With Extinction Rebellion looming large in the capital, it’s canny programming to revive Duncan Macmillan’s 2011 play about a couple debating the merits of having a child – including fears about how introducing another person might impact the planet. The play also gets a boost from the starry casting of The Crown‘s Claire Foy and Matt Smith, whose established chemistry is a huge asset here.
Read my full BroadwayWorld review here
Which was more incomprehensible on so-called Super Saturday: wherever we may or may not have landed with Brexit, or guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro’s “critiques”? For the sake of my sanity, the latter shall not be recorded here. Suffice to say that, as someone who’s never seen Fresh Prince, and thus doesn’t even have a vaguely nostalgic emotional tie to Ribeiro, I remain uncharmed by his egocentric, nonsensical waffle. (See also: Brexit.)
Following last week’s overinflated quickstep scores, David James came crashing down to earth with a dismal jive. Taking big, heavy steps meant he was always behind the beat, and he failed to disguise numerous mistakes.
Madness. What were the judges thinking with those insane scores? What were the producers thinking with those insane music choices? And why, off the back of Movie Week, inflict this level of dance-obliterating am-dram intensity upon an unsuspecting public? MADNESS.
The judges can mark on either performance or improvement, however it makes a mockery of the leaderboard when they vastly overinflate the latter. So it was that we lost the talented Dev Griffin, penalised for dropping his level slightly in cha cha – while others were marked above him for dances that showed personal growth, but were technically mediocre.
It had been discussed among fans of the show for some time: when would Strictly Come Dancing feature its first same-sex pairing? One of the judges, Craig Revel Horwood, and a former contestant, the Rev Richard Coles, had both supported the idea. In the end, ITV’s Dancing on Ice beat its BBC rival to the mark this week with the announcement that the former Steps singer Ian “H” Watkins had been paired with professional skater Matt Evers. But same-sex ballroom is hardly a new trend.
A hit comedy about a textile scientist? It might sound unlikely, but Ealing Studios’ 1951 sci-fi satire, starring Alec Guinness, was one of the most popular films of the year in Britain. Now, Sean Foley hopes to repeat its success with his new West End stage version, which tweaks the formula to go big, broad and occasionally Brexit-referencing – with varying results.
Composer, writer and actor Dave Malloy’s work includes the Tony Award-winning Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Octet, and his upcoming adaptation of Moby-Dick – the latter directed by regular collaborator Rachel Chavkin and starring Malloy. This year, London also sees two of his shows: Preludes, soon to conclude its run at Southwark Playhouse, and Ghost Quartet, which plays at the new Boulevard Theatre from 24 October.
Sigh. A theme week. The triumph of the dressing-up box and the selling of Strictly’s soul to Disney. This Movie Week had its particularly trying moments (Pokémon, I ask you), although a few couples transcended, or even utilised, their themes to produce some box office triumphs.
My Oscar winners for Movie Week were Kelvin Fletcher, Michelle Visage and Catherine Tyldesley. Though Fletcher didn’t land the clean routine suggested by nabbing this year’s first 10s, with some lift hiccups, he excelled in both the Charleston basics (strong “swivel” foot action) and high-flying Mary Poppins characterisation.
