As someone who commutes every day, I become aware of the diverse range of people who use London Underground. With every opening and closing of the tube doors, the ethnic, socio-economic and dramatic mix of my fellow travellers can change in an instant.

As such, the Tube is the perfect setting for The End of the Line, a series of short playlets from young writing collective Knocked for Six which has just finished a three night run.

Piled into The Workshop, a club space in the basement of the Roadtrip Bar in Old Street, we were arranged on benches either side of a thin promenade space. Any fears that the arrangement meant there was not enough space for the actors were appeased when it became clear that the front benches were also the stage, with the central seats being occupied by a succession of interesting characters.

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Portraits: Terrie-May McNulty

August 6, 2010

Earlier this week, I did a photo shoot with my friend, actor Terrie-May McNulty. She will shortly be performing her one-woman cabaret, Oops!, as part of her fund-raising efforts to further her acting education.

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Zip, Lion & Unicorn Theatre

August 4, 2010

Last night, I made my first ever visit to Kentish Town and the Lion & Unicorn theatre. I was there to review a new musical, Zip, written by a small team headed by the theatre’s artistic director, Ray Shell. I wish I could say I liked it more than I did. Inspired by the increasing […]

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Well done, Joe. Go, Clare. Naff off, AA Gill

July 31, 2010

Two stories about gay people in the media have made the front pages of the national newspapers today – and demonstrate generational differences in writers’ (and editors’ and readers’) attitudes to out gay people. The first revolved around BBC presenter Clare Balding, who via her Twitter account (@clarebalding1) has been documenting her correspondence with the […]

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Blink Twice, Above the Stag

July 30, 2010

In 2009, Above the Stag filled the usual torpidity of the summer fringe with Blink!, a collection of songs from musicals that flopped. Unlike the shows it used as source material, it was a hit. It was not without faults, though: the spoken links that provided context weren’t executed well enough to adequately stand alongside […]

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My top 5 WordPress plugins

July 29, 2010

Earlier today, Tim Ireland (@bloggerheads) asked over Twitter: Hello, hive-mind. What are your top 5 must-have WordPress plugins? I’ve tried out several plugins since moving this blog to WordPress, so coming up with possible suggestions wasn’t difficult. Keeping it to five was, as was deciding on an order for them. I’m not sure the order […]

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Burn the Floor, Shaftesbury Theatre

July 22, 2010

Since it brought ballroom dancing back to Saturday night telly, Strictly Come Dancing has taken many a celebrity and attempted to get them to learn to dance. And while that education process has always been an enthralling watch in itself, I have always thought that the exhibition dances from the professionals were a much more […]

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Wolfboy, Trafalgar Studios 2

July 11, 2010

Teenager Bernie has been admitted to a secure hospital after trying to commit suicide. In the next room, former rent boy David thinks he’s a werewolf. Initially, the pair take out their pain on each other, but their abusive relationship gradually becomes one of trust, of friendship and love. Crafting a musical around such dark […]

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La Bête, Comedy Theatre

July 11, 2010

Written in 1991, Peter Filichia’s comedy is a satire on, and tribute to, theatre in the age of Molière. A troupe of actors, led by the purist Elomire (David Hyde Pierce), is desperate to retain the royal patronage of Joanna Lumley’s Princess. So when she insists that they admit the vulgar populist Valere (Mark Rylance) […]

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My first iPhone app, a week in

July 4, 2010

Earlier this week, I blogged about how an iPhone app I’d written was now live. A week in, and things are moving on quite quickly. Midweek, The Stage Jobs & Auditions was selected as a “staff favourite” on the UK App Store, which meant that it got a slot on the App Store main page […]

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Tap Dogs, Novello Theatre

July 2, 2010

If you go to Tap Dogs expecting a dance show with a great story, you’re not going to get one. It’s six guys tapdancing. You’re more likely to get a story from the gaggle of women sitting next to you who, reasoning that the show on stage contains no dialogue, consider it perfectly acceptable to […]

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