2025 Stage Door Reviews

Descending the steps to The Substation for Cleo Rapture’s one woman show, I had no idea what to expect. Knowing a little about Cleo I was surprised to see her signature pole missing. Photo by Georgia Jane Griffiths The phrase ‘piss be with you’ instantly conjured up memories of cold pews and Sunday morning hymns - which was exactly the point. From the second Cleos voice was heard over the speakers encouraging us to reply ‘ and also with you’ as a group refrain, I was in. From

You enter Belvoir Upstairs and are handed a wedding program. White draping frames an arch. A dance floor sits centre stage like a modest function centre awaiting speeches and champagne. Two actors wait on stage as guests arrive, groom and best man in place. It feels charming. Festive. Harmless. It is also a cover. In Sam Holcroft’s A Mirror, the wedding is camouflage. In this dystopian world, gatherings must be disguised to avoid detection by a regime that monitors art, cultu

Opening night on Thursday saw a packed theatre gather for the return of The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, a work that once scandalised 1970s audiences and, half a century later, still feels strikingly relevant. We may like to think we have come a long way, but this razor- edged tragicomedy quietly suggests otherwise. Before a word is spoken, the world is fully realised. Set and costume designer Isabel Hudson has created a mid-century apartment that feels both intimate and s