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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,
Nicholas de Jongh's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Dawn Walton.
Cast: Ashley Walters, Nathaniel Martello-White, Amelia Lowdell, Cyril Nfi, Shane Zaza
Description: Exploring the stories and the ambitions of the workers behind the glossy stores of Oxford Street, written by Levi David Addai.
Trains: Tube: Sloane Square 
Phone: 0207565 5000
Website: www.royalcourttheatre.com
Sporting chance: Emmanuel (Cyril Nri) and Kofi (Nathaniel Martello-White) dream of a better life outside the drudgery of a sports shop
You might think a play that lurks behind the scenes of an Oxford Street sportswear store, to eavesdrop on security and sales staff labouring in the Christmas rush, would be no great laughing matter. Yet while Levi David Addai’s play remains obstinately plot-lite, its undercurrents of comedy and pathos keep the 85-minute evening buoyant.
For Addai’s mainly young characters at the Total Sports store, not unlike those relentless hopers and wistful dreamers in Chekhov or Tennessee Williams, aspire to make something of their lives and escape. They want more than regimented drudgery at just over £6 per hour in retail will ever give them.
“Hi, believe I can fly. Spread my wings — fly away,” ridiculously sings Emmanuel, the 53-year-old Ghanaian loss prevention manager, who secretly reads up on business management as if he could ever get into it. The only one taking his job half-seriously is Alek, brought to lovely comic life by Kristian Kiehling, all wreathed in officiousness, pedantry and impassive gloom as the young, Polish security guy, immersed in the Daily Mail.
Here, then, is one of those theatrical snap-shots of London today, of its hustled, multi-cultural servant-class, who cater to a nation of shopping addicts. A single plot-line is traced through the experience of Nathaniel Martello-White’s dejected Kofi, a young black Londoner who achieved a university degree and wants to hack his way into journalism but somehow remains trapped at Total Sports.
The arrival of old schoolmate, Darrell Obi-Anderson, whom Ashley Waters endows with an air of smiling, nonchalant menace, proves dangerous. Not only does Darrell threaten Kofi’s fragile romance with Preeya Kalidas’s theatre-mad Loraina but the newcomer also forces him to choose between turning a blind eye to criminality or exposing it.
In the cruel, believable resolution Kofi emerges as victim and fall-guy, aware that he dare not tell the truth. “Be a winner, not a sinner,” an Oxford Street pamphleteer urges him as he leaves. It is surely Addai’s intention to suggest that in the service industry today the shameless, artful sinner wins out.
Dawn Walton’s environmental production, fortified by Soutra Gilmour’s neat design, converts the theatre into a sports shop. The audience sit on stools. Narrow vertical and horizontal playing areas bisect the square auditorium. It all feels authentic. If only Addai had probed more deeply, Oxford Street would be a more exciting theatrical thoroughfare.
Until 31 May (020 7565 5000, www.royalcourttheatre.com)
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
