theatre

Review: Mojo

Yesterday I went to see Mojo with a friend in London. It was a great day out as the friend I saw it with I hadn’t seen since September so it was a great to have a catch up and go see a play with a great cast that we both ended up really enjoying.

Mojo is set in a Soho bar and club in the 1950’s and it all takes place across two days. One night Silver Johnny (Tom Rhys Harries) is with the club’s boss Ezra talking to Sam Ross who comes across a bit of a gangster (or at least all the other character’s react to him as if he is). The next morning Ezra is dead, Silver Johnny is missing and the clubs staff Mickey (Brendan Coyle) Ezra’s second-in-command, Baby (Ben Whishaw) Ezra’s son who is clearly at least a bit crazy, Skinny (Colin Morgan) who’s slightly dim-witted and always manages to rub Baby up the wrong way, and the double act of Sweets (Rupert Grint) and Potts (Daniel Mays) are struggling to figure out what to do and if or when Ross is going to come and murder them all.

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REVIEW: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Today I went to London’s West End and saw a play. This was the first time I’ve ever gone to the theatre to see something that was neither a musical nor a Shakespeare play. I’m pretty sure The Cripple of Inishmaan was one of the best plays to see with that sort of background.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is currently playing in the Noel Theatre until 31st August and its nine person cast is headed by Daniel Radcliffe. While obviously Daniel Radcliffe probably pulled in a whole different generation of theatre goers, he wasn’t the reason I went to see this play.

The Cripple of Inishmaan was written by Martin McDonagh, the writer and director of the films In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths which are two of my favourite films. I love the humour and the characters in both and I thought that if his plays were anything like his films, I’m gonna love it.

And love it I did. It is seriously funny. It’s got running gags (I’m never going to look at a cow the same way again), physical humour, and crazy characters that bounce of each other making what could be a tragic situation even more hilarious.

Granted there were those moments of quiet, which was played very well, but I spent the majority of the plays running time with a huge smile on my face.

The set design was simple but effective (it had a rotating centre piece which reminded me a lot of when I saw Mama Mia! on Broadway)  and that coupled with the music and how the cast moved around the set gave the impression of a very small community.

The entire cast was amazing, I especially liked Sarah Green as Helen McCormick who was probably my favourite character. Of course I have to talk a little about Daniel Radcliffe. This was the first thing I’ve seen him in that wasn’t Harry Potter and while I never really had any doubts, this role proves that he can act. He can do a pretty decent Irish accent and the way he moved his body was fantastic and so believable.

I congratulate the entire cast and crew for a fantastic play and I’m left here hoping that another of Martin McDonagh’s plays will return to the West End very soon.