Last Updated on October 16, 2026

Some play – Anne-Marie Duff triumphs as a woman of resistance

Some Woman starts with Julie (Anne- Marie Duff) coming into a normal suburban kitchen. She leans against the table clearly in some pain, emotional pain but her reflex is still to clear away the morning’s dishes. Something has happened – an incident at the station on her way home from work, where a young boy has verbally abused her – she phones the local school to speak to the boy’s headteacher but he is not available. She asks to be called back, clarifying pointedly ‘my name’s Julie Robson… Ms… No, Ms. M-S…’.

A glance to Strindberg’s ‘Miss Julie’? The name, the kitchen are in common but she is not the youthful aristocratic Miss Julie, she is an ordinary woman in her 50’s suffering under the grind of life and the mundane responsibilities that inevitably fall to women. The psychological verity and emotional rawness she projects is a result of outstanding writing and acting.

Divorcee Julie shares her story about the incident with her family, the scene shows her protective relationship with teenage daughter Ginny (Grace Doherty), who is mentally fragile and attends online school and a more fractious one with career focussed, adult daughter Kate (Hannah Onslow). Kate is closer emotionally to her father Richard (Geoffrey Streatfield).

Everyone initially makes the right noises supporting Julie with the male characters dominating in terms of solutions and unhelpful suck it up advice. Unabashed Richard insists that they still discuss how they will split the equity in the house now that it is up for sale. In a deft piece of writing we see a beleaguered Julie and the family dynamics at play.

The family’s advice is to do nothing but Julie decides to meet the boy because he needs to hear from me, a woman, that he can’t speak to women like that’. This is her first act of resistance; as Some Woman develops the pattern repeats itself, an adverse event engendering a growing self belief. This is never done in a linear way which makes it believable and emotionally relatable.

The police become involved and it is Julie who is to be charged with battery and perhaps worse. The growing burden of these developments sends Julie into turmoil. Kate in challenges her mother’s version of events and references times when Julie has lost her temper. Julie responds asking why everyone else is allowed to lose their temper and the one time she does she’s suddenly ‘this nasty…abusive woman…’

When Julie meets with her lawyer the discussion quickly move to mitigation and when prompted to reveal any previous sexual abuse, Julie recounts what she describes as ‘The usual. Over the years. Being groped. Touched. Chased through subways’. Julie is advised to do a deal with the prosecution and the question of whether she will or not hangs over the latter part of the play.

Her backstory is instantly relatable to women of her generation – career compromises, doing the domestic and emotional heavy lifting. We were told we could ‘have it all’ she says to Kate but the expectation of great home, great kids, great job was never fulfilled and what was left was an absence of joy and ‘shame at failing’.

Julie’s resistance grows but in one terrifying late scene it could all be for nought. The play takes a big lurch tonally with this portrayal of vicious mysogynism. It is not an easy watch but doesn’t feel extraneous and powers the play to its conclusion.

The set moves seamlessly from kitchen to cavernous bunker like settings, where the action at the school or police station takes place. This is an appropriate visual metaphor for a domestic life enveloped by a foreboding external society for women like Julie. Robert Jones, responsible for set and costumes should be commended. The intimacy of the Dorfman auditorium where facial expressions can be easily seen helps the play. The wider cast are all excellent with particular mention for Grace Doherty in her portrayal of the sensitive Ginny.

Duff is often applauded at her ability to evoke great sadness and conjoined with Blanche McIntyre’s direction and Edmundson’s writing this results in an intensely moving emotional experience. It is never mawkish and the more overt political points about women’s position in a burgeoning patriarchy are woven in naturally. The trio are an absolute ‘A’ list of British theatre and Some Woman radiates their chemistry. This is Edmundson’s first original play for ten years (she has done many marvellous adaptations) but hopefully we can see more of her new writing for the theatre.

In terms of plot Some Woman is relatively simple but this helps show the accretive pressure of her circumstance. It skilfully shows how for women life is often a struggle and not necessarily because of their own personal mental health or the fact, for example, they are going through the menopause. It is more systemic and is the reality of the wider world we have built. The legal case was the tipping point but the scales have been weighed against Julie for most of her adult life. It is a cathartic and chastening watch.

