REVIEW: The Lady Vanishes @ Theatre Royal It doesn’t transfer well from celluloid to the stage and much of the action is not shown but spoken about. The scarcely veiled propaganda doesn’t wash with today’s audience and just descends to cheap laughs. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
Jonathan Harvey Award-winning writer Jonathan Harvey talks to Brian Butler about the strong women of Coronation Street, working with the Pet Shop Boys and same-sex relationship teaching. By Brian Butler • 4 min read
REVIEW: Jerker @ King’s Head Theatre Playwright Robert Chesley, who died of an Aids-related illness in 1990,described his often-banned 1985 play Jerker as “ a pornographic elegy “- it’s an interesting paradox to consider as most would regard pornographic as a derogatory term. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
PREVIEW: Fringe! queer film & arts fest – East London A provocative and political programme of film screenings, workshops, panels and parties is promised across a range of venues in East London in November By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: Master Harold and the boys @ National Theatre But raging adolescent insecurity , bolstered by a personal sense of injustice at having to look after his drunken invalid father, bubble to the surface and we see unconscious prejudice openly manifest itself, changing the three men’s relationship with dire consequences. The anachronism and injustice By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: Transformers @ BREMF Fitting in with this year’s theme of Metamorphosis, this concert showed how Renaissance composers were all too willing to imitate their contemporaries or those of the recent past – often embellishing and developing the original. So in Transformers we were served up an intriguing mix of church and s By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: Theatre Hansard @ National Theatre Jennings, sharp but world-weary and Duncan , lashing tongue and devastating looks are utterly brilliant. It’s a story of squandered lives and unhappy compromises – fit for our times. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: The Entertainer @ Theatre Royal Richie’s early career as a holiday camp entertainer and later game show host sets him in good stead for the constant inane patter that is Archie’s hallmark, and he works an audience like an old pro. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: Up Pompeii @ Shaw’s Theatre Up Pompeii London’s Shaw Theatre 1969 saw the start of 2 very different tv comedy series – Monty Python and Up Pompeii. The latter was created as a vehicle for the great comedian Frankie Howerd who starred as Lurcio the down-trodden head slave of a family whose sexual adventures never quite came ou By Brian Butler • 2 min read
REVIEW: FILM: Coming Out But the overwhelming mood of the film is of the acceptance which we all seek. As one participant tell us – “coming out at 14 or 50 is an incredibly hard thing to do, but it shouldn’t be “ As another puts it “ we come out so people like us know they are not alone. “ By Brian Butler • 3 min read
REVIEW: Frankenstein @ Theatre Royal Brighton It’s a bold re-imagining and like the monster , it has its flaws but it’s a novel creation. By Brian Butler • 2 min read
PREVIEW: Cinderella @Pavilion Theatre Worthing Worthing Theatres have assembled a starry cast for their latest pantomime, which opens for a season in late November. By Brian Butler • 1 min read
