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Forbidden broadwayForbidden Broadway, the revue style musical playing at the Vaudeville Theatre, has been delighting New York audiences since 1982 with its parodies of Broadway musical numbers. Although I never had a chance to see it in the many years I lived in New York, I was so pleased to catch it at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark before its West End transfer. I also kicked myself for not having seen it sooner in New York. This show has survived for so long as the creator, Gerard Alessandrini, updates the songs all the time to keep up with the ever changing face of Broadway. Some of the funniest numbers, however, were those that mocked the long running shows like Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, making fun of the boredom that sets in for actors who have been performing the same show for years on end.

I saw an audience leave the theatre so happy and humming the tunes. This is a show that would suit anyone, even people who don’t like musicals. It is only until 22 November so be sure to see it while you can.The Vaudeville TheatreBox office 0844 482 9675www.nimaxtheatres.com/vaudeville-theatre/forbidden_broadway

King Charles iiiKing Charles III by Mike Bartlett, a transfer from the Almeida Theatre, envisions a world in the near future where Prince Charles is about to become King as his mother, Queen Elizabeth has just died. Labour is in power but the fictional Prime Minister, Mr Evans is not very different from his Conservative counterpart, Mr Stevens. When the Prime Minister updates Charles on parliamentary business, he brings up a privacy bill which has just passed, limiting the powers of the press. Charles does not want to sign it - although he abhors the hacking scandals and the intrusions in people’s private lives, he cannot in all good conscience take away what he considers to be an important right of free speech. When Mr Stevens lets him know it is in his powers to refuse to sign the bill, Charles does just that, believing the Conservative leader to be on his side. Instead, both parties insist that the King must sign the bill or they will limit his powers with exclusion of the Crown from Parliament. Wading into the middle of this dispute is not Prince Charles or Prince Harry, but Kate, the Duchess of Cornwall. She demands that William fix this situation to secure his own future and that of his son. The tension escalates and everything spins out of control for Charles and for the country. Meanwhile, Harry has fallen in love with Jess, an art student and anti-Royalist who shows him the joys of shopping in Sainsbury’s and being a normal person. Unfortunately she is soon being blackmailed by an old boyfriend over some naked pictures she texted him in the past. The press is of course all over the story and devotes even more attention to Harry’s girlfriend than they do to the anarchy developing in the UK.

This astonishing play is written in iambic pentameter, which one soon gets used to hearing, as the language is so accessible. It’s not the only Shakespearean convention Bartlett uses; there are rhyming couplets at the ends of scenes, soliloquies addressed to the audience, a comic messenger monologue from Charles’ under butler, and of course tragedy and comedy mixed together to tell the great story of the downfall of a king. There are echoes of King Lear in the depiction of Charles, called an old fool by Kate, and ultimately betrayed by those closest to him. Kate resembles

With only four incredibly versatile performers, a pianist and a lot of quick costume changes, Forbidden Broadway sends up at least twelve musicals, including Cats, Once, Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Miss Saigon, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It also has special solos spoofing Broadway stalwarts Mandy Patinkin, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Hugh Jackman, Liza Minelli (“I’m Liza One Note!”) and Rita Moreno and Chita Rivera (“I’m Chita not Rita”). One number early in the first half about the exploitation of child actors had a Matthew Warchus/Miss Trunchbull character terrorising child stars from Matilda, Billy Elliot and Les Miz. A mash up of Cats and a Chorus Line worked brilliantly as well. The lyrics are so clever, witty and eminently quotable. Amongst my favourites, a warbling actor in Phantom singing: “When the song’s a bitch, and I’m slightly under pitch, they just flip the reverb switch, from left to right.”

It is rare to find a musical comedy that is this consistently funny. My daughter nearly fell off her chair she was laughing so hard at the Les Miserables numbers: Jean Valjean singing “This Song’s too high”, the actors having to leap onto a constantly revolving turntable, complaining “We’ve become a theme park ride” in the number "Ten Years More", a bored Eponine sneaking in some texts onstage in “On My Phone.”

The cast deserve high praise indeed not only for their talent but also for their energy, switching between different sketches quickly, sometimes having to sing offstage while obviously getting changed into the next character. Anna-Jane Casey, Christina Bianco, Damian Humbly and Ben Lewis were outstanding, all accomplished singers and comedians. I can’t remember the last time

Theatre

Some Reviews Of London's

Theatre by Lydia Parker

Forbidden Broadway

The Play That Goes Wrong

Lady Macbeth, pushing William to be more ambitious. A ghostly Diana appears with strange proclamations, a combination of Hamlet’s father and the three witches from Macbeth. Prince Harry is very much Prince Hal from Henry IV, rebellious, eager to enjoy himself and happy to befriend commoners.

