All stories by Louise Penn on BroadwayStars

Sunday, August 8, 2021

‘Really explores what is possible in the online medium’: ITHACA – Edinburgh Fringe (Online review) ★★★★★ by Louise Penn

Currently streaming on the Fringe Player platform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ithaca is a one-person stage to screen version of The Odyssey.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 01:00PM
Friday, August 6, 2021

‘Punchy, lively & anchored by a skewed sense of reality’: MARRYING JAKE GYLLENHAAL – Edinburgh Fringe (Online review) ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Marrying Jake Gyllenhaal, a one-person show written and performed by Melissa Center, is a sweet and sometimes very funny piece which is honest about family and human connections.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, August 4, 2021

‘Witty, poignant, playful’: JOHN & JEN – Southwark Playhouse by Louise Penn

While John & Jen can sometimes veer into the sentimental, it does try to bring in numerous issues in modern America, and particularly succeeds in bringing to life the special bond betwee…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:00AM
Wednesday, July 28, 2021

‘Tightly written & economically performed’: Don’t Ask Don’t Get, Baby – The Space (Online review) by Louise Penn

Written and performed by Alice Underwood, and directed by Izzy Carney, Don’t Ask Don’t Get, Baby focuses on what happens if you are a “Donor Conceived Person? Honestly I think I prefer…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Monday, July 26, 2021

‘A special show for a special time’: COME FROM AWAY – Phoenix Theatre by Louise Penn

Based on the true story of how the inhabitants of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, coped with the diversion of numerous planes from American airspace on 9/11, Come From Away at the Ph…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Sunday, July 25, 2021

‘Revels in its power to challenge perceptions & prejudice’: MY JERUSALEM – Applecart Arts (Online review) by Louise Penn

A solo show presented by Avital Raz, My Jerusalem is a fiercely personal and deeply political show ‘developed from a song’.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, July 24, 2021

‘Dazzling’: QUENTIN CRISP: NAKED HOPE – Stream Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope is a fitting tribute to a complex and elegant man who celebrated his own brand of queerness. “I am notorious,” is the cry of this survivor.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, July 17, 2021

‘Very funny & wickedly affectionate’: Friend (The One With Gunther) – Stream.Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Friend rushes through ten series in an hour bringing you the highlights, the lowlights, the supporting cast, the big storylines, and more. It is very funny, wickedly affectionate, and utterl…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Thursday, July 15, 2021

‘Passionate, powerful & challenging’: LAVA – Bush Theatre by Louise Penn

Benedict Lombe’s new play Lava is semi-autobiographical and full of activism and difficult moments, alongside a story railing against Kafkaesque bureaucracy.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, July 13, 2021

‘These are young performers absolutely at the top of their game’: FROM HERE – Chiswick Playhouse by Louise Penn

From Here is a new British musical with music and lyrics by Ben Barrow and Lucy Ireland. Written entirely on Zoom for a four-person cast, this show is a mix of songs and spoken word pieces, …

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Sunday, July 11, 2021

‘Campbell has developed a deep affinity with Simone’: BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY VOICE – Stream Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Apphia Campbell’s show Black is the Color of My Voice, based on the life and works of Nina Simone, comes to digital theatre. This version was recorded this summer at Wilton’s Music Hall …

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Saturday, July 10, 2021

‘Poetic, pragmatic & passionate’: 28 DAYS GREATER – Calm Down, Dear Festival – Camden People’s Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Streaming until 28 July through Camden People’s Theatre, presented by Carolyn Defrin in collaboration with film-maker Rosie Powell, 28 Days Greater – total running time 46 minutes – co…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Monday, July 5, 2021

‘Profound storytelling’: POSSIBLE – Riverfront Theatre, Newport (Online review) by Louise Penn

Possible is a ‘playful and profound piece of storytelling’, written and performed by Shôn Dale-Jones. Before Covid lockdown hit, Dale-Jones was thinking of and developing a show all abo…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Sunday, July 4, 2021

‘A fine piece of escapism’: GOING APE! – Union Theatre by Louise Penn

Biblical comedy Going Ape! by Andrew Corbet Burcher returns to the Union, directed by Evan Ensign. The premise is what might happen if the Creationist and Evolutionist stories came together …

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, July 3, 2021

‘Has the necessary pizzazz & sparkle’: STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW – Waterloo East Theatre by Louise Penn

We’re taking about love here in Starting Here, Starting Now. The thrill of it, the romance and ridiculous of it, the crushing disappointment of it. Some of the tunes are from musicals whic…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Friday, July 2, 2021

‘Dark story cut through with comedy & songs’: A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) – Silent Uproar (Online review) by Louise Penn

Recorded in June 2021 before a socially-distanced audience at Wilton’s Music Hall, A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) brings Silent Uproar’s show back to the stage following p…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, June 26, 2021