Some Woman

Dorfman Theatre

National Theatre
South Bank
London SE1 9PX

16th October – 21st November

Tickets from £10

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Last Updated on October 16, 2026

Thames Riverside Dining in London

Gordon Ramsay has a knack for picking some of London’s best locations, and his newly opened restaurant at Sea Containers is certainly one of them. Set on the ground floor of this groovy five-star hotel, right on the Thames Path beside Blackfriars Bridge, it has a great riverside setting, with fantastic views towards the City and St Paul’s Cathedral. And just a stone’s throw from Blackfriars mainline station and within easy walking distance of Southwark, Blackfriars and Waterloo Tube stations, it’s actually really well connected.

When I arrived, my companion was already settled on the terrace, taking in the view as the sun set and listening to the bells of St Paul’s chiming across the river. The weather wasn’t quite warm enough to sit outside all evening, so we made our way indoors and took a window table, which gave us the perfect front-row seat to the river and beyond.

Sea Containers is seriously stylish, with interiors by Jacques Garcia inspired by the glamour of 1920s transatlantic cruise liners. A low Brutalist-style ceiling, smoked-mirror pillars, and a central bar combining brushed stainless steel and wenge wood are softened by deep red and soft gold velvet chairs and marble-topped tables.

At the back, the open kitchen gives you a glimpse of the action, while the lighting is atmospheric without being too dark. I also loved the acoustics; rather than that all-too-familiar feeling of having to shout across the table, there was a comfortable hum of conversation with low music in the background.

Despite being only a few weeks into opening, the restaurant was already filling up and had a great atmosphere. The staff were smartly dressed and well-informed, but also friendly and attentive.

I’m currently on a mission to find the best martini spots in London, so of course I had to try their classic vodka martini with olive. It was good, although a little heavy on the vermouth for my taste. My companion started with one of their signature cocktails, a Hot Honey & Tangerine Margarita with a touch spice, which he loved.

The restaurant is open from breakfast through to dinner, with additional weekend specials, including a Sunday roast. We ate from the à la carte, which has everything from Ramsay’s signature dishes, including the ‘Idiot Sandwich Flight’ (I’m yet to find out the story behind the name), to smash burgers and his much-praised Beef Wellington. There’s also a good selection of seafood, mains and dishes from the grill, although the vegetarian options are a little limited.

You might want to come back for Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington as I did; it’s cooked to perfection and really excellent!

We started with wonderfully fresh yellowtail crudo, with little nuggets of pink grapefruit adding a lovely citrus tang and jalapeño bringing a punch of heat.

The salt cod croquettes were hot and crisp, packed with flavour and served with a smoked paprika aioli that was perfect for dipping. But I highly recommend not skipping the Seaco sourdough, served warm from the oven with a hint of miso, Cornish sea salt, and lightly whipped shrimp butter. So simple, but delicious, and very hard to stop eating!

The sommelier helped us choose our wine, and we both started with a glass of Australian Riesling, d’Arenberg Stump Jump from McLaren Vale. It was dry and refreshing, with fresh citrus and melon notes, a good match to our seafood.

My whole naked lobster rather stole the show. It was fabulous, super fresh and meaty, with tasty garlic butter and a side of fries. With a glass of chilled Chablis Domaine de Varoux from Burgundy, I was in heaven!

My companion’s 45-day-aged ribeye arrived exactly as ordered, “Chicago style” – slightly charred on the grill and beautifully pink and tender inside. It came with a spicy chimichurri, although there are several sauces to choose from. For sides, we chose the charred hispi cabbage, indulgent triple-cooked chips, and a simple gem salad. The rich steak worked well with the Chianti Riserva Cantine Leonardo da Vinci from Tuscany.

Although we had already eaten incredibly well, we found it hard to resist the sticky toffee pudding, so we shared one along with a classic lemon tart and crème fraîche. Ramsay clearly knows how to make a good sticky toffee pudding – the sponge was light but rich, and the salted caramel vanilla ice cream was the perfect addition. The lemon tart had a crisp, thin pastry and a suitably sharp, lemony filling. Add in a glass of 2023 Sauternes Les Garonelles, Lucien Lurton from Bordeaux, with caramel, peach and honey notes, and it was the perfect end to the meal.

