Impel theatre

20/01/2025

Curious about the Off West End process - how to get your show assessed, or how to become an assessor? Check out my blog - or drop me a dm to ask any questions you've got.

https://www.kendrajones.net/blog/2025/1/18/offwestend-awards-2025

The OffWest End Awards (or Offies) celebrate exceptional work in London’s smaller venues, and has done for many years now. This fully volunteer-run organisation consists of theatre makers and critics who love theatre, and want to help celebrate and showcase this work. Work that is often small, new...

18/01/2025

thoughts on The Devil Wears Prada at Dominion Theatre, West End

One expects high camp from an adaptation of a cult classic film about fashion, with music by Elton John and starting Vanessa Williams. And to a large extent, the production delivers. It is silly and delightful and funny — at times it takes a serious turn to tackle subjects like impostor syndrome a...

09/01/2025

thoughts on Birmingham Royal Ballet Nutcracker at Royal Albert Hall

My first time seeing a ballet staged for the iconic Royal Albert Hall, and it did not disappoint. Making use of the thrust stage, the production invited the audience to feel a part of the action, not only for those sitting practically on stage, but for the entire audience. Making use of the height o

01/01/2025

thoughts on Aladdin at Watford Palace Theatre

Watford’s panto offering this year benefits from a strong cast of highly talented performers, strong musical direction, and clever and inventive design. Re-imagining the story of Aladdin, there are hijinks and a little magic. There are talking animals - the monkey sidekick you expect (an incredibl...

26/12/2024

thoughts on Matthew Bourne's New Adventures Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells

It is challenging to describe the magnitude of this ballet and its lasting influence without veering into what might seem like hyperbole; but the impact cannot be understated. Twisting the story of Swan Lake and forbidden love from its traditional arch, and refocusing it on male homosexual love, it

12/12/2024

some thoughts on WEER at Soho Theatre

The sheer delightful chaos of Natalie Palamides show is central to its success. In a time when many shows aim to be polished and perfect, Palamides gives us rough around the edges and spiky. Centered around a couple and their downfall, with flashbacks to their meet cute, and all underscored by late

30/11/2024

thoughts on By Their Fruits at Theatre503

This is the story of a young couple, fiery, in love, and intertwined. They have known one another from childhood, grown together, struggled together. Told in the tiny space of Theatre 503, the players and the design transform the space magically. Their bodies intertwine, weaving choreography seamles

29/11/2024

thoughts on Tender at Bush Theatre

Eleanor Tindall’s latest play, Tender, weaves a story of two people who at first appear to be disconnected, each working through their own trauma, who meet by happenstance, and then are drawn together. As the play progresses, we learn that in fact, they were connected all along.  The scrip

27/11/2024

thoughts on Songs for the Storm to Come at HOME Mcr

Entering a long, dark room, there are small TV’s on the floor in a cluster, with hyper-close-up which you can’t quite make out, and in the far corner, a massive projection screen playing a cycle of singing, movement, and conversation. As the cycle progresses, the sound design envelops you, panni...

18/11/2024

thoughts on Selecting a Ghost at Stanley Arts

Staged in promenade fashion, Selecting A Ghost uses every possible inch of the Stanley Arts building to tell a brilliantly devised production of the Arthur Conan Doyle story. The audience are positioned as on a tour of the house, so what might be boring exposition is transformed into an adventure to

09/11/2024

Thoughts on L'Addition from Bert & Nasi and Forced Entertainment at Battersea Arts Centre - BAC

L’Addition begins with a foreword; the two actors coming out, lights up, to give us some information. The bit is reminiscent of the preambles ahead of performances, efforts to provide warnings to audiences. While it pokes fun at these things, at the same time it values and respects them, the tensi...

08/11/2024

thoughts on immersive 1984 at Hackney Town Hall

Presented in the epic and imposing surroundings of Hackney Town Hall, 1984 attempts to translate the sprawling and intense novel into a production of about an hour. Upon arrival you are provided a number badge and some instructions, then invited into the main hall space where there is a bar, and 2 p

06/11/2024

thoughts on Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister at Camden People's Theatre

oddly enough this was before yesterday's events.....

Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister takes us through 9 months (or 3 trimesters) of a young woman’s quest to break the cycles she comes from. She is child of a single mother who works incessantly to make a better life for her daughter; her daughter who has taken that gift and translated ...

23/10/2024

Some slow thoughts on Tim Crouch's Toto Kerblammo! at Unicorn Theatre

Toto Kerblammo tells the story of a young girl and her dog, as they navigate a challenging personal situation for her. Faced with a major tragedy and her mother taken to mental hospital, Effy has to move in with her aunt and uncle, where she can’t keep her dog Toto. It centres around the idea of l...

19/10/2024

thoughts on Tituss Burgess Indecisive Warrior at Phoenix Arts Club

I love an intimate venue, and there was no better place for the incredible Tituss Burgess to bring his cabaret style show. Supported by an excellent 3 piece band and guest performers, Burgess demonstrated why his vocal talent is sought after, and importantly why he is regularly cast in what many wou

17/10/2024

thoughts on CONGREGATION by Es Devlin

50 individuals. 50 stories of coming to London under duress, forced to leave their homes. 50 portraits. Es Devlin’s latest installation THE CONGREGATION at St Mary Le Strand showcases humanity in its purest form. Working with UNHCR and a team of co-writers, she met, drew, and interviewed 50 refuge

14/10/2024

some thoughts on NOWHERE at Battersea Arts Centre - BAC from Fuel Theatre, Khalid Abdalla and Omar Elerian.

This is why we make theatre.

https://www.kendrajones.net/blog/2024/10/13/nowhere-fuel-theatre-battersea-arts-centre

13/10/2024

belated thoughts on The BELT from Ambiguous Dance Company at The Coronet

The Belt, from Korea’s Ambiguous Dance Company, is a two-part event. First, Past, is a site specific exploration of identity through repetitive movement, with 6 short performances which take place across different areas of The Coronet theatre. Billed as “immersive” i would argue the label does...