Articles by Julia French

The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Ivan has done everything he was meant to do.

Antigone Alone

Michael McEvoys’s tight re-telling of the story of the fierce young heroine Antigone weaves together all three of Sophocles’s Theban plays into an intimate and impactful solo p…

Monsters - A Modern Frankenstein Story

Review
★★★
Julia French
Brighton
Rialto Theatre
16th Nov, 2018

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is 200 years old and yet the universality of the novel’s core message keeps her creation in the very centre of popular culture.

The O.S. Map Fan Club

On paper – cartographical paper by preference – this is the sort of show that is the heart of fringe theatre.

Persuasion

As guilty pleasures go, a dose of Austen is probably as guilt free as they come.

Quiz Night: The Musical

There comes an awkward point in some friendships when going to the pub is no longer quite enough entertainment.

Google Drive

When choosing the most appropriate art form to explain statistical significance, Dan Attfield settled on hip-hop as having the most educational value.

Kids with Beards: Fandango!

Fandango, the Kids with Beards allege, means party.

Des Kapital: Never Mind the Cossacks!

Some people might think that setting the Battle of Stalingrad to Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time is somewhat trivialising the matter.

BADD

to know how to recognise the occult in your child? How to be vigilant for signs of Satan? Hoping for practical tips to drive the Devil out? This is the educational lecture for you.

Sleeping Trees: SCI-FI?

‘Where are we going Admiral Ox?’ asks the starry eyed, young space farmer who is really the secret son of an evil galactic overlord with special powers.

Any Suggestions, Doctor?: An Improvised Adventure in Space & Time

Taking a much loved pop culture reference point is always a sure fire way to fill seats.

A Ship Of Fools Theatre Company: Welcome to Paradise

Have you been more naughty or more nice this year? Are you sure?A company of gentlemanly vagabonds introduce themselves with a reminder to relax before the “Art” starts.

Donal Coonan: Mr Grebe Is Taking Your Class Today

Sometimes you stumble on a stand-up so freshly funny that you remember why you started liking unknown comedy shows in the first place.

The Elephant Girls

Forget lovable rogues and artful dodgers, this uncomfortable monologue tells the true story of a London awash with criminal gangs in the interwar years.

Jonny & The Baptists: Eat The Poor

There is going to be a lot of trouble for everyone when the Swan Liberation Army finally achieve emancipation and turn the United Kingdom into an totalitarian Swan state.

Shit-faced Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

“Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

The Empress and Me

Imperial China, with its exotic riches and intrigues, remains as compelling to audiences today as it did in the early part of the 20th century, when the Princess Der Ling toured he…

Drunk With a Pen

Review
★★★
Julia French
Brighton
Artista Studio (Artista@Electric) Photography & Film Studio
27th Mar, 2017

Being read to by another person is one of life’s great pleasures, doubly so when it is the author doing the reading.

Mawaan Rizwan: Gender Neutral Concubine Pirate

Quite why Mawaan Rizwan describes himself as a Gender Neutral Concubine Pirate remains a bit of a mystery throughout the show.

Waiting for Gandalf

Being bustled and barged out of the way on entering the theatre was a novel experience as a bucket hat, backpack and zip up hoody darted past the queue to desperately claim his …

Come Fly With Me...

Playful pink lighting, red velvet drapes, glittery fixtures and wooden circus seats - entering the Brighton Spiegeltent screams ‘Showtime!’ Come Fly With Me is a charming, c…

Athena Kugblenu: Reality Check

Bubbling with energy and wit, Athena Kugblenu shares with us her opinions and musings on just about every topic you might need to navigate life as a British millennial.

Simon & Garfunkel: Through The Years

Pulling up a stool in front of the intimate, softly lit stage down in the basement of Komedia, reminiscent of so many NYC music venues, the audience and I settled in to enjoy the…

Helen

Although you may well have some early misgivings, Helen is a show to persevere with.

Broken Glass by Arthur Miller

Written when he was nearly 70 years old, Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, had been in his mind’s development ever since his marriage to Marilyn Monroe ended shortly before her deat…

HIP

Gathering the audience in the street and lining them up against a wall may be a slightly alarming start, but Jolie Booth proceeds to weave a visualisation so utterly convincing, …

Wake

Wake is an original new work written and directed by Kevin Wilson who has brought his company over from the Isle of Wight for their first ever Fringe and indeed first foray off t…

The Brighton Killers

‘Brighton looks like a town helping the police with their enquiries’ quotes our white-coated guide at the top of the stairs in Brighton Town hall and raises a laugh as she intro…

Naked Boys Reading: La Femme

Ascending the back stairs of the Marlborough to be greeted by the towering and magnificently coiffed Dr Sharon Husbands, doesn’t quite give an accurate taste of what follows.

Stamp

Stamp is a ridiculous, riotous ripping up of the rule book for examining gender binaries.

The Sessions

This live re-staging of The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios is a monumentally ambitious endeavor and musically, it achieves magnificently.

Made in Cumbria

Review
★★★
Julia French
Brighton
The Iron Duke Pub Guesthouse Kitchen & Theatre
21st Apr, 2016

Postlethwaite is a likeable stage presence whose manifestation of five deliciously dark women creates some very funny moments.

The Perfect Murder

Any production of The Perfect Murder, Peter James’ bestselling novella set in Brighton, was always going to generate interest in its hometown.

King Charles III

Mike Bartlett’s beautifully worded imagining of a constitutional crisis without a constitution invites us to witness the starkness of the Royal Family stripped bare whilst presen…

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