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Top Shows to See
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Lucia di LammermoorLONDON COLISEUM
The ENO's production of Lucia di Lammermoor is returning after 8 years. It isn't difficult to understand why there has been such excitement around this opera; its story line is easy to understand, the music is beautiful and the production's design makes it arresting and deeply poignant. |
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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. |
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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. |
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SalomeLONDON COLISEUM
The story of Salome is rather intriguing, and its somewhat scandalous subject matter is part of the cause for it's success. Strauss' opera is as shocking now as it would have been when first performed in 1905. The opera is based off a book of the same name by Oscar Wilde and is set in Ancient Judaea. |
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I And YouReview by Upstaged Reviewer Charlotte C
HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Going to see new plays in off west end theatres is always thrilling and the Hampstead Theatre was certainly alive! There was a bustling, feverish atmosphere with people chatting excitedly about this new play written by Lauren Gunderson, the most produced playwright in America of 2017. I And You stars Maisie Williams as Caroline whose previous work includes Game of Thrones, and Zach Wyatt as Anthony. |
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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. |
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EugeniusTHE OTHER PALACE
Eugenius! has been billed as the "most hotly anticipated new musical" of the year and is returning to The Other Palace after a highly successful run earlier this year! The Other Palace is the home for new and developing musicals, and Eugenius! has landed here after first being performed at The London Palladium back in June 2016. |
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National Theatre. New Views -
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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. |
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PericlesNATIONAL THEATRE
Shakespeare's Pericles, here in a version by Chris Bush with music by Jim Fortune, is the first Public Acts production with a cast of over 200 people from local communities, including only a handful of professional actors and actresses. The company are of all different ages, shapes and sizes, coming from a vast range of different cultural and religious backgrounds. |
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Pressure
David Haig's play is another transfer from Chichester and is, like many others before it, West End bound. It tells the largely unknown story of Dr James Stagg, one of the unsung heroes of World War 2. As Chief Meteorological Officer for the Allied Forces , it was down to him and fellow American meteorologist Colonel Irving Krick to forecast the weather for D-Day - Monday 5th June 1944 - a job that would determine the fate of thousands of soldiers. |
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The Turn of the ScrewREGENTS PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
On the website of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, it says that the opera will be starting at 8 o'clock as it has a running time of 2 hours; slightly shorter than usual. This is to allow for the sun to set, and to provide a suitably eerie atmosphere for the spooky content of the play. And boy was it worth it! |
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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!