I love being by the River Thames, and here, by Blackfriars Bridge, you get an incredible view. I’d happily come back to Gordon Ramsay’s Sea Containers for the lobster, and definitely for another sticky toffee pudding. It feels like Ramsay has got this one right.

Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers

Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground,

London, SE1 9PD 
020 3747 1063
 

Looking to try another Gordon Ramsay restaurant? How about Bread Street Kitchen & Bar at 22 Bishopsgate

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Last Updated on October 16, 2026

A Young Actor’s Tale Told Through Vigorous Dance

Stories, self-described as “The Tap Dance Sensation”, is a short, high-octane show of non-stop dancing, with a perfunctory, barely understandable plot, that doesn’t much matter because the dancers are so good and the production’s visual element so strong, mostly due to Alex Hardellet’s lighting design, that it keeps its momentum somehow.

Stories has just opened for a two-and-a-half week residency at the Peacock Theatre, where it had a well received first UK run a couple of years ago. It’s very much Romain Rachline Borgeaud’s baby: he created his RB Dance Company, which premiered Stories in 2019 in France, and is credited as the show’s writer, composer, director, choreographer and producer. The owner of a dance studio, Rachline Borgeaud has developed a style of tap dance for our times; so, don’t think tap dance as imprinted in our minds by the floating elegance of Fred and Ginger; rather, think energetic, grungy, urban movement, where the actual clickety-clacks play second fiddle to modern day jazz and commercial dance.

All that dancing – and you have to admire the extraordinary stamina of the ten-strong cast – is very loosely pegged to a flimsy plot: young actor Icarus (Thimêo Garin, vary gamin and very appealing) is a screen sensation, but he is under the oppressive influence of his director (Jérôme Louis, tall and menacing). Try as he might, he can’t escape until the very end, when he rips the wires of a studio spotlight, which may or may not symbolise his liberation. This follows a rollercoaster of short scenes, where Icarus fights a bunch of hoodlums, meets a pretty girl in a red dress, subsequently finds her dead, visits a hotel, goes down the subway…

All this is framed, again very loosely, by Stories’ musical score, a percussive collection of rock tracks, where a deep male voice intones poetic texts supposed to relate to the action. Thus, “Come down to earth and put your feet on the ground/So you can stop all the running and take a look around.”

Or, “The lady in the damn pretty dress is a mess/But oh man, she’s a damn pretty girl.” You get the gist.

Federica Mugnai’s sets are extremely versatile, which also means they are very busy, and this can get a little tiresome, with dancers working as stage hands, ceaselessly pushing and placing and locking bits of scenery – essentially two large staircases and a series of adaptable blocks that can stand for desks in a newspaper office, a gambling table in a nightclub/casino, or a hotel lift.

To me, the highlight of Stories was Alex Hardelett’s truly original and simply dazzling lighting design. It’s varied, it seems to use all the resources available, be it shafts of light, colour, neon bars, hazy atmospheres, brief blackouts, soft strobe lighting for a fight scene… it gets so that I became totally entranced and couldn’t wait to see what he would do next. I think it’s fair to say that to a large extent Hardelett is responsible for the show’s most successful element, its look. That, together with the dancers’ indefatigability, justifies my star rating.

Where Stories faltered was in its choreography, which I found samey and unoriginal. Its ensemble movement works for the first 10 or 15 minutes, but after a while it becomes apparent that there’s little or no variety to the basic horizontal lines of dancers facing flat out and tapping away, their feet occluded by a raised lip on the edge of the stage, the actual tapping overwhelmed by the musical score’s beat.

Still, at 65 minutes’ duration, plus a short encore where some of dancers beat the rhythm on drums that suddenly materialise from above, it knows when we’ve had enough, and I don’t think most of the audience on opening night minded the obscure story they’d been told, such was the vitality with which it was presented.

Stories is at the Peacock Theatre 14 – 31 Oct at 7.30 pm. Sat mats at 2.30 pm. Sun at 2.30 only. No performance on Mondays
Dur.: 70 mins no interval. Tickets: £33 – 75

Peacock Theatre
Portugal Street
London WC2A 2HT

For more dance suggestions, check out our London Dance Previews – July to December 2026

The post Stories, The Tap Dance Sensation appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 16, 2026

A Razor-sharp Barber of Seville at Glyndebourne

Tonight saw the fourth revival of Annabel Arden’s 2016 production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at Glyndebourne. I saw last summer’s revival and the cast and band sang and played their socks off. Would this Autumn Season’s iteration be able to match those heights?

