is a rich, beautifully acted production that stays true to its North Dublin roots. This Go see it! Playing at Greenwich Theatre until 24 October 2026 with tickets for around £25. A bargain for a play of this quality. Book here https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/the-seafarer/

And I looked at The Sky

And I Looked at the Sky brought to the stage by husband and wife team Tim Stubbs-Hughes (writer) and Julia Stubbs (director) brings a thoughtful premise to the Omnibus Theatre. We meet Betty and John, an aging artistic couple navigating a decades-old pact to end their lives once their creative days finish. The play opens with Betty's 86th birthday and as she reflects on her age and her inability to create art any more we discover more about both their lives.

Unfortunately, at least for me, the writing itself feels wrong for a stage play. The dialogue lacks a natural flow, and lengthy monologues to no-one in particular drift into poetic prose. As such, this piece feels much better suited to a novella or book. 

The set works reasonably well in a large space. It could possibly benefit for more art, shelves and clutter to feel more like a house inhabited by two creatives for decades. In terms of design choice, Betty’s costume jarred a little. She wears paint-spattered working overalls despite no longer making art, followed by a surprisingly muted frock that fails to capture the spirit of an aging former art wunderkind. On a positive note, the sound design and music choices are strong, adding a welcome filmic quality to the mood.

The real highlight is the cast. The duo, John Rayment and Mary Tillett, give solid performances, but Tillett stands out as Betty with direct, grounded delivery. Tillett came to acting later in life and studied it as a mature student. Directors should take note: giving new, older actors real stage opportunities is vital, and Tillett proves she has the talent and skill to back it up.

The core concept has clear potential and exploring the nature of a creative spirit, a long marriage and long life and having the agency on how to manage your life and your death are worthy themes to explore. And if you like your stories languid and poetic, this may well appeal.

The core concept has real potential. Exploring creative spirit, long marriage, and agency over one's own life and death are rich, worthy themes. Whilst the stage pacing felt too slow for my taste, if you enjoy languid, deeply poetic storytelling, you may still find plenty to appreciate in this 90 minute play. And it's always a pleasure to visit the Omnibus Theatre with it's cozy bar and outdoor terrace.

And I Looked At The Sky is playing at the Omnibus Theatre 15 September to 3 October 2026. Tickets available here.

Pericles (Kind Of) at The Union Theatre, London

Pericles (Kind Of) is a joy from start to finish. This 60-minute musical from newly formed Nevermind Company is fast-paced, funny, and irreverent. It retells the ancient story of Pericles from the perspective of its female characters which brings new insight into what may or may not have happened in this mythical tale from ancient history. The music is fantastic, the vocals are strong, and the lyrics are both clever and funny. 

This young creative team shows real promise - Hollie Hurrell, James Hancock-Evans (who is also on keyboard throughout), and director Rafael Solimeno Harris wrote the book together. They created the piece as part of a Bristol Old Vic Theatre School project and were given permission to continue developing the material further. And they've done a brilliant job with it. The piece is almost entirely sung through but is still pacy and succinct. Every song moves the story forward well and every moment has earned its place and keeps the audience engaged. The piece is also cleverly composed, with recurring musical motifs that come together beautifully in the finale.

The cast delivers wonderfully energetic performances. Nathan Golo plays Pericles with swagger, aristocratic entitlement and strong comedic timing. Anna McAuley is a vocal highlight as Jane. She commands the stage from her first note. Zara Stokes-Neustadt brings great comic skill and strong vocals to Marina and despite her small stature, she is a powerhouse of energy and charisma. She leads the opening and closing scenes with skill and charm. D’Angelo Poskitt shows great vocal and comedic talent across multiple roles with some great unexpected moments. Cari Griffiths brings style and humour as the spoilt queen. Hollie Hurrell demonstrates sharp comedic skills as she switches between characters. Each ensemble member had a distinctive musical voice and yet they also came together well as an ensemble delivering some lovely harmonies and a unified sound in ensemble moments.

Miranda Cattermole designed the costumes. Her design is consistent and thoughtful using a style that combines Tudor elements (as a nod to Shakey-P) with Greek details. Pericles wears gold-embellished Tudor attire (minus the cod-piece). The rest of the cast wears cream linen trousers, ruffs, and corsets but each had some unique details. Gold sandals give a nod to the Greek origins of the play. The quality and styling of the costumes was stronger than usually seen at a fringe production.

Pericles (Kind Of) is a delightful production. This young team has created a sharp, modern musical and it's a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how far they can take this show and what they might come up with next.

Catch this show while you can. There's just one more performance at The cosy Union Theatre in Southwark and you can follow the show over on instagram.

