★★★

“an hour of tremendous fun”

Down in the depths of the underground warren of spaces near Waterloo, the Vikings have arrived and are in battle. Or are planning their invasion of Northumbria. Or are celebrating their success with stories. I was never fully clear about what was going on, but then I don’t suppose the Viking warriors and their women were either, when the spirit of Valhalla gripped them.

Writer and performer Charlie Blanshard has brought to London his immersive re-imagining of the roaring times of 866 – and there was a lot of roaring. This is the aftermath of the fall of Eoforwic (York) to the Great Heathen Army. We are seated in the square, in the hall and throne room, with Ubbe (Charlie Blanshard), the army’s leader and first son of Ragnar Lodbrok, legendary Norse hero. With songs and toasts a-plenty we are helping Ubbe celebrate the revenge that he has wreaked on the Saxon King of Northumbria who – in the saga of Ragnar and his sons – captured and executed his father.

But all is not entirely well with Ubbe – his younger brother is set to become the king, usurping Ubbe’s rightful place as the eldest son, and his name is going to sink into obscurity. Well, not quite, since we are here. The key protagonist in teasing out the story of Ubbe is a sort of Everyman figure (Blanshard) a soldier, an advisor to Ubbe, or his guiding spirit who reminds us of our own fates as nameless heroes of history.

Blanshard has done a great job of bringing the Viking saga and its oral traditions to life. JORVIC has transferred to the basement of The Glitch from the JORVIC Viking Centre where, one assumes, he would have a lot more props to work with. Oliver Strong is a convincing Viking with painted face and stentorian tones. Strong exhibits less of the physicality we might expect but certainly has the blonde looks. The performance space is bare except for a few LED candles but it is suitably dark and forbidding. While the only players are Blanshard and Strong, they have an audience of around 30 people to turn into an army – which they do, to great effect. Audience members are selected for parts to accompany the dialogue between Ubbe and his soldier companion. We all get to sing and thump our chests – a very enjoyable and lively bit of audience participation.

Altogether, this is an hour of tremendous fun spent in the company of the Vikings of York’s history. It’s probably more participative than immersive. An excellent outcome was the prompt to learn a bit more about the history of Ragnar and his Sons, which Blanshard – self-described as loud and proud of his Northern roots – must surely want to celebrate.

ROTUS: RECEPTIONIST OF THE UNITED STATES

Park Theatre

★★★★

“Leigh’s comedic talent is put to great effect in this short but brilliant work”

Sparkling from a stellar, sold-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Leigh Douglas’ avatar, Chastity Quirke, bursts onto the London scene. As ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States, she is a sight to behold and, it has to be said, something of an uplifting tonic on a grey, rainy evening in January. Her shiny-stockinged legs strut about the small stage (bigger than the ‘broom cupboard’ she got at Edinburgh), she throws herself on her White House reception desk, suitably branded (President of the United States, PROTUS – get it?). She poses, primps and preens, she shakes her long blond mane. She flirts and she smiles. Oh what a smile! So much sugar in a twitch of the mouth.

Chastity – it’s all in the name – is the dumb daughter of Mrs America (watch the 2020 miniseries about Phyllis Schlafly and the STOP ERA campaign). She has swallowed the Republican Kool-Aid and is convinced that it is the duty of all female supporters to be pretty and feminine as well as bright, to embody every virtue, to support powerful men who are going to bring back America’s moral ground and, eventually, to become pregnant in order to raise proper American families. This philosophy has served her well – look at the ladder she has climbed: she reports to the Chief of Staff; she is guarding the door to the Oval Office, and if the listening skills her hairdresser mother taught her are being deployed to weed out disloyalty during casual conversations outside that door, so much the better. But Chastity is about to be tested. She is going to realise the real motive behind her recruitment. And her feminism is going to turn feminist.

Writer and performer Leigh Douglas has direct experience of working in these often overlooked administrative roles. She and director Fiona Kingwill have deployed this to create a sharp satire, not so much on Republican power play, as on the women without whom male power withers. Leigh’s comedic talent is put to great effect in this short but brilliant work. Not only does she perform Chastity, but also the host of political characters that surround her, both male and female. As she transitions on the flip of a coin from being the too-clever blond into one or other of her more powerful female role models or the ever-manipulative Chief of Staff, she gives each a unique image and a distinct vocal identity. There is a slight possibility of confusion but it is dealt with effectively.

The production is also lifted by a clever voice-over adding narrative coherency and very effective lighting (Rachel Sampley) as the cracks start to appear in Chastity’s world. In summary, this is a very smart, one-woman show, backed by a talented production team, using laughter to expose the dangers of thinking you have it all figured out. In the world of influencers, information bites and TV Traitors, this delivers a sharp warning – a knife hidden in the midst of our non-stop laughter.

Tag Archives: Louise Sibley

JORVIK

★★★

The Glitch

JORVIK

The Glitch

★★★

“an hour of tremendous fun”

JORVIK

The Glitch

Reviewed on 26th January 2026

by Louise Sibley

JORVIK

JORVIK

JORVIK

ROTUS: RECEPTIONIST OF THE UNITED STATES

★★★★

Park Theatre

ROTUS: RECEPTIONIST OF THE UNITED STATES

Park Theatre

★★★★

“Leigh’s comedic talent is put to great effect in this short but brilliant work”