149 stories by "Jessica Handscomb"
First appearing at Hampstead Theatre in 2015, David Hare's The Moderate Soprano has now transferred to the West End, more specifically the Duke Of York's Theatre. 'Glyndebourne's original lo…
The Adventure Of Isaac Saddlesore and the Witches Of Glenn doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Despite being a bit of a mouthful, this title does accurately portray the goings-on o…
The Mikado, a comic opera written by legendary duo Gilbert and Sullivan, was first performed at the Savoy Theatre in 1885. Set in the fictional Japanese town of Titipu (yes, Titipu), we foll…
  For anyone who doesn't know, in 2007 Britney Spears, actual living icon, had a very public and well-reported breakdown. This period of her life included lots of tracksuits, attacking…
In February, yet again, innocent people in America were murdered during a normal day at school. A student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, brought a semi-automat…
Losing a child, surely, must be any parent's worst nightmare. I've thankfully never had to endure the worry this possibility must cultivate, as I don't have any children yet, and so can't im…
Girls & Boys is not what it may sound like. No, this is not a harmless romance about a boy and a girl, although it begins as one. But as time goes on, our unnamed narrator (Carey Mulliga…
Eugene O'Neill had an extraordinary life. He was an extraordinary playwright, winning the Pulitzer prize 3 times, seeing 35 of his 50 plays produced, and being awarded the Nobel Prize in lit…
This week, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian author of Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun and We Should All Be Feminists, was asked by a French journalist: 'Are there book shops in Nigeri…
Following its hugely successful run at the Almeida in 2016/17, Mary Stuart has returned to the Duke of York's Theatre. The Islington venue is the gift that keeps on giving, delivering hit af…
Following the success of 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning The Flick, Annie Baker is back. John, her new gothic tale, is set in a B&B in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Once the site of the deadlies…
Directed by Lucy Curtis, Bunny is a coming-of-age tale about a self-conscious sixth-former named Katie (Catherine Lamb) from Luton. She somehow ends up on the wrong side of town with her 24-…
The Rat Pack, as they were collectively known, was comprised of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Wildly popular by the 1960s, they frequented the L…
This time last year, La Soirée were performing their smash-hit winter cabaret in the temporarily erected Spiegeltent, in the very centre of Leicester Square. Fortunately, I was sent to revi…
Christmas is upon us! Well, late November is upon us, which in turn brings the annual resurrection of the great British pantomime. Charles Court Opera are bringing their eleventh "boutique p…
In 1964, Marshal McLuhan taught us that 'the medium is the message'. Back then, that medium was television. Today, it is the internet, social media, smartphones that live in our pocket. We a…
Rome season is upon us. Directed by Angus Jackson, the Royal Shakespeare company present three of Shakespeare's plays centring on Roman history: Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, and Corio…
Ian Dury was born in Harrow in 1942. He contracted polio during the 1949 epidemic, which left him disabled in later life. In 1971, Ian Dury and the Blockheads were formed and quickly became …
London, 1910 – George Joseph Love (Fred Perry) is a serial fraudster, wooing and tricking the desperate women of London. Adelaide Pinchin (Natasha J Barnes) is a seamstress, making and…
After their success with last year's Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Lampoons are back, with another classic horror film crudely condensed into almost two hours of slapdash, faux-improvised…
Published in 1865, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a story that has been loved and revered by adults and children alike for over 150 years. Now, since its creation in 2011, Christophe…
After its debut at the 1985 Brighton Fringe, Yukio Ninagawa's revered production of Macbeth is back. A unique and beautiful fusion of East and West, Shakespeare's timeless tale gets a Japane…
Turkey is Frankie Meredith's first full-length play. It centres around Madeline (Peyvand Sadeghian) who desperately wants to have a baby. The fact that she is in a relationship with a woman,…
'La petit mort' is a phrase originating from the sixteenth century. Its literal translation is 'the little death', but it is more commonly used to describe the sensation of orgasm and liken …
“It's just a bit of fun” – a phrase that almost always justifies and precedes a bad idea, a phrase that Larry Lamb (Richard Coyle) exclaims in numerous ways, on various occ…
