What's What?
A quick guide to what you can find on the Upstaged website.
Everything you see has been written by young people aged between 14 and 17.
Everything you see has been written by young people aged between 14 and 17.
ARTICLESOpinion pieces, news from the theatre world, analysis, history etc.
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REVIEWSReviews of all types of theatre - plays, operas, musicals etc - currently available to watch. Click Here
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INTERVIEWSInformative interviews with some amazing industry professionals.
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ARCHIVESReviews of past productions, going back to 2017 when Upstaged was founded.
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Follow Upstaged On Twitter! @Upstagedarts
Plays, Musicals and Operas in our Archive
Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, no members of our team have been able to go to live theatre for some time now. However, our reviews remain up, and we hope that you will enjoy reading them and remembering the wonderful impact that theatre has on our lives, and how integral culture and the arts is to our society.
Madam Butterfly
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Luisa Miller
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Carmen
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A Kind of People
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane
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Midnight Movie
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Orphée
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Orpheus in the Underworld
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The MikadoLONDON COLISEUM
The Mikado is perhaps the most famous operetta from power-house duo Gilbert and Sullivan. Being an operetta (literally 'a little opera' in Italian) it is not sung through in the way that most traditional operas are and it is much more light-hearted. |
Orpheus and Eurydice
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Frankenstein Presented by NYT
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On Bear RidgeROYAL COURT THEATRE
On Bear Ridge is set in a place that is gradually fading further and further out of the minds of the population and becoming nothing but a distant memory. The three remaining inhabitants - John Daniel, Noni and their dead son's friend Ifan William - are living in poverty and squalor. |
Great Expectations Presented by NYT
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Come From AwayPHOENIX THEATRE
It is perhaps unusual to think of a feel-good musical about 9/11, but that is exactly what Come From Away is. Set in Gander (a small town in Newfoundland with a population of 9,000), it delves into the unbelievable story of the unconditional kindness that the Newfoundlanders showed to the 7,000 people who arrived in Gander over night. |
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. ImpROYAL COURT THEATRE
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp is a series of four new short plays by renowned playwright Caryl Churchill. Her work is known to challenge social injustices and feminist issues, and this quartet of plays is no exception. |
A Midsummer Night's DreamREGENT'S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
I have to say that going to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is always a magical experience no matter how many times you have gone. And the magic of theatre is certainly kept alive in this spellbinding production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. |
the end of history...ROYAL COURT THEATRE
Set in a humble family home in Newbury, the end of history... offers a look into the life of a family over the space of two decades. |
National Theatre's
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National Theatre's Connections FestivalNATIONAL THEATRE - DORFMAN STAGE
The National Theatre's Connections Festival has returned for another year. The festival involves the commissioning of 10 new plays by established and emerging contemporary playwrights and theatre companies, in which school groups from across the UK take part in performing these plays. |
Jack the Ripper: The Women of WhitechapelLONDON COLISEUM
Iain Bell's gripping new opera about the lives of the 'women of Whitechapel' in 1888 (when Jack the Ripper was terrorising the streets) is having its world premiere here with the ENO at the London Coliseum. |
The Magic FluteLONDON COLISEUM
Mozart's The Magic Flute tells a bizarre and unlikely story of journeys through a mystical world in which the handsome Prince Tamino must face different trials in order to be allowed to marry his new love Pamina. |
The Merry WidowLONDON COLISEUM
Lehar's The Merry Widow is a blend of outrageous humour (with a bit of added slapstick), and beautiful melodies. Unlike many operas, it is not sung through which makes it an excellent first opera - an introduction to the style of music whilst not being at all difficult to follow. |
AkhnatenLONDON COLISEUM
Akhnaten was written in 1983, so is modern and certainly unlike any opera I have ever seen or heard before to say the least. Any preconceptions that you might have of classical opera can be almost entirely brushed away in one fell swoop. |
La bohèmeLONDON COLISEUM
This performance marks the fourth revival of Sir Jonathan Miller's La bohème. It also comes conveniently in time to mark 40 years since Miller's directorial debut at the ENO. This production of La bohème is an intricate weaving of details which piece together to make a remarkably naturalistic and simple, yet wonderful, masterpiece. |
CompanyGIELGUD THEATRE
Marianne Elliott's production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company stars Rosalie Craig, Patti Lupone and Mel Giedroyc. With a couple of gender swaps here and there, resulting in a female lead, a gay couple, and a stay at home dad married to a career driven woman, the musical has been revamped so that it feels as contemporary and relevant today as it must have done for its original audience. |
42nd Street
THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE
42nd Street has been open at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane for little over a year and I have recently been lucky enough to see it. Lulu has just joined the cast, in the iconic role of Dorothy Brock, and she will be performing in that role until 7th July. |
Caroline, Or Change
HAMPSTEAD THEATRE (transferring to the West End)
Caroline, Or Change has been such a roaring success that it is almost impossible to get a ticket other than a return for its run at the Hampstead Theatre. I was lucky enough to get such a ticket, and it was well worth the wait. |
Nine Night
NATIONAL THEATRE (now at Trafalgar Studios)
Natasha Gordon's play Nine Night is, I believe, the perfect play to be putting on at the National Theatre - the theatre that is for everyone. |
ear for eyeROYAL COURT THEATRE
debbie tucker green's ear for eye (all intentionally lower case) is a punchy play in three parts, lasting just over 2 hours without an interval. It storms against racial injustice in the UK and the US, and shows the fire in young black people who are fighting relentlessly for change, as well as showing the roots of racial segregation and discrimination. |
Porgy and BessLONDON COLISEUM
Host to some iconic songs such as 'Summertime' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So', the Gershwin brothers' Porgy and Bess is being performed by the ENO for the first time in history. When I have seen Porgy and Bess before it has been in a musical version, with spoken text and then the main tunes sung. Here, at the London Coliseum, it is being performed in all its original operatic glory. |
The WoodsROYAL COURT THEATRE
The Woods by Robert Alan Evans is certainly an interesting play. While I'm not entirely sure what exactly it was about, the production itself was quite breath-taking. |
Twelfth NightYOUNG VIC
To kick off Kwame Kwei-Armah's first season as artistic director of the Young Vic is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. It is imaginative, fun and vibrant, set in the run up to Notting Hill Carnival in a West London street between two rows of brightly coloured terraced houses. Costumes are bright and colourful and the stage is busy and buzzing with energy. |
Little Shop Of HorrorsREGENT'S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
In the middle of a black and white set, three girls dressed in green come onto stage and burst into song. Renee Lamb, Christina Modestou and Seyi Omooba are fantastic as the street urchins Chiffon, Ronnette and Crystal. Each equipped with a fabulous voice and some sharp choreography, they kick the show off to a fiery start. |
Read previous reviews from productions that have now come off.
About Upstaged
Upstaged is a new performing arts magazine and website for people in secondary school. I started it to encourage more people my age to go to the theatre and explore the wealth of productions that are available in London. I have had a love of the theatre my whole life and wanted to continue to learn new things about the industry as I got older. I felt that there was a gap in the market for reviews by and for young adults and decided that by starting Upstaged I could continue learning and discovering new things about the theatre whilst filling that gap! From a young age I would cry at the end of a show because I didn't want it to finish! Upstaged gives me, and hopefully other young people in the future, a platform to express all the thoughts, emotions and ideas after a show, of which there are usually a multitude!