Theatre review: The Fear of 13

The Donald and Margot Warehouse celebrates the start of its Timothy Sheader era by hiking the price of my preferred seats by almost 150%, so I was in a slightly worse seat than usual for a mere 50% or so rise for the opening show, Lindsey Ferrentino's The Fear of 13. Though at times an onslaught of implausible events it's firmly in the "truth is stranger than fiction" camp as, with the exception of the character of Jackie who we're told is partly fictionalised to protect her identity, it's based on a documentary film covering true events: Jackie (Nana Mensah) is a graduate student interviewing inmates of a Pennsylvania high security prison on behalf of an advocacy group, and is eventually drawn to the story of quietly charming Death Row inmate Nick Yarris (Adrien Brody,) convicted in 1982 of a particularly grisly murder. Nick has become a prolific reader in prison, and has educated himself to become a compelling storyteller.

Theatre review: The Devil Wears Prada

For the second week in a row Phill and I went to a show we'd had tickets to for over a year, and after that wait we can now definitively say that Elton John (music,) Shania Taub & Mark Sonnenblick (lyrics) and Kate Weatherhead's (book) The Devil Wears Prada is a thing that happened on a stage, while we were facing in its direction. Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger and particularly the 2006 David Frankel film adaptation, it's a Ronseal musical: It does exactly what it says on the tin, no more, no less. Georgie Buckland plays Andy, the aspiring journalist who's been unable to break into the industry in the way she'd hoped, so as a last-ditch attempt somehow wangles a job many young women are fighting over: Second Assistant to Miranda Priestly (Vanessa Williams,) fearsome editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Runway.

Theatre review: The Ungodly

Transferring to Southwark Playhouse's Little from Ipswich, Joanna Carrick's The Ungodly starts during the Civil War, continuing through England's years of Puritanical rule, and essentially serves as a villain origin story for The Witchfinder General. But unlike most stories about witch-hunts, whether literal or metaphorical, it spends very little of its time on people who use the persecution of others to further their own agendas: For the most part these characters are true believers. At the centre of the story is Nadia Jackson as Susan, and her relationship with Richard (Christopher Ashman,) who we first meet proposing to her at an inopportune time - she's just buried the child her late sister had asked her to raise. The pair will eventually marry, but their generally happy relationship will be clouded by them losing four children of their own.

Theatre review: One Man Musical

One of this year's best-reviewed Edinburgh shows gets a limited London run as musical comedy duo Flo & Joan take on writing duties, but a back seat in performance as they provide musical support and cede centre stage to the most influential man in musical theatre history (he assures us,) His Brittanic Excellency, The Rev. Dr Baron Dame Sir Andrew Lloyd Lord Webber BA (Hons) MEng, QC, MD, P.I, FSB. One Man Musical sees George Fouracres as ALW go over his life story, from his perfectly normal childhood as an obsessive fan of gothic architecture, to his first marriage to Sarah One, whom he met while she was at school and he... wasn't, but everything was definitely above board. She was old enough to drive at the time, anyway.

Theatre review: Guards at the Taj

As well as being one of the most famous man-made landmarks on Earth, Taj Mahal in Agra, India is known as something of a romantic symbol of love, built as it was by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his favourite wife after her death. But there's also an enduring legend that he decreed no other structure should ever match its beauty, and to ensure this had the hands cut off the 20,000 workers who built the monument so they could never work on anything else. Rajiv Joseph's 2015 play Guards at the Taj deals with this contrast of profound beauty and extreme cruelty that the Taj represents, and Adam Karim revives it at the Orange Tree as this year's JMK Award winning director. During the 16 years of construction, the monument was hidden from public view behind a wall, and the play opens a few hours before dawn comes and the Taj is finally revealed.