Articles by Lois Zoppi

Clean! The Musical

Clean! The Musical is as unique a musical as you'll find at the Fringe.

Ingénue: Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood

A simple premise lays the foundation for Melanie Gall to recount the story of two of Hollywood’s brightest golden age stars, Deanna Durbin and Judy Garland: a New York Times jour…

The Hunters of Ghost Hall

An interesting addition to the Fringe schedule, The Hunters of Ghost Hall's paranormal premise, pitch-black stage and eerie soundtrack seems to lend itself more to a Halloween …

Good Grief

Good Grief tells the story of a family who are moving through the motions of grief and bereavement after the loss of their youngest son in an accident at Saltdean Lido.

The Subversive Sussex Walk

Brighton is known for its alternative politics and anything-goes attitude and the Subversive Sussex Walk is packed full of stories about the rabble-rousing Brightonians who did any…

Middle Street Synagogue Open Days

The Jewish community in Brighton has a long history.

Summer Street: The Hilarious, Aussie Soap Opera, Musical Comedy

New British musicals are few and far between nowadays, but the Brighton Fringe is the one place where they are bound to be found.

The Language Archive

We have all been through frustrating moments of not being able to find the right words at the right time.

It's A Wonderful Life

Review
★★★
Lois Zoppi
Brighton
Rialto Theatre
18th Dec, 2018

Unmasked Theatre are filling the week before Christmas with a stage adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 festive favourite.

Vibrantly Lieu: Welcome to the PVC Shopping Channel

'Get yourself an oil-based boyfriend'.

Tom and Bunny Save the World: The Musical

Tom and Bunny Save the World is a folk musical.

The Field Street Monologues

What happens behind closed doors? How much do you really know about your neighbours? Is that knowledge you're better left without? The Field Street Monologues consists of six m…

Heimatmann

Heimatmann, featuring just two performers, John Casey and Jessie Waterfield, tells the story of Georg Elser.

Rum in the Gravy Boat

A play about mental health and growing up with an alcohol-dependent mother.

Notorious Women of Brighton

For so long the history books have been written by men and about men, and Royal Pavilion guide Louise Preskett aims to correct this imbalance with a 90 minute amble through Brighto…

Only in Brighton!

Brighton doesn't really need its ego stroking, but a little indulgence now and then can't hurt, which I think is the philosophy the city is built on.

What's Wrong with Monotony?

What's Wrong With Monotony? sees a dishevelled, defeated writer struggling to put pen to paper, an activity I can confirm takes up more than half of every writer's career.

STAC @ Northbrook Musical Theatre Showcase 2017

The STAC @ Northbrook Showcase featured 14 Musical Theatre Degree students, advertising their many performance talents in just over an hour of song and dance.

Split

Walking into The Warren’s Studio 2 to the sounds of Vengaboys, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani, it was clear I was in for an hour-long nostalgia hit.

Agent of Influence: The Secret Life of Pamela More

In a time of pre-war political tension, gone are the days of frothy fashion journalism for Pamela More, a feisty and glamorous Times journalist who stubbornly prioritises haute-c…

Urinetown: The Musical

Two decades of drought result in a ban on the use of private toilets, and citizens are forced to pay through the roof to use public amenities, a privilege we currently enjoy in the…

Two Singular Sensations

Statistically, January is the month in which tickets to musicals sell best, largely due to the miserable weather and post-Christmas blues.

Stones

A lengthy incarceration, a war outside of the prison walls, and two forgotten prisoners losing their grip on time and reality, Stones is essentially a slow unravelling of two cha…

Mary and Me

Hannah, a 15 year old girl, dies giving birth in a grotto.

4D Cinema

Mamoru Iriguchi performs live, rigged up with a screen around his face and a projector above his head.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The course of true love doesn’t run smooth for long in this Shakespearian comedy.

Would Like To Meet

Would Like to Meet presents an hour of real life dating stories brought into being by the melodramatic Ally, who is desperate to find love and get married; Liz who has grown bore…

Bane 3

Bane looks to relocate and start anew in a new town, a town so idyllic no one would expect to find him there: Sunnyview.

Bane

Bane tells the story of hitman Bruce Bane, ‘a hired hand who gets the job done’.

Airswimming

Airswimming tells the tragic story of two women, Dora and Persephone, who have been incarcerated and forgotten in an asylum for the criminally insane in the 1920s.

Un-Titled

Facing both her 80th year and an unveiling of a new piece of artwork, artist Gert has a lot to think about.

The Butterfly Catcher

The Butterfly Catcher charts the class of 2015’s last days of high school and one student’s attempt to capture it all on film.

Alana

Alana, a young recording artist, finds herself alone after the sudden death of her father.

Talking in the Library

Talking in the Library follows four characters frequenting their public library, each with their own stories to tell.

Mrs Shakespeare

William Shakespeare has been reincarnated as a woman and is the cause of confusion and frustration for her therapist, Henry.

Point and Shoot: A New Musical

The year is 2042: Hollywood is dead, the film industry buckled under the weight of hefty blockbuster films.

2 Complicated

After the success of last year’s dark comedy Way Back, 2 Complicated was bound for success.

Blackout

A mysterious and intriguing show, Blackout certainly makes up in atmosphere what it lacks in narrative.

Lego Dream

Lorna is settling into her new life in London while Brian is enjoying a reclusive lifestyle as a night chef; between Lorna’s brave forays into various evening classes and Brian�…

Away From Home

Male escorts, homosexuality and football: Away From Home takes on a lot in its one hour slot, and it scores perfectly in terms of tone, performance and narrative.

Way Back

Way Back follows Carol, a member of the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Squad, as she goes to desperate and ridiculous measures to bring two men back from the verge of despair.

Auld Acquaintance

Auld Acquaintance follows two couples through an extremely rocky Christmas – a dying mother, a newborn child and a kindling romance between two wives – a recipe for rising tens…

Immigrant Diaries

Most of those to whom I mentioned this show thought I would be in for an evening of hard-hitting, emotional grit concerning the nation’s touchiest issue, but Immigrant Diaries wa…

My Friend Lester

A gentle, low-key musical exploring the relationship between jazz stars Billie Holiday and Lester Young, My Friend Lester offers an hour of soulful music against a story of struggl…

I Need a Doctor: The Whosical

A sci-fi musical isn’t something often seen gracing theatre stages, but this whirlwind production proves that it can be done, and done well.

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