BWW Review: THE PLAY ABOUT MY DAD, Jermyn Street Theatre
Boo Killebrew recounts the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina on her hometown in the autobiographical The Play About My Dad. Seen in Europe for the first time at Jermyn Street Theatre, the piece is a play within a play complete with flashbacks and time travel. Albeit self-indulgent at times, Killebrew manages to keep the narrative interesting and fresh but falls short acting-wise. Directed by Stella Powell-Jones, it's well-executed but feels like it's holding its breath.
White Bear Theatre Presents MUSWELL HILL by Torben Betts , August 12-31
January 2010 - an earthquake in Haiti leaves a hundred thousand people dead and almost two million homeless. Meanwhile in a leafy north London suburb, six individuals sit down to avocado and prawns - 'so reassuringly 1970s' - followed by a monkfish stew. They admire their host's beautifully appointed kitchen, fret about their 'ambitious' mortgages, make holiday plans, compare mobile phone tariffs, connect with Facebook friends, and worry that they might after all just be ordinary - will history remember any of them, and if so, what for? A social event in which much is said but little communicated rapidly disintegrates as the wine flows and some hard truths are told.
White Bear Theatre Presents MUSWELL HILL by Torben Betts , 8/12-31
January 2010 - an earthquake in Haiti leaves a hundred thousand people dead and almost two million homeless. Meanwhile in a leafy north London suburb, six individuals sit down to avocado and prawns - 'so reassuringly 1970s' - followed by a monkfish stew. They admire their host's beautifully appointed kitchen, fret about their 'ambitious' mortgages, make holiday plans, compare mobile phone tariffs, connect with Facebook friends, and worry that they might after all just be ordinary - will history remember any of them, and if so, what for? A social event in which much is said but little communicated rapidly disintegrates as the wine flows and some hard truths are told.