Fagin, Hero or Villain

Well, "Fagin, Hero or Villain", created by and starring Steve Furst is terrific! I think I was expecting a one-man show with Fagin at the centre and Furst playing Sykes, Nancy, Oliver and Dodger as well. But it wasn't that at all. This is more an exploration into who Fagin is through the lens of how he was portrayed by Dickens and later by Lionel Bart and their relative audiences. There's historical context and critical analysis and familiar and new songs and the wonderful portrayal of a myriad of characters - not from Dickens' stories as I was expecting, but other unexpected characters who also have a point of view about Fagin including critics, journalists, actors, directors and more. It helps if you've read Oliver Twist or seen the musical or other film adaptation of the story, but even if you haven't, it's an interesting and engaging story regardless.

It's delivered partly in lecture style by Fagin himself but we also get song, dance, comedy, ad libs, vignettes, some new songs by Furst (as well as favourites from the musical), a game show slot and a beautiful and moving lip synch which brought a tear to my eye. The show was a joy from beginning to end. Furst showed himself to be a chameleon switching seamlessly between characters and managing ad libs and controlling the whole show himself. The whole thing was truly unexpected and so original - think Dave Gorman’s presentation style combined with a one man show of multiple characters with some history and music hall thrown in for good measure.

The sound and lighting were strong too, especially for such an intimate space. There were backing tracks for Furst’s singing but he also played the violin and sang without a track too and he has a great voice. The presentation slide elements were excellent and included simple words and images but also some film clips and had a suitable background which matched the simple but effective set of hanging scarves.

Steve Furst is Circle & Star's Artistic Director and has written this piece himself. It works! It's a lecture style like no other I’ve ever experienced! Each of the character was distinct and clearly defined. Each had a different point of view on our protagonist and it was thought provoking on the question of whether or not Dickens was anti-semitic in his original portrayal of him or was it more a reflection of the times. It was also interesting to note the contrast between the book version of Fagin and the musical by Lionel Bart. Bart's interpretation is more sympathetic.

There’s only one more performance of it on Friday night (tonight at time of posting). I really hope it gets a rerun at some point. What a treat to see this. Top marks from me. If only all lectures were like that, we’d have a nation of geniuses! A few tickets left here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/circleandstar/2134569

It's the final curtain for The Seven Dials Playhouse (and a mini review for Pete 'n Keely from 2017)

I'm sad to read that the charming Seven Dials Playhouse is closing at the end of this month according to The Stage (subscription required). I'm not exactly surprised. The economics of running a central London venue is tough at the best of times, let alone only being a 70-seater. I suspect each incoming show barely broke even for either the venue or the theatre company.

It's the end of a long journey for the venue, formerly known as The Actors Centre which housed the Tristan Bates Theatre (named after Alan Bates's son). There's some background here on The Actor's Centre current site with their take on what happened. 

I've seen a few shows there and it's a cute venue in a great location with a cute bar so I am genuinely sorry to see it go. My favourite show I saw there was Pete 'n Keely back in 2017. A two-hander musical, it was witty, relatable and poignant with terrific performances from David Bardsley and Katie Kerr as Pete Bartel and Keely Stevens respectively. They are former sweethearts, a singing duo and TV hosts who are now divorced and haven't spoken to each other for 5 years and are thrown together for a TV reunion concert. Chaos ensues in this show within a show.

My memory of the detail of the story is sketchy as it's nearly a decade since I saw it, but I remember how it made me feel - I remember a lot of loud laughter but also feeling moved by the chemistry between the two. I thought more might have come of the production but I don't think it's been on anywhere since unfortunately, and having read the reviews for it retrospectively, it didn't go down that well with critics which is a shame given how much I enjoyed it.

There is some good news out of all of this - The Actors Centre is continuing its work and is now housed at the lovely Marylebone Theatre and I hope it continues to thrive.

Brainsluts at Seven Dials Playhouse

What happens when you trap four millennials in a hospital waiting room without WiFi? Dan Bishop's "Brainsluts" answers that question with both warmth and sharp wit in this Edinburgh Fringe hit that's now playing at The Seven Dials Playhouse in Covent Garden.

The premise is deceptively simple: four strangers participate in a clinical trial, spending one day a week over several weeks testing a mysterious new drug. When the WiFi fails and phone signals disappear, their planned day of doom-scrolling gets derailed, forcing actual human interaction. What follows is a masterclass in character comedy that feels both absurd and painfully relatable.

Dr Eavis (Emmeline Downie) oversees the chaos as the slightly frazzled researcher whose narration bookends each week's events. Downie strikes the perfect balance between professional authority and imposter-syndrome induced panic. Her commentary provides both structure and laughs as the situation unfolds.

