The One with Jazz Hands and Sex Jokes: To pay the prices big regional theatres charge, most audiences want something safe, not exceptional. That is why we have so many musicals in general, but specifically why we see mostly touring favourites, jukebox shows, and whenever we do see something new, it is based on a franchise. Such is the case for Friends: The Musical Parody. We are all expecting mediocrity, more or less, but we are still hoping for comfort and comedy. Friends, l

There is perhaps nowhere on earth where poverty is more glamorised than 19th-century Montmartre. It was a haven for creatives and free-thinkers, and it is hard to imagine the aesthetics of today's starving artists, in Paris or anywhere else, being so adored. In Scottish Opera’s production of La Bohème, the commodification of Montmartre in the present is woven into the lives of the characters in the past. At the same time, we are invited to revel in their romances, their trick

Kiren Virdee creates a space for reclamation: I recently watched a 1999 film called East Is East, a comedy-drama widely regarded as one of the best British Pakistani representations in the media. As rich a portrayal as it was, I was struck by the fact that a major plot point revolves around two Pakistani girls being “unattractive”. The audience is expected to laugh at these young women for their size, their facial features, and their body hair. How must it feel...

Breaks no ground but pleases the crowd: Air travel has experienced a comedic resurgence of late. 90's sitcom The High Life is returning as a musical next year, airport manager and reality star Jane Boulton has been enjoying her (second) fifteen minutes of fame, and a soundbite from a certain airline has dominated social media this summer. Fresh !nk Theatre’s two-hander comedy Cabin Fever sees performers Aurelia Harris-Johnstone and Beth Miles switch between several different

Romances with rugs, flings with futons, and crushes on coffee tables: Do you ever name items of furniture in your home? Personify them to make them feel like a part of the family? A favourite in my childhood home is a mini pink sofa called Dolores. Well, writer and performer Emily Weitzman takes that idea a little further with her show Furniture Boys. In her house, items of furniture are boys she’s loved, cared for, taken in and now can’t bear to throw away. This one-woman ab