Director Arden co-founded Complicité, the groundbreaking British theatre company with its trademark use of mime and physical theatre. In relation to the Barber she has spoken of “taking inspiration from the Spanish tradition of the grotesque and the marvellous and making a synthesis of it.” The show opens with designer Joanna Parker’s cyan-coloured curtains framed by an irregularly shaped burnt orange proscenium arch. The set is covered with gorgeous blue and white Moorish tiles covered with Matisse-like bird motifs. The set cleverly morphs from exteriors to interior scenes with balconies, windows, staircases and wardrobes emerging as necessary.The message is clear we are in Seville, but it is a fantasy Seville located in the director and designer’s imaginations.

Rossini’s two-act Opera buffa masterpiece was written in a hurry in 1816 and is one of those works that both transcends its time and defines its genre. The Barber of Seville is based upon Pierre Beaumarchais’s French play of the same name with a previous and hugely successful operatic version composed by Giovanni Paisiello in 1782. Rossini had asked Paisiello’s permission to use the story, which was granted, but it didn’t stop the elder composer’s fans from disrupting the opera’s opening night.

The bare bones of the Commedia dell’ Arte inspired plot fall into the pre-determined model. Rosina, the daughter of a Duke, is the ward of the aged Dr Bartolo who tries to stop her from interacting with the outside world by keeping her cooped up in his house. Dr Bartolo has romantic designs on Rosina and plans to marry her for her sizeable dowry. Rosina falls for handsome but penniless student Lindoro, who serenades her from the outside of Bartolo’s house.

Lindoro is the aristocrat Count Almaviva who wants Rosina to love him for himself rather than for his title or wealth. Almaviva enlists the help of Figaro, the local barber and general fixer about town, to win Rosina’s hand from Bartolo. After two acts of unlikely shenanigans the young lovers are united in marriage. As well as the gender politics that drive the plot, issues of class are similarly embedded in the story with aristocratic entitlement and bourgeois fiscal power inevitably colliding with the comedically cunning servant and service classes.

Catalan baritone Lluís Calvet i Pey’s is more rumbunctious than last year’s Figaro, Germán Olvera, who was cooler if just as self-confident. But this is no bad thing and makes the character less of a sly operator and more of a self-made man, taking every opportunity to ingratiate his way into the personal business of the wealthy for his own profit. Calvet i Pey’s rich-toned baritone is splendid and he delivers the character’s patter in his signature aria “Largo al factotum” with a robust sense of self-belief.

Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu impressed as Siébel in Gounod’s Faust at the Royal Opera House where she also showed of her comedy chops as the servant Kuchtík in Rusalka. She takes a step up here in the role of the entitled ward Rosina, both fiery and coy in her Balenciaga-inspired dresses. Wu has a limpid vocal tone and a technique that makes Rossini’s ornamentations seem easy, eating up the technically challenging Act 1 aria “Una voce poco fa.” This feels like a characterisation that will grow and grow.

Wu is well-matched with Maltese tenor Nico Darmanin as Count Almaviva (Lindoro). Wearing a sleazy long silver coat, Darmanin has a fine bel canto voice and a good line in narcissistic comic acting which was subtly applied in the Act 1 aria “Se il mio nome saper voi bramate.”

Powerful Italian baritone Fabio Capitanucci, reprising his role from the 2025 production, gives his Dr Bartolo a controlling sense of threat. When he sings “A un dottor della mia sorte”, the aria in which he lays down the law to his errant ward, we are inclined to take him seriously.

Decked out in a Father Brown-esque black Cappello Romano hat and cassock, Turkish bass Cumhur Görgün brings a portentous edge to the character of the eminently corruptible music teacher Don Basilio. The slander aria ‘La calumnia è un venticello’ is delivered with verve and energy and watching a priest self-combust never gets old.

Irish soprano Ailish Tynan (Berta) owns the part of Bartolo’s exasperated servant Berta both at Glyndebourne and at Covent Garden. She brings the house down with her feature aria “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie” and a knowing flash of her suspenders. George Reynolds, formerly a member of Glyndebourne Youth Opera, was a strong Fiorello, the character who opens the opera and then disappears. Let’s hope that Reynolds doesn’t do the same.

