★★★

“a thoroughly enjoyable evening”

Adapted for the stage by director Dugald Bruce-Lockhart, ‘The Shadow in the Mirror’ reimagines Gerald Durrell’s short story ‘The Entrance’, in which the English antiquarian Peter Letting (Nick Waring) becomes embroiled in a supernatural curse through his employment by a young French nobleman (Gregg Lowe). Set between the prison in which Letting is forced to confess his supernatural experiences, the courtroom, his home in England, and the haunted house he unwittingly enters to catalogue the exquisite book collection of a dead man, the production delivers an entertaining, easy-to-watch night of light horror.

With a floor-to-ceiling, rounded mirror in the middle of the stage, Diego Pitarch’s elaborate set unquestionably evokes the right quasi-Victorian mystery, though the omission of a proper bookcase is just as mysterious. The central mirror is flanked by stairs and balconies, with one side subtly accommodating the seedier haunts the story takes us, and the other the more respectable spaces. However, it is not a very efficient set: its level of detail makes it feel static and ill-suited to the continuous transformation the narrative demands, leaving the ensemble to rely on Bruce-Lockhart’s dynamic direction and Mike Robertson’s atmospheric lighting to evoke changes of scene.

In the director’s adaptation, much time is spent setting up the action in the first act, making the second act feel rather plot-heavy. Staging the occult is difficult, and Bruce-Lockhart’s script depends on the continuous description of past events to do it. Simon Slater’s extensive sound design brings the narration to life, though the many sound effects sometimes border on gimmicky. As Peter Letting, Waring is often left repeating the words ‘and then…’, rendering the production somewhat guilty of a “tell don’t show” approach. The previously mentioned central mirror at the back of the stage remained criminally underused during the many descriptions of ‘what Peter Letting saw’ (in his reflection). John the jailer (George Dillon) is an engaging storyteller, but the cast shines in scenes with more action, with a particularly entertaining performance by Giles Taylor as the prosecutor in Letting’s trial.

A ticket to this production at the Mill at Sonning near Reading includes the performance as well as a comforting two-course meal in its atmospheric historic restaurant. In combination, the Mill at Sonning and ‘The Shadow in the Mirror’ deliver a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“Thought-provoking and supremely relevant”

How relevant can a play from 1599 be in the present day? Can it serve as more than just entertainment? In ‘English Kings Killing Foreigners’, Shakespeare’s Globe Ensemble actors Nina Bowers and Philip Arditti prove that the Bard’s ‘Henry V’, a history play in which the English king invades France to claim the throne, remains disturbingly current.

In the show’s ‘prologue’, Nina (Nina Bowers) and Phil (Philip Arditti) roll out a whiteboard displaying ‘English [Blank] Killing [Blank]’. We are merrily invited to think of the many possible insertions at hand, not-so-subtly probing the audience to conjure up a range of British war crimes etc. With that out of the way, we learn that the lead of a fictional upcoming production of ‘Henry V’ has died and that the inexperienced Nina has unexpectedly been cast as the King. As a Canadian, queer woman of mixed race, the casting is a statement she never asked to make. Begrudgingly encouraged by Jewish-Turkish actor Phil to take the role, the two begin to question what it means to play a white English king as an immigrant in Britain.

Interspersed with a healthy dose of lighter comedy, Bowers and Arditti unpick the colonial underpinnings of Shakespeare’s play, which was written in part to fuel morale for the ongoing war with Ireland in the playwright’s own time. By substituting words in the Chorus’ prologue to the second Act (‘Now all the youth of England are on fire…’), the pair imbue its celebration of violence and war with newfound relevance, drawing painful parallels to the current genocide in Gaza. In a piece that occasionally suffers from an excess of fluff, this scene is undoubtedly the strongest.

In the final act, Nina takes to the stage as Henry V, while Phil assumes his role as the Chorus. In a somewhat confusing and chaotic scene, Phil disrupts Nina’s performance to assert that St George’s flag, which features heavily in this fictional staging, should be discarded rather than reclaimed. With too little build-up to this sudden, dramatic fall-out, the very interesting question of the proper fate of one of Britain’s most controversial symbols feels underexplored and disjointed. It is a symptom of a larger issue: though the two characters work well together, the differences between them are not utilised to their full dramatic potential. Luckily, Bowers and Arditti’s excellent chemistry carries the piece, lending it joy and vivacity that also prevents it from feeling overly didactic.

Thought-provoking and supremely relevant, ‘English Kings Killing Foreigners’ would benefit from a bit of streamlining to make its hard-hitting humour and uncomfortable truths shine. By way of its creators’ satisfying comedic performances, it manages to offer a light exploration of the colonialist narratives that underpin British culture.

THE SHADOW IN THE MIRROR

The Mill at Sonning

★★★

“a thoroughly enjoyable evening”

THE SHADOW IN THE MIRROR

The Mill at Sonning

Reviewed on 26th September 2025

by Lola Stakenburg

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE SHADOW

THE SHADOW

THE SHADOW

ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“Thought-provoking and supremely relevant”