★★★★

“slick in all the right ways”

Keelan Kember’s new play, set in the corrupt (and bizarre) world of high art, is a witty and playful piece of theatre.

Christopher (Kember) and his colleague Milly (Arsema Thomas) work together at a fictional art house (Beauchamps) They are tasked with selling a genuine Leonardo Da Vinci. Except it’s not a genuine Leonardo Da Vinci. And their clients are both obscenely wealthy and obscenely trigger-happy. Bit of an eek.

Kember’s script is characteristically witty, with Kember himself – still confusingly endearing – leading the charge. Directed by Merle Wheldon, the whole piece is compelling and compact, even for the majority of us plebs who knows nothing about the art world. John Albasiny as Boris, the Russian oligarch who has made his fortune in *cough* aluminium (with a sprinkling of cadavers along the way) is excellent. Though tiny in stature, he’s pretty terrifying, and commands the stage completely. As the Prince, Fayez Bakhsh is also an excellent addition, horrifying in his own spoilt, childish way.

The set design (Eleanor Wintour) deserves its own paragraph. It is the perfect complement to the premise: the glossy, white minimalism is visually satisfying, but it also works in a fascinating conceptual dichotomy with the ostentation and conspicuous capitalistic world the play centralises (the method for transitions is also excellent). Good stuff.

There are some tonal inconsistencies in the characterisations which are a little jarring. The acting varies from the pantomimic to the minimalist, which can, a times, be whiplash-y. Steve Zissis as Tony, the epitome of a free-market capitalist and Republican is certainly very watchable, if a little implausible. He is funny, but again, a little pantomime-esque, which is sometimes at odds with the play’s overall vibe. And perhaps the barrage of jokes at the expense of Americans and the differences between them and the British are a little over-wrought.

The strength of Kember’s script lies largely in the delightful repartee and gentle sardonicism, which he, as an actor, exemplifies. The one scene without him actually stands out as a little extraneous, though this could be because of the somewhat contrived romantic sub-plot. But these are small points.

‘Da Vinci’s Laundry’ is slick in all the right ways. Above all else, it is entertaining – which is not a given in the current theatrical landscape – and very amusing. It’s tight, it’s clever, it’s genuinely funny.

GLITCH at the Minghella Theatre

★★★★

“Liz Elvin doesn’t give us theatrical fireworks, but something much more subtle and involving”

What has been described as ‘the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history’ is the focus of this interesting new play by Zannah Kearns. It is drawn from Nick Wallis’ seminal 2021 exposé of the Post Office Horizon scandal. It tells the story up to 2019, when after a joint legal action, over 500 Postmasters and Postmistresses were granted a settlement of £58 million.

The play was commissioned by the University of Reading and was developed with help from their Law Department. It is performed by Reading’s RABBLE Theatre which has a special remit to ‘tell local stories of national significance’. Playwright Kearns based her story on her interviews with one Post Mistress called Pam Stubbs who modestly says she ‘got really cross’ when she first noticed false transactions on the screen of the branch she was running from a Portakabin near Reading.

A cast of four include seasoned performer Elizabeth Elvin as Pam Stubbs. Stubbs was unique amongst the other litigants in that she kept meticulous records which enabled the Horizon system to be directly challenged. Liz Elvin doesn’t give us theatrical fireworks, but something much more subtle and involving. We see a mild-mannered woman who is genuinely puzzled by the total and catastrophic upending of her life because the Post Office stubbornly refused to admit their software was faulty.

Laura Penneycard, Sabina Netherclift and Fayez Baksh deftly take multiple roles as customers, shop assistant, barrister, judge and other litigants. The play is performed in a ‘black box’ space for which Caitlin Abbott has designed a set of wheeled units which are moved around by the cast.

From ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to TV’s ‘Crown Court’, court room scenes are bread and butter drama. ‘Glitch’ features some gripping moments drawn directly from the legal transcript. For me, some of the other writing and direction by Gemma Colcough and Gareth Taylor still has a somewhat sketchy quality about it. I wanted a little more drama and less understatement, even if some of it (say) came in the form of techniques like projected graphics.

The founders of RABBLE describe this show as ‘stage one’ for the piece. They hope that with more financial support it will evolve more fully. This worthwhile and involving play certainly deserves a much wider showing.

DA VINCI’S LAUNDRY

Riverside Studios

★★★★

“slick in all the right ways”

DA VINCI’S LAUNDRY

Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 8th October 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Teddy Cavendish

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DA VINCI’S LAUNDRY

DA VINCI’S LAUNDRY

DA VINCI’S LAUNDRY

GLITCH at the Minghella Theatre

★★★★

“Liz Elvin doesn’t give us theatrical fireworks, but something much more subtle and involving”

GLITCH at the Minghella Theatre

Reviewed on 2nd July 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Annabel Crichard

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GLITCH

GLITCH

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