Andrew is on sabbatical but Phil is soldiering on to help you decide between the Merlot and the Marlowe and generally putting London's West End theatre to rights
Choosing a title for your play must be a bit like negotiating a minefield. It’s a wonder Princess Diana never got involved.
Unless you’re Ernie Wise or Alan Ayckbourn you’ve probably spent months, possibly years, crafting, polishing and honing it. And surely then dithering over a name by which it will be known for perpetuity.
A very good play with an iffy title may, possibly, not matter too much. But a bad play with the wrong moniker can give critics a field day. Read the rest of this entry »
60 years on the throne. Andrew is laying odds that the Queen will still be around to get that telegram off to Phil should he hang on a few more years. But what does the Jubilee really mean to the Whingers?
Royal cupcakes? Cliff, Elton and Shirley on a traffic island in the Mall? Huge anticipation that Princess Beatrice might turn up in a new hat? The Whingers’ preferred Jubilee line is that it’s an excuse (should we need one) for a few tinctures.
But before we unravel our bunting there is a coronation to celebrate. King Michael (Grandage) has abdicated after his ten-year reign – topically eschewing male primogeniture – leaving theatrically-minded eyes agog to see how comfortably the jewel-laden Donmar crown balances on the head on his successor Queen Josie (O’Rourke). Read the rest of this entry »
One of the biggest surprises produced by the supposed horror shocker Ghost Stories has been the volume and ferocity of the vilification expressed by disappointed punters in the comments section.
The gist of the complaints is that people feel cheated. Ghost Stories (“Just keep telling yourself it’s only a show”) makes promises it just can’t keep.
Anyway, nothing has attracted such universal derision since Andrew last stepped out in a new summer shirt. Read the rest of this entry »
Why, oh why, oh why don’t people just ask us before they go around putting on plays willy nilly?
It would save an awful lot of strife, time, expense, trouble and suffering in the long run. Read the rest of this entry »
A West End Whinger 