Thespian Reviews

(Photo Credit: Danny With A Camera- taken during the run at The Ambassadors Theatre) Six lads, a coastal town and the open sea. The local pub has invited their band ‘The Barnacle Buoys’ to perform a gig and they’ve got lots of preparation to do, transforming well-known songs into sea shanties, alongside the day-to-day. This musical originally started out as an online choir back in twenty twenty one, with a group of West End singers turning beloved musical theatre favourites

(Photo Credit: Marc Brenner) If asked to choose between life or love, which would you choose? How far would you go for the sake of your cause? Deep within the walls of an Argentine prison, two men are forced to share a cell: Valentin, a revolutionary, and Molina, who has been detained for being queer. In an attempt to find some salvation as the horrors escalate, Molina regales Valentin with tales of the movies he grew up with, including the only one that still scares him… Thi

(Photo Credit: Rob Trendy @shotbytrendy) Come on in! Welcome Royals from all corners of the timeline to group therapy. You’ll have to make do with a regular chair, we don’t have room in the budget for thrones. Yes, there are a lot of big egos in the room, but I think everyone will get along nicely if we remember what the very trustworthy and law-abiding Dr Thompson says: ‘Divine right doesn’t mean I am always right.’ Created by Nadia Devereux and Joshua Poole, this show star

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) Drag artist, Goody Prostate, has arrived and they are ready to slay the house down as the headliner for a local ‘reading hour’. They are ready for their usual adult crowd…only to discover that they will be performing for children and their parents. Great! Perfect!! One hour is definitely enough time to pull together a brand new, child-friendly act, with new costumes and choreography and songs and definitely not spiral or anything. Created by Rya

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) A cup of tea and a diary. Memories of pouring from an empty cup, time spent sitting with a strong brew. Drinking it all in. A reflection on love, desire and the rise and fall of relationships, mostly autobiographical. A person greeting their past selves saying ‘that is where you are now, but hey, this is where you’ll find yourself soon.’ This solo show, which has been developed through numerous writing programmes, made its first stage appearance

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) In this one-man show, you’ll find yourself going on an epic journey. Sid Ozalid is your guide, helping you learn more about Scotland’s past and Scottish culture through magic, song and mentalism. ‘Amazing Wonders of Scotland’ made its official debut this year at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival to great success, selling out the run. Following the performances at Brighton Fringe, the show will be going to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it w

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) A variety of comedians walk into a room. The host invites them to do stand up about sex and relationships, and they are more than up to the task. They walk out proudly having earned the title of ‘Shagger’. This show has been around for a number of years, successfully selling out at venues and festivals all over the world. On the night I saw it, the guest shaggers were Dan Harding, Emma Cohen, Mark O’Keefe and Michael Fabbri. Rule number one: if

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) Aalex is overwhelmed. She has a sharp, overthinking mind and life keeps on life-ing. So in this alternative comedy show, she would like to invite you in to sit back and relax, whilst she unpacks what’s been going on in her life in the hopes of finding some kind of clarity. This work in progress has been around since February this year, where it was performed at Leicester Comedy Festival. After its next performance at Brighton Fringe on the twent

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) Grandma Niusia has died leaving Beth, a third generation Australian immigrant, to sort through what she left behind: memories of a woman deeply infuriated with the world and a family history packed away in boxes. But maybe it’s time for Beth to unpack everything, now that she’s free to ask all the questions she wasn’t allowed to ask before. A chance to learn about the other side of her Grandmother, the holocaust survivor. This Australian show ma

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) Dame Wankey has always dreamed of being in a pantomime, this is her big chance and she’s dragging her sons into the mix. This is where you cum in, Daddy Bear. You get to decide the characters, the setting and the title. Absolutely nothing in this filthy little panto is off limits! Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it is! Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it is! This show has been around since twenty twenty one, travelling the length around the UK to bring the joy of a