‘Excellent rapport between the characters’: THE SYSTEM – Brighton Fringe by Louise Penn

Sweet Sorrow Theatre Company brings Edward Loboda’s play The System to Brighton Fringe in a Zoom re-recording of a show they originally streamed in 2020.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Thursday, June 24, 2021

‘Deeply poetic & poignant’: AM I A TERRIBLE PERSON? – Brighton Fringe by Louise Penn

Ant Lightfoot’s Am I A Terrible Person? takes an honest look at OCD and mental illness. At just 23 minutes it’s a tough call to get through all the issues but there isn’t a wasted mome…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Wednesday, June 23, 2021

‘A showcase to savour’: The Theatre Channel – Episode 7 (Online review) by Louise Penn

The Theatre Cafe, in collaboration with the Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, have created this salute to the timeless duo Rodgers and Hammerstein for The Theatre Channel’s Episode 7.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

‘No denying that this is a show like no other’: A RED SQUARE – Brighton Fringe ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Australian collective Pony Cam has created a fringe show unlike any other, with sex, violence, a lost child, and the perils of being an actor, all played out by the central character, A Red …

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Monday, June 21, 2021

‘Works just as well as an audio experience as a visual show’: THE FINAL APPROACH – Brighton Fringe (Online review) by Louise Penn

Marlowe Productions brings a 70-minute livestream to Brighton Fringe (now available on demand until 27 June) which dips into the world of 1940s noir and pulp detective novels to take us into…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Sunday, June 20, 2021

‘Pulling the audience into the story’: CHARLOTTE BRONTE SNARES THE SUITOR – Brighton Fringe (Online review) ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Lemon Squeeze Productions and Feegle Films return to the Brontë family, following At Home With The Brontës, for their latest production online at the Brighton Fringe, Charlotte Brontë Sna…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:00AM
Saturday, June 19, 2021

‘An excellent adaptation’: THE TRAGEDY OF DORIAN GRAY – Blue Devil Productions (Online review) ★★★★★ by Louise Penn

A new spin from Blue Devil Productions on the Oscar Wilde novel puts the story of Dorian Gray in the art, theatre and music world of the 1960s.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, June 17, 2021

‘All the more relevant in a post-Brexit world’: THE WYRE LADY OF FLEETWOOD – Brighton Fringe (Online review) by Louise Penn

In Lita Doolan’s new play The Wyre Lady of Fleetwood, the Wyre Lady refers to a real-life pleasure boat in the seaside fishing port of Fleetwood, just down the promenade from the holiday r…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:00AM
Wednesday, June 16, 2021

‘Farcical fun all the way’: The Three Musketeers… attempted by Foolhardy (Online review) by Louise Penn

Heavily promoted on the strength of Robert Lindsay’s involvement in the cast, this audio-animated adaptation of The Three Musketeers owes more to parody and pastiche than any serious attem…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Sunday, June 13, 2021

‘Disturbing & edgy’: JERK – Brighton Fringe (Online review) ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Jerk is Nick Edgeworth’s curious and original sci-fi-influenced drama from Mudlarks Theatre, a company based in Hampshire. It’s currently showing in the Brighton Fringe and is written by…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Friday, June 11, 2021

‘Genuinely funny & fairly caustic’: HALF-BAKED ALASKAN – Brighton Fringe (Online review) by Louise Penn

There’s serious material in Sally Ann Hall’s Half-Baked Alaskan, but delivered with a wry, confessional, style which makes its point without getting too heavy.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, June 10, 2021

‘Smashing piece of family entertainment’: AIDY THE AWESOME – artsdepot (Online review) by Louise Penn

Commissioned by Curve Leicester, produced by the Gramophones Theatre Company and directed by Hannah Stone, Aidy the Awesome is currently part-way through a digital tour.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 01:00PM
Monday, June 7, 2021

‘Goes for the jugular in a fascinating & visual way’: QUIET LITTLE THINGS – Brighton Fringe (Online review) ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Quiet Little Things, a very clever, well-crafted and moving non-verbal piece from OddHouse Theatre Company (an emerging feminist collective), is currently available to stream at the Brighton…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Wednesday, June 2, 2021

‘Friendly, open & honest’: SUNRISE – Soho Theatre (Online review) by Louise Penn

Jessie Cave’s show Sunrise was recorded in the empty venue in April, but still retains the comedy of a professional mum navigating the thorny paths of a postpartum love life.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:00AM
Monday, May 31, 2021

‘Has an other-worldly feel’: ECHO / CHAMBER – Brighton Fringe (Online review) ★★★★ by Louise Penn

Echo/Chamber is a clever, creative and thought-provoking work with high production values and strong performances from Oliver McFadden and Isaac Hesketh.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards