Theatre review: & Juliet

Given the amount of terrible shows I've seen over the years when the signs really should have been there, regular readers of this blog might both have surmised that FOMO has a certain amount of influence on what theatre I book. So an expensive West End show that, despite a cast and creatives I like, I don't feel compelled to spend money on, comes as a bit of a relief. The idea of a jukebox musical of the songs of Max Martin - songwriter for a seemingly endless list of artists that includes the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Broccoli Spears, P!nk and Bon Jovi - built around an alternate ending for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet seemed perfectly skippable when it premiered last year. Except, proving that my instincts can be an absolute disaster in what I avoid as well as what I see, David West Read's & Juliet got rave reviews both from offical critics and, more importantly, theatre Twitter, and started to sound very much like my kind of thing.

Theatre review: Leave to Remain

It's mercifully not about Brexit, but the title of Matt Jones and Kele Okereke's new musical Leave to Remain is still enough to bring me out in hives. Instead it's "leave" as in "permission," as the story begins when London-based American Alex's (Billy Cullum) firm decide to relocate their business entirely out of the UK to Abu Dhabi (...so I guess it is about Brexit?) His visa is entirely dependent on his job, so if he resigns he'll no longer be entitled to stay in the country. He's built his life here and the fastest obvious way to stay is to marry his boyfriend Obi (Tyrone Huntley.) But their relationship is very new so it's an extreme step, and despite quickly agreeing to it Obi is emotionally very distant so it's hard to be sure how he really feels about his partner. Besides, formalising his relationship will mean Obi confronting his family and the way they reacted when they found out he was gay.