Director Annabel Arden incorporates lots of physical gags into the show most of which come off. Three actor/dancers keep appearing in different guises and are all fine performers, One scene features multiple harpsichords being delivered then deconstructed in a surrealist montage and revival director Angelo Smimmo seems to have rebalanced their input from being annoying to diverting.

Chloe Rooke conducted the Glyndebourne Sinfonia with verve and humour and even had a couple of well-delivered spoken lines herself. The Glyndebourne Chorus makes a mighty sound when roused and overall balances were well-controlled. There was some occasional rhythmic raggedness in the ensemble patter songs, but overall this was a musically solid production.

Hongni Wu, Lluís Calvet i Pey and Cumhur Görgün were all making their Glyndebourne debuts tonight with the 2026 Autumn Season providing a fantastic showcase for emerging talent. The season also includes the first revival of director Mariame Clément’s Festival 2025 The Marriage of Figaro (see our review), community opera Spark and concert performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet ‘Fantasy Overture’. Glyndebourne’s Christmas Concerts are also returning, featuring opera choruses, orchestral classics and singalong carols for all ages (5-13 December).

The Barber of Seville
15 October to 7 November

Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU

Check out our guide to the 2026 autumn/winter opera season.

All photos © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photos: Craig Fuller

The post The Barber of Seville – Glyndebourne Autumn Season appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 16, 2026

This slick musical parody of the steamy ice hockey-themed TV series is unashamedly explicit, sharp as a blade, and funny as… puck, but never loses love or respect for its characters or original fanbase

Imagine lacing up a cosy pair of winter boots, donning a chunky jacket and grabbing your stick on a winter’s morning. But instead of thick soles for a brisk walk in the countryside, your boots have steel blades attached to their soles, leaving you balancing precariously on a couple of millimetres of metal on sheet ice.  I can’t think of a more fitting metaphor for Heated Rivalry – The Unauthorised Musical Parody, the new musical spoof on the runaway hit TV series about ice hockey players. This new production, which debuted off-Broadway in May and enjoyed a phenomenally successful run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, deftly skates the razor-thin line between parody and loving tribute, delighting newbies while never alienating the dedicated series fanbase.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware of the cultural mini-phenomenon that is Heated Rivalry. What started life as a series of novels by Rachel Reid called Game Changers was developed into what sounded like a rather niche ice hockey-themed US TV show: Heated Rivalry.  The show first aired in the US on HBO Max in November 2025 and went on to average an eye-popping 10.6 million viewers per episode. The show has since been aired/streamed around the world (including in the UK) and Season 2 is on the cards for April 2027.  NYC-based writer and composer Dylan MarcAurele (who also wrote 2024 Fringe hit Pop Off, Michaelangelo!) says he knew within the first 20 mins of episode 1 that he wanted to write a parody of the show; was writing songs while the series was still airing; and completed the score in an astonishing three weeks.  The show premiered off-Broadway in May 2026 to great acclaim and was one of the runaway hits of the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe.

Like the TV series, the parody stage show now playing in Soho is set against the backdrop of a fictional professional ice hockey league and follows the secret romantic relationship between starry-eyed young Canadian star player Shane Hollander (Zheng Xi Yong, recently seen in American Psycho at the Almeida) and po-faced Russian star player Ilya Rozanov (Joseph Dann in his professional stage debut) as they become the star players of rival professional teams. The story is told through the lens of the fan-narrator Susan (May Tether, who also plays Shane’s girlfriend Jessica), while Sylvie Stetson and the brilliant Andrew Berlin play all the remaining characters including Ilya’s dad; Shane’s mom; Ilya’s girlfriend Svetlana; coaches, players and other minor characters.

The proximity of the actors to the audience in this tiny theatre and the sparse set and props (all of which feel like they were created in school drama club) mean that the show does not lose its irreverent and slightly anarchic Fringe vibe. The entirety of the set and props consists of three boards that can be turned around to represent various backdrops; the odd table and chair;  sports equipment; flags, dolls and a fruit basket.  When Ilya and Shane share a bed, they stand up against a board with pillows stuck to it and hold a sheet up to cover their bodies. It’s not rocket science but it really works here.