The four guinea pigs or ‘brainsluts’ are brilliantly realised millennials. Kathy Maniura's Bathsheba floats through life in bohemian bliss, stringing beads while blissfully unaware of reality crashing around her. Robert Preston delivers a pitch-perfect performance as Duggan, the desperately eager young man whose attempts to connect fall flat through his social incompetence and inability to read the room. Dan Bishop (who also wrote the piece) embodies Mitch, the work-shy activist who views the drug trial as political resistance, while Bethan Pugh's Yaz initially seems the quietest of the bunch, lacking confidence and preferring to observe from the sidelines.

As the WiFi-free hours stretch on during the weekly visits, these characters reveal themselves in funny and unexpected ways. Bishop's writing sparkles with both comedy and uncomfortable truth as the lengths people will go to fill silence become apparent. The oversharing escalates, secrets spill, and modern life's absurdities get laid bare.

The comedy hits from the opening moments. Bishop has crafted dialogue that flows naturally while landing consistent laughs. His characters feel authentic rather than constructed, their neuroses and insecurities recognisable without being mean-spirited. There is some physical comedy too which complements the verbal wit beautifully. I particularly enjoyed the wonderfully surreal meditation scenes. Who knew that a guided meditation could (a) be funny and (b) reveal so much about each character.

Directors Noah Geelan and Seth Jordan, with associate director Rohan Sharma, make excellent use of the simple hospital waiting room set. The staging maintains energy and pace in the confined space, ensuring the action never feels static despite the limited setting. The cast maximizes every inch of the small stage, their movements and interactions keeping the audience engaged throughout.

What makes "Brainsluts" work so well is how it uses comedy to explore genuine themes about connection, loneliness, and modern life as experienced by young people. It exposes, perhaps, how our digital dependencies have changed the way we relate to each other. The characters' struggles to communicate face-to-face feel both funny and slightly tragic, a mirror to our own anxieties.

The performances are uniformly strong, with each actor fully committed to their character's particular brand of millennial dysfunction. Preston's physical comedy as the socially inept Duggan is particularly memorable, while Maniura brings genuine warmth to what could have been a one-note hippie stereotype. Bethan Pugh’s Yaz shows there’s much more to her than her anxiety. Emmeline Downey as Dr Eavis showed us a lot more depth than I was expecting as her own story is revealed at the end. Dan Bishop shows impressive range as both writer and performer. He nailed the politically passionate Mitch.

Having conquered Edinburgh, "Brainsluts" translates perfectly to London audiences who'll recognise themselves and people they know or have met in these characters. It's rare to find a play that's genuinely funny while also having something meaningful to say about contemporary life.

This is a smart, laugh-out-loud comedy that doesn't sacrifice substance for laughs and is relatable whether or not you're a Millennial. If you're looking for a short play about modern life that'll make you think while making you laugh, "Brainsluts" delivers exactly that. 

Brainsluts runs at The Seven Dials Playhouse until 13 February. Running time 70 minutes.

Guidelines at The New Diorama

Guidelines at the New Diorama Theatre, tucked away in the business district off Hampstead Road near Euston, was really good tonight. It was part performance art, part theatre and designed to challenge us about our algorithm fuelled world and the real implications of that on young minds in particular. The sound effects, soundtrack and lighting were particularly impressive for such a small venue and the performances from the two actors were fantastic... Strong delivery from both of them, great movement and coordination. The staging was strong too and gave me Kenrex vibes (although not as ambitious as Kenrex).

I'm still debating the ending in my head. It didn't quite land for me but the whole thing is giving me pause for thought and as such, means the play has done its job.

It was billed as scary, but it's more absurdist thriller than horror and there's no gore or disturbing visuals to worry about, but there are disturbing themes. There was plenty of atmosphere through the impressive soundscapes. 

There's much to applaud about this hour of experimental theatre. If you're looking for something a bit different that has something to say about the dystopian side of our internet culture, this will fit the bill.

Recommended.

Booking until 14/2 

https://newdiorama.com/whats-on/guidelines Both shows on Saturday are "pay what you can".

Writer - Pip Williams 

Director - James Nash

Sound Designer - Patch Middleton 

Lighting Designer - Adi Currie

Movement Director - Ken Nakajima

Producer - Moya Matthews

Dramaturg - Louise Irwin

Facilitator - Alessandra Zavagno

Opening Composition and vocalist - AJ Turner

Consultant Producer - Ella Dale

Stage Manager Sam Thornton 

Young Makers - Eva Martin-Smith, Abdullahi Ahmed Ibrahim, Rue Millwood & Mya Patel

Cast - Rachel-Leah Hosker and Alex McCauley