Morning:
14°c
Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Bruce Dessau's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Owen Lewis.
Cast: Simon Munnery, Miles Jupp
Description: Owen Lewis directs Stewart Lee's comedy that explores life and love in Elizabethan times, as the explorer tries to charm his way into the bed of the monarch. Starring Simon Munnery and Miles Jupp.
Trains: Tube: Euston 
, Tube / Bus: 10, 18, 24, 29, 73, 91, 168, 253 
Phone: 0207388 8822
Website: www.thebloomsbury.com
Extra info: Pub, Food, Party Hire
It is impossible to produce an irreverent historical comedy without inviting comparisons with Blackadder and this romp certainly knows it. Writer Stewart Lee even makes a pre-emptive strike by namechecking Baldrick and co’s authors Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Maybe he should give them some royalties, too.
The tissue-thin plot involves Raleigh (Miles Jupp) wooing Queen Bess (cross-dressing Simon Munnery). After bragging about winning “Celebrity Cock-Fighting On Ice” his seduction technique falters. The potato-populariser promptly finds himself facing the chop.
And that is it. Numerous jokes feel as if they date back to 1600 and the cast often seems to be enjoying proceedings more than the audience. Amiable posho Jupp has a whiff of Stephen Fry about him, while Munnery’s gnomic one-liners sound smuggled in from his stand-up: “Violence is the only language the Spanish understand... and Spanish, of course.”
This is Stewart Lee going for broad laughs in silly rather than subversive mode. As history mash-ups go, it is harmlessly daft fun. The sight of two grown men wearing ships on their heads is worth the ticket price alone.
Croydon Clocktower, 16 October
(020 8253 1030, www.croydonclocktower.org.uk).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
