Theatre Review

Stormy weather, rumbustious entertainment

Although I couldn’t make press night – thank you Storm Ciara (and brother Dennis) – I am so pleased I got to see Musik (Leicester Square Theatre). We are in the world of Billie Trix (Frances Barber). Icon. Rock star. Screen goddess. Drug addict. Billie has lived a life of excess and shares it all. A character who first came to prominence in 2001 when writer Jonathan Harvey collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys to create a musical in which she narrated the story. Now all this time later, apparently they’ve been trying to revive the character for years, the same team have reunited to create one hour of irreverent cabaret that has elements of the Weimar cabaret and Pina Bausch on speed, as the louche and loud Trix lets rip giving us her life story warts and all. Trix is a super (a word used far too often in Germany) German performance artist who has been high, low and everything in between but refuses to be broken. After all she has slept between the toes of the Statue of Liberty and not many can say that.

Elements of the show are so bonkers that it almost becomes endearing and that’s when it is at its weakest. Fortunately Harvey’s writing is witty, bitchy, and in parts hilarious and Barber sweats blood and tears as she belts out the Pet Shop Boys songs, disco heaven. The references to Madonna who is apparently a Trix plagiarist are trite and overplayed but the more topical swipes at Trump and his inadequate and unappealing appendage and her desire to sleep with “a prince who sweats” – Prince Harry – are deliciously bent and funny. Josh Seymour directs with restraint and although Barber is not really a singer her charisma, characterisation and powerful stage presence make this sixty minute cabaret one hour of unbridled hedonistic pleasure.

Meanwhile Rubina Kanagaris dives into the gender war…

Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin (National Theatre) is a meandering mash up of gender politics. However, the context is significant as this is an 18th century court room drama with the focus most definitely on the role and place of women and how that played out then and the difference, if any, today.

Also of significance is the passing of Halley’s Comet in 1759 which may have had an out of space impact on the women , all country folk, who have been asked to judge whether the woman in front of them, a convicted murderer, is pregnant or not. Bizarre but also brutal as the women engage in discourse that takes in all sorts of insults using language that has a wonderful rhythm but is also jagged and jarred as they launch attack after attack on each other. Midwife Lizzie (Maxine Peake) is a prominent character within the group but she encounters
resistance from the others. In the role of the convict Ria Zmitrovicz is a furnace of anger and resistance.

James McDonald’s direction is tight but at times allows the rambling to continue unabated and Bunny Christie’s set is like having an Impressionistic dream, not quite real but unbelievably beautiful. Excellent acting throughout with the only problem being heavy East Anglian accents that occasionally make them incomprehensible. Welkin means “the sky” which is what Kirkwood reaches for. Courageous, flawed and engrossing.

Finally, Sotira Kyriakides enjoys music and philanthropy…

Under the title ‘The Greatest Greeks’, Vasilis Lekkas, the Greek singer held a concert at The Cockpit Theatre. The Ciara storm could not keep the audience away. It was my first experience in seeing Lekkas live and it was, without doubt, immensely rewarding. I felt the intensity of his passion. Mikis Theodorakis described him as ‘the New Zorba’, which Lekkas acknowledged with deserved pride as “the nicest compliment of my life.”

Lekkas paid tribute to Hadjidakis, who was the first composer to bring him fame. Songs by other greats, including Theodorakis, Markopoulos, Xarchakos and Nikolopoulos, completed this magical evening. Yiorgos Saltaris on piano accompanied Lekkas with exceptional flair.

The concert took place under the auspices of the International Foundation for Greece (IFG), founded in London by George and Aspasia Leventis. Mrs Leventis, in her introductory short speech, highlighted the aims and goals of IFG, which apart from promoting the construction of a new archaeological museum on the island of Delos, contributes socially to a wide range of projects. Lekkas is one of the organisation’s ambassadors. The proceeds of this concert will go towards the purchasing of heating oil for schools in northern Greece.

Musik – 020 7734 2222
The Welkin – 020 7452 3000