Theatre review: American Idiot

Green Day's one of those bands I never really followed too closely but, as it turns out, I know and like a lot more of their songs than I would have guessed. In any case they're an unlikely choice to get a jukebox musical, but it happened with American Idiot - largely consisting of songs from the concept album of the same name - which has only previously had concert performances in this country, so Racky Plews' production is the first full UK staging. The songs are held together by a fairly vague story of Johnny (Aaron Sidwell) and his two friends, who all find themselves at a loss after 9/11. Johnny leaves his parents' suburban home to move to a city where he soon becomes a junkie; Tunny (a newly-buff Alexis Gerred) joins the army, losing a leg in Iraq; and in the least-developed storyline Will (Steve Rushton) stays behind with his pregnant girlfriend, spending his days getting stoned and feeling abandoned by his friends. X Factor song-shouter Amelia Lily also appears as Johnny's girlfriend Whatsername.

Theatre review: Rooms - A Rock Romance

In the speculation over who will succeed Nicholas Hytner as Artistic Director of the National Theatre in two years' time, one name unlikely to even cross the selection panel's minds is Neil McPherson. But he runs an unsubsidised, 50-seat room above a failed pub as if it were the National; I can only imagine what he could achieve if you gave him some actual resources to work with. The Finborough regularly punches above its weight in new writing, political theatre, classic revivals and international work, and now it reminds us it can also do the unashamed crowd-pleaser. The venue's occasional musicals tend to be revivals but this is the European premiere of Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon's 2005 off-Broadway hit Rooms - A Rock Romance. There's not much that's new about the story of co-songwriters who fall in love, but Andrew Keates' production makes it fresh, helped by some strong tunes.