Shadowlands

“Warning ! This review of Heart Wall at the Bush Theatre is going to be effusive as the play spotlit the main loves of my life: a leaky pub, trashy pop music & people who aren’t very good at recognising, let alone talking about their feelings. 23 year old Franky has returned from London to her parents home in a town in the north-west of England. She’s not that happy, her parents are not that happy & their local, The Sun Inn’s karaoke evenings are no longer weekly, but daily. For 90 minutes Kit Withington’s writing made me laugh, smile, shed a tear(s) & smile again. Spiky exchanges between Franky & her old friend Charlene particularly tickled me. Charlene now drinks red wine. Not because she likes the taste, but because it gives her black teeth & she reckons she looks at least 26 when she’s got black teeth. Go & see this, with a pal or a parent & then dissect it over pints in a pub afterwards. Talk about the characters fears & feelings. That way you can indirectly talk about yours.”

“‘That was a really good show’ enthused a girl to her pal whilst exiting The National’s Dorfman Theatre. That girl was not me (I was alone), but that girl was right. The Authenticator by Winsome Pinnock is set in a stately home in the English countryside. Two black academics have come to see the recently discovered diaries of the long dead white aristocrat who bought the now crumbling pile. The subject matter Pinnock’s play addresses is serious (race, slavery, reparations) but her plot & characters are full of humour, surprises & sprite. Excellent acting from a small, three-strong cast & a gloriously decrepit set. Book your ticket(s) now if you’d like to experience that increasingly rare & special feeling of sitting in a theatre which over the course of 90 minutes fills up with an audiences thoughts & laughter.”