BRIXTON CALLING

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“funny, sharp, and full of twists and turns”

Growing up in South London in the early 2000s, Brixton Academy already had legendary status. My first gig was there: racing to the front barrier with friends to get as close as possible to the stage. The electric anticipation of entering a music venue has an affinity with stepping into a theatre, and the staging of this production of Brixton Calling, with the neon newspaper clippings and autographs scratched into the wall and floors (Nik Corrall), leaves you in no doubt for what’s in store.

Brixton Calling, adapted by Alex Urwin from Simon Parkes’ memoir, captures that feeling with exhilarating clarity. This high-energy production tells the true story of how Parkes, then a 23-year-old public school-educated outsider, bought a crumbling old cinema in Brixton for £1 and turned it into the cultural juggernaut that it still is today. From The Clash to Fela Kuti, the Academy became a cultural powerhouse, and this show captures the chaos and charisma behind the scenes.

Urwin’s script moves at pace, leaping from Parkes’ childhood in Grimsby to the privileged corridors of a Scottish boarding school, and eventually into the heart of 1980s Brixton. It’s funny, sharp, and full of twists and turns. Max Runham is compelling as Simon Parkes, and Tendai Humphrey Sitima brings spark and range as his friend and collaborator Johnny Lawes. Together they morph into dozens of characters, from posh schoolboys to gruff Glaswegians, often switching roles and accents with impressive agility.

Originally conceived as a solo show, director Bronagh Lagan wisely suggested expanding the cast to better reflect the diversity and energy of the Brixton scene. It works well, though the structure still leans heavily toward Runham, who steers much of the narrative via direct address, with Sitima often in more supporting parts. That doesn’t mean Sitima is not impactful. His portrayal of Lawes’ encounter with the police during the 1985 Brixton Riots is shockingly visceral.

What elevates Brixton Calling is its use of the music that makes the venue a success. Runham and Sitima, both accomplished musicians, weave live performance seamlessly into the storytelling – punctuating moments of revelation or emulating the many artists who’ve graced the Academy’s stage. They move easily between guitar, piano and vocals, infusing the production with authenticity and rhythm.

The play does lose momentum slightly in its final third. As the energy of 80s anarchism gives way to 90s hedonism, the focus shifts from Parkes’ personal journey to broader musical history, and the emotional momentum dips. A rave sequence suffers from muddy sound mixing (Max Pappenheim’s only real misstep), with dialogue often drowned out by overpowering bass.

This gives way to a series of near-misses – an expensive booking collapse, a violent attack, a brush with the IRA – that push Parkes to question if he can keep pouring everything into the Academy. He eventually decides to sell up, with the venue becoming the crown jewel of an expanding Academy chain. There’s a sense of bittersweet inevitability, a nod to how the independent culture that helped places like Brixton to thrive often gets swallowed by bigger fish with bigger pockets.

But Brixton Calling is, above all, a feel-good celebration of live music and bold risk-taking. It’s a rousing reminder that sometimes all it takes is a bit of luck, a lot of guts, and a deep love of the arts to make something out of nothing – at least in a corner of South London.

BRIXTON CALLING

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 25th July 2025

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Danny Kaan

BRIXTON CALLING

Macbeth

Wilton’s Music Hall

Reviewed – 23rd January 2020

★★★★

“a gritty, unfurling tragedy filled with constant movement and action”

Scotland’s war-torn landscapes were Shakespeare’s original setting for Macbeth, providing an air of bleakness fitting to a story about a thane who kills his king. Stepping forward in time, this production finds a new current of bleakness to build upon, with dull building facades and army fatigues – all tacked over with a sheen of glitz and glamour, such as the sleek tux and red dress Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wear to crow over their newly-won court. Overall, the Watermill Theatre’s production is a worthy version of the tale, thick and heavy with atmosphere.

The play opens with war, as Billy Postlethwaite’s moody Macbeth greets not the usual ethereal witches, but looming soldiers fresh from the battlefield, who violently prophecise that he shall be king. But the dull underbelly of war is always there throughout the play, even in later scenes of revelry. When triumphant Macbeth and Banquo (Robyn Sinclair) return from war to Lady Macbeth (Emma McDonald), it follows them in the form of ominous throbbing guitar chords and solemn drumbeats. Growing darker throughout the play, especially after the couple murder their king Duncan (a warm-hearted portrayal by Jamie Satterthwaite), these musical touches serve to accentuate the mental anguish of our protagonist and other troubled characters.

The whole play is moody – an aesthetic that draws you in and can be credited in large part to the music and scenery. The musical elements (directed by Maimuna Memon and performed by the company) are an impressive feat; they start off hesitantly but by the end become so omnipresent that you begin to wonder how the play would have functioned without them. Featuring classics such as The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’, the song choices are fitting throughout, involving minimal singing and working best as background ambience.

Clever scenery and set design (Katie Lias) casts an intentional shadow over the proceedings. Perhaps the neon lights over Macbeth’s reimagined hotel residence fading to read just ‘hel’ is a little on the nose, but the greying pockmarked building that dominates the stage acts as a nice metaphor for Macbeth’s initial feelings of impenetrability. Lighting (Tom White) is also deployed well against the monochrome backdrop to show blood, battle, and the bright trees of Birnam wood.

While the actors in some cases take a little while to warm up to their roles, the play does offer some new interpretations of familiar characters. Postlethwaite’s Macbeth is reminiscent of a troubled warrior from fantasy media, and while Mcdonald’s Lady Macbeth comes across a little overbearingly posh at the start, she grows to become more developed. Lucy Keirl also does well with the relatively minor role of the reoccurring hotel porter. All round, the performances from the rest of the company (Molly Chesworth, Peter Mooney, Lauryn Redding, Tom Sowinski, and Mike Slader) are generally good and grow with the thickening atmosphere.

Pairing brooding music with the already dark subject-matter, director Paul Hart has created a gritty, unfurling tragedy filled with constant movement and action (credit also to movement designer Tom Jackson Greaves). Watching this adaptation of Macbeth promises to be a dramatic evening indeed.

BRIXTON CALLING

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“funny, sharp, and full of twists and turns”

BRIXTON CALLING

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 25th July 2025

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Danny Kaan

Recently reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

BRIXTON CALLING

BRIXTON CALLING

BRIXTON CALLING

Wilton’s Music Hall

Reviewed – 23rd January 2020

★★★★

“a gritty, unfurling tragedy filled with constant movement and action”

Pairing brooding music with the already dark subject-matter, director Paul Hart has created a gritty, unfurling tragedy filled with constant movement and action (credit also to movement designer Tom Jackson Greaves). Watching this adaptation of Macbeth promises to be a dramatic evening indeed.

Reviewed by Vicky Richards

Photography by Pamela Raith

Macbeth

Wilton’s Music Hall until 8th February

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

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