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,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
It is somewhat disconcerting when the car you drive – in my case a Vauxhall Corsa – becomes the bashed-about central character in a piece of theatre.
Yet according to Christian von Richthofen, who co-conceived this deeply peculiar event and performs in it with Rolf Clausen, the Corsa is “bad in an accident, great in a concert” and thus ripe to be turned into an entire symphony orchestra.
Togged up in white tie like members of the Vienna Philharmonic, von Richthofen and Clausen proceed to use the parts of the car as all manner of percussion instruments, applying the contents of a toolbox when a different sound is required.
The poor Corsa, salvaged from a scrap yard but polished up beautifully, starts off draped in white like a sacrificial victim in Roman times and ends up smashed to smithereens.
This admittedly energetic twosome promise music ranging from Bach to Motörhead, with a bit of Benny Goodman thrown in too, but to me it simply sounded like a cacophony of banging.
Disconcertingly, at one point Rolf looks as though he’s humping the car door.
If the songs are bad, the between-songs banter is several junctions beyond excruciating. One fears that von Richthofen and Clausen weren’t the cool kids at school; their over-eager manner and the fact that they aren’t speaking their mother tongue combine so infelicitously that the next round of banging comes as a merciful relief.
A car crash of an evening, in too many ways.
Until 4 May (020 8237 1111, www.riversidestudios.co.uk)
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