This play imagines what these very public figures, the Royal Family, are like in private and it is fascinating to see the personalities he has invented for them, inspired from real life. Tim Pigott–Smith excels as Charles, completely believable as a tragic hero, not a “Spitting Image puppet” as he ironically fears people see him. The playwright and actor have together taken an actual person who in real life is stubborn, forward thinking, outspoken and intelligent and run with it, creating a wonderful fictional character. It is a difficult task and one that the cast members who are playing the Royal Family have achieved beautifully. Charles remains sympathetic throughout and there were audible gasps at times from the audience when he made ill-fated decisions. Lydia Wilson as Kate was quite frightening: a cold, grasping and manipulative woman from a middle class background who will stop at nothing to become queen. This was most probably an exaggeration of the actual Kate, but a brilliant creation in this fictional world. Oliver Chris actually closely resembled Prince William in appearance, while Richard Goulding as Harry was recognisable more from his behaviour and mannerisms. Both Princes are excellently portrayed: William the staid, calm inheritor to the throne, always hand in hand with Kate, while Harry wears a hoody under his jacket, hangs out in clubs and is fairly inarticulate. Camilla makes an appearance too, recognisably portrayed by Margot Leicester, as a woman who would rather be out making public appearances and having fun than worrying about laws and bills.

The fictional politicians, Evans and Stevens, played by Adam James and Nicolas Rowe, were also entirely convincing, men who are only concerned with their own power, deeply tied to the press, deceptive and uncompromising. I felt the character of Jess was less plausible- she was just generally angry and moody, it was difficult to see why Harry would be so attracted to her. I also wasn’t impressed with the ghost of Diana, played very oddly by Kate Brayben. These may have been choices made by the writer or director but they were

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weaknesses in an otherwise perfect production, expertly directed by Rupert Goold. Not only was it thought provoking, it was incredibly entertaining and very funny, one of the finest pieces of writing I have ever seen in the West End. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Wyndham’s TheatreBox office 0844 482 5138www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk

The Play ThaT goes wrongI can say without hesitation there is nothing like The Play That Goes Wrong in the West End. This physical comedy, created by Mischief Theatre, a young company of actors, would have made Buster Keaton laugh. The premise is that Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are presenting a mystery, The Murder at Haversham Manor and due to a mix up with the RSC’s production of Equus, have ended up in the West End - this is all in the programme notes, which must be read as they are as entertaining as the play.

The evening starts off with audience members being brought on stage to help with the set, which is already being repaired. The play begins, after a brief welcome and perhaps warning, from the nervous director/producer, and through a period of two hours everything that could possibly go wrong in a theatrical production does indeed go wrong. It would not be giving anything away to say these mishaps include set pieces falling apart, understudies reading in, and props not working properly. However, most of the trouble comes from the fictional actors themselves, losing props and picking up the first thing they can find as a replacement, mostly unintentionally causing injury to each

other, losing their place in the script, over acting, competing, calling for their lines, and not staying dead when they are supposed to be. What is so clever in the construction of this piece, put together by a theatre group who also do a show called Lights! Camera! Improvise!, is that these fictional actors refuse to improvise and will not stray from the script for a moment.

The actors are all to be commended and worked beautifully as a group. Dave Hearn was a standout as ridiculously over the top actor Max Bennett - he can fling himself gracefully all over the place like a young Donald O’Conner. Henry Lewis, who is also artistic director of Mischief Theatre, was ingenious at getting himself into and out of difficult positions, seemingly in control all the time, but losing it ever so slightly when he has to call for his line. Henry Shields as the fictional director and playing the Inspector of the murder mystery, was also wonderful - he takes his time with gags, which makes them all the funnier when the pay-off comes. Nancy Wallinger as the stage manager, and Charlie Russell as the female star are brilliant comic actresses, unafraid to be as physically daring as the men, which was very refreshing to see.

Credit has to go the set designer, Nigel Hook, who has created an incredible seemingly lethal set, and director Mark Bell, who made order out of all this chaos. Just the timings of entrances and exits must be a nightmare to coordinate. It is heart-warming to see a company of young actors, who have gone from the tiny Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington to UK tours and now to the West End, succeed so dazzlingly without any celebrities to sell the show. Hopefully this production will make celebrities of all of them.

One last note - it was great to see so many children in the audience. There are not many non-musical plays in the West End that are suitable for kids and this one will definitely make them laugh as much as their parents! n Duchess TheatreBox office 0844 412 4659www.theplaythatgoeswrong.com

King Charles III – Oliver Chris & Tim Pigott-Smith by Johan Persson