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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,
Evening Standard rating
Reader rating
Dir: Annie Ryan.
Cast: Karen Egan, Louis Lovett, Janet Moran, Tadhg Murphy, Tom Murphy, Paul Reid
Description: Commedia dell'Arte-styled production, with a mix of melodrama and irreverence, written by Michael West. Set during the early 1900s, six theatre lovers and idealists find their futures continuously and grotesquely thwarted. Directed by Annie Ryan.
Trains: Tube: Hammersmith 
Phone: 0208237 1111
Website: www.riversidestudios.co.uk
The play's plot is loosely based around the 1904 founding of Dublin's Abbey Theatre
There are plenty of literary and historical references in The Corn Exchange's award-winning tragic farce.
It's a tumbling, chaotic tour round Dublin on one day in 1904, à la Ulysses. Its title is derived from the laundry/prison in Joyce's Dubliners. The plot is loosely based around the 1904 founding of Dublin's Abbey Theatre.
But you don't need to spot these to enjoy this rollicking tale of a feverish attempt to create an Irish National Theatre Of Ireland - a dream the dissolute characters plan to realise on the day of a visit by the king.
On a bare stage, with a piano accompaniment, the six-strong cast, in striking, kabuki-like face paint, draw on slick comic delivery and impressive mimetic skills to deliver a commedia dell'arte-style drama that requires them to play 30-odd characters.
The seething, lurid underbelly of turn-of-the-last-century Dublin is viscerally evoked in Michael West's affectionately melodramatic work, beautifully directed by Annie Ryan.
Louis Lovett is outstanding as playwright Willy Hayes, struggling to achieve his dream in the face of his demanding benefactress Eva St John (Karen Egan) and his unpredictable rebel brother Frank (Tadhg Murphy).
The ending is deliciously bleak after the laughs along the way - a robust, abrupt end to a vigorously innovative production.
Until May 5, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road FW6, Tue to Sat 7.45pm, Sun 6pm, Sat mats 2.30pm, £20 to £25, £15 to £16 concs. Tel: 020 8237 1111. Tube: Hammersmith
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
