Sam Bennett A couple of hours prior to going onstage in Covent Garden, Stephen Bailey thinks back to when he first started out in stand-up. He would do jokes of the same ilk as other comics, he tells me, because that’s what he thought people wanted. If he performed by that rule today, he explains, […]
Archive | Concerts and theatre
Review: The Dragprov Revue
The Dragprov Revue – a title born out of the marrying together of drag and improv. But in the case of this drag king/drag queen double act, the drag seems almost secondary. The gift Ed Scrivens (‘Eaton Messe’) and Francesca Forristal (‘Christian Adore’) have for improvisation is what carries the show – a talent made […]
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Mi Flamenco Presents: Incognito
Exciting, moving flamenco dance, powerful song, virtuoso guitar and cello – with lots of charm, imagination and theatre thrown in Incognito, by international flamenco company Mi Flamenco is touring for the last time this spring. It is a show not to be missed. It contains all the spirit of authentic, pulsating flamenco, intertwined with the […]
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“Different, New, and Quite Dangerous”: An Interview with Jo Noble
Last year Jo Noble directed Oxford Playhouse’s 17|25 Young Company in Jane Eyre, which “got really good reviews”, she recalls. “It was a complicated text in many ways,” I’m told. “Often in quite dense novels, an awful lot of interest is in the minutiae of the writing, the descriptions and so forth, which of course […]
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The Spirit of Cilla: An Interview with Kara Lily Hayworth
After acting on screen and stage Kara Lily Hayworth has now risen to play one the UK’s best-loved national treasures. The life of Liverpudlian legend, Cilla Black, has been fashioned into a gorgeous new musical, adapted from the critically-acclaimed ITV mini-series written by BAFTA award-winner Jeff Pope. One of the few truly great all-round entertainers, […]
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Proper Trousers: An Interview with Adam Kashmiry
Sam Bennett “You were born a girl, in the traditional sense, in Egypt,” I say to Adam Kashmiry, not quite sure of my terminology, “but you wanted to be a boy.” “Yes,” he says. Growing up in Egypt, his expressions of so-called masculinity were not accepted by others – the way he walked, talked and […]
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Christian Adore and Eaton Messe: Wholesome Drag
Francesca Forristal sits in Oxford’s Jam Factory with a liquorice tea, talking tattoos and her interest in what makes a song or music artist queer, when her friend and comedy partner Ed Scrivens hurries into view. “Oh, wigs, wigs, the wigs, can I see? Can I see?” she says, in reference to what he’s carrying. […]
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Ten Questions: Bianca Del Rio
We ask the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season six winner about Lewis Hamilton, wardrobe malfunctions and Valentine’s Day ahead of her Birmingham Symphony Hall gig this July. You’ve performed ‘Blame it on Bianca Del Rio’ shows in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Asia. Was there one particular gig you enjoyed the most? It would […]
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