(Photo Credit: Megan O'Neill) Dr Jeffrey Longford is a skilled and tenured doctor, beloved by patients and colleagues alike. His work grind usually consists of giving his patients the time and attention they need, even if it means an over-crowded waiting room and reassuring a patient with hypochondria that everything is fine- but is it? When he finds himself on the other side of the doctor's office, he begins to question everything he thought he knew… Written by Farine Clarke

(Photo credit: Flavia Fraser-Cannon) ‘Summer loving, happened so fast’ but now things are getting serious. The Olympus Academy orgy is coming up and every Demi-God is getting excited. Whilst lube and condoms are being passed around like the clap, The Alphas and The Omegas are cumming to terms with the destinies bound to them by The Fates. Rough times are climaxing from in front and behind as Hera is forced to choose between predestined star crossed love and her inner electrif

(Photo credit: Johanna Dart - @johannadart.design.photography) In a crypt filled with comedic artefacts from legends past and present, there is a monthly variety show. Summoned by the hosts ‘Bad Clowns Comedy’, a party of comedians emerge from their hiding places to perform for your entertainment. ‘Bad Clowns and Good Friends’ has been around since August twenty twenty four, where it was performed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It has since been to FUSEBOX Kingsto

(Photo Credit: John Kolikis) Gary works in an NHS one one one call center. This is the non-emergency line. One moment turns an otherwise regular shift into Gary’s worst nightmare, a routine health assessment and an unexpected death. With his inner world shaking in the midst of an investigation, he still finds himself answering the call to help. This show made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in twenty twenty five to great success. As of this year, the play has been

(Photo Credit: Rod Penn) Yo buttheads! It’s Biff the bully from Back To The Future! You got the story wrong three times, so it’s time to teach you a lesson about how it actually happened, Biff style. And there’s also lots of time travel. And a weird old dude. A clock tower. Oh yeah and a convenient diary to help move things along. Get ready for an unauthorised parody like no other, it’s Biff time! It all started with an idea and a conversation at a fringe festival that escal

(Photo Credit: Miranda Mazzarella - @miranda_shoots_photos) A grammar school in nineteen eighties England. Headmaster Felix is on the warpath, determined to raise the status of the school by getting an entire class of boys accepted to Oxford or Cambridge University. However, there is a problem in the form of a widely respected English teacher who doesn’t believe in the formal way of doing things. With the arrival of a recently graduated History teacher from Cambridge, there i

(Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell) A high school in Georgia. Twenty eighteen. Mr Smith’s English literature class is studying ‘The Crucible’, with its iconic hero John Proctor. As the students delve into the play, they begin to question the world around them and their place within it. Mr Smith says ‘history repeats itself’ and with dark truths coming to light, is it possible that it's happening again in this very classroom? Is John Proctor actually the villain? This show has b

(Photo Credit: Charlie Flint) It’s nineteen fifty. Alexander Fleming will forever be known as the penicillin, but who is the man behind the mold? How did he discover the cure that would change history? It’s Edinburgh in the present day. Jess and Aaron are star crossed lovers. A junior doctor and a musician, who cannot seem to make the timings work, so they are surely better off as friends. But everything changes when Aaron re-surfaces as a critically ill patient in Jess’s ho

Gaz and Sam’s production of ‘trouble in Paraguay’ is a man down. Gaz is running ten minutes late. With the threat of an extortionate overrunning fee looming amidst a time crunch, Sam decides that a show must go on…at least until Gaz arrives…eventually… This show is a work in progress, currently being performed and developed by Sam Walls- a zestful comedian and member of the clowning group, ‘Bad Clowns Comedy’. It was first performed at The Hen and Chickens Theatre on the twen

Love day may have technically been and gone, but somewhere deep in London there is a cabaret determined to keep the spirit of love somewhat alive. Behind the Greek pantheon like façade, there lies an arts centre, where a host of comics, each with their own unique style, gather for our entertainment. Chatty Cabaret was founded by Bonya and Sophie G. Clark, as a night offering a wide variety of alt-comedy, fringe successes and cabaret acts. The first show took place on the twen