But don’t be fooled by the low rent aesthetic – there is nothing slapdash about this slick show. There are inherent challenges in squeezing even the highlights of an entire TV series into 70 minutes on stage.  MarcAurele deftly gets around this by creating the fan-narrator character Susan as a narrative framing device. She not only allows for some gentle pokes at the show’s target audience (what every mom wants after the kids go to bed and hubby goes to his man cave is… gay hockey players!) but also narrates parts of Ilya and Shane’s story to speed things up and bridges time gaps with a simple “two weeks later” or similar.  It’s clever and keeps things pacy, adding to the tight structure of the show.  Each actor (except the two leads) play multiple parts and with minimal costume changes they transform instantly and convincingly into these different characters. Other than the two leads (who fully inhabit their roles as the eternally optimistic Shane and terminally morose Ilya) I was most impressed by Andrew Berlin and the range of minor characters he plays with gusto and great comic timing. There is also a terrific sequence in the smoothie shop where an audience member is briefly co-opted as a cast member for one scene – on the night I visited our volunteer seemed ready to stay on stage till the end of the show!

The singing and harmonies, too, seem assured and effortless throughout with not a duff note among the cast.  But the real secret sauce here is the score itself.  The genres veer from EDM synth numbers via power ballads and even a slight country & western twang to more classic Broadway numbers, but without fail they are the kind of songs that get you humming along and tapping your feet after only one listen. The sparkling lyrics are a delight – linguistically clever, deliciously filthy and raucously funny.  Given the subject matter (rhyming “pining” with “69-ing”, anybody…?) it would be easy to go too far and produce something crass or offensive, but the songs remain buoyant and respectful of the original show – and of the large LGBTQ+ segment of the audience.  The other secret weapon is that the characters never play the songs for laughs – every number is delivered with disarming sincerity, so that the absurdity comes from the contrast between the heartfelt romantic music and the camp, explicit humour. It’s hilarious and infectiously joyful stuff, and by the end I was ready to buy a soundtrack.

In a world where books, movies and stage shows seem to get longer and longer, it is not often that you walk out of a performance wanting more but that was definitely the case with Heated Rivalry.  Even for those who are not overly familiar with the TV show, it is a deliciously camp romp with a heart.  It works not only because of the strong soundtrack and tight narrative, but mostly because it is underpinned by a deep affection for the underlying source material; the characters; and the show’s fandom. The show manages a fine balancing act between affectionate homage and sharp-edged spoof, and never treats parody as an excuse for lazy comedy. Yes the jokes poke fun at the characters and genre and are sometimes as sharp as the blades that the characters skate on, but at the heart of the show lies love and respect for the story, the characters, and the universal story of struggle for acceptance and love that they represent. You will leave the theatre loving the characters as much as you laughed at them, and for a full 70 minutes you will feel joyful and forget the sorry state of the world today.  Get your skates on and book while you can still get tickets!

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is on at the Underbelly Boulevard Soho 11 October to 1 November with nightly shows Tuesday to Sunday (also matinees on Saturdays and Sundays). Run time is 1 hr 10 min and tickets starting from £21.50 are available here.

If you are looking for more West End theatre, have a look at our review of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Underbelly Boulevard Soho
6 Walker’s Court
Soho
London
W1F 0BT

Telephone: 0207 432 3860
Email: tickets@underbellyboulevard.com

The post Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody (Underbelly Boulevard Soho) appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 16, 2026

Glyndebourne’s The Marriage of Figaro Delivers and Delights

Last night saw the opening of Glyndebourne’s Autumn Season with the delightful first revival of director Mariame Clément’s Festival 2025 production of The Marriage of Figaro, an opera that has been a central plank of the opera house’s programming since the very first Glyndebourne Festival in 1934.

Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, The Marriage of Figaro is a four-act comic opera written in 1786. It takes its inspiration from Beaumarchais’s revolutionary 1784 play ‘La folle journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro’ that dared to critique the aristocracy, leading to the play being banned. With rave reviews from its first performance The Marriage of Figaro has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest of all operas both by performers and audiences.

The narrative is driven by Count Almaviva’s attempts to assert his ‘droit de seigneur’ over his servant Susanna on the day of her wedding to Figaro, the