Theatre review: Other People's Money

Southwark Playhouse’s publicity blurb for Other People’s Money originally included an endorsement from the current (at time of writing) US President; if it was intended to appeal to audiences’ morbid curiosity it presumably failed, as that quote’s now been taken down from the website* and audiences can make their own minds up as to whether there’s a character in Jerry Sterner’s 1989 play whom Trump could possibly have identified with. Sterner essentially pits against each other two archetypes of what American business is all about: Andrew “Jorgy” Jorgenson (Michael Brandon, the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine,) is the 68-year-old CEO of The Wire and Cable Company of New England, a Rhode Island business founded by his father, which employs over a thousand people in its central plant; this has long since ceased to be profitable, but a number of successful side projects keep the company afloat.

Theatre review: Frozen

Bryony Lavery is a writer whose name is attached to a lot of work, but it's often the text for a high-concept production like the immersive Kursk, where the script isn't necessarily the star. When the staging lacks something - as with the disappointing Treasure Island - I haven't seen her writing rise above it. So I was interested to see what is presumably one of the plays that made her name, 2002's Frozen, inspired by the surviving relatives of Fred West's victims. Nancy (Sally Grey) is a mother whose youngest daughter Rhona disappeared at the age of 10, but her faith that she's still alive keeps her going, even leading her to start a charity searching for missing children. Her hopes are finally dashed when serial killer Ralph (Mark Rose) is caught, and Rhona is revealed to have been one of his victims. Nancy's energies now go into wishing she could confront him and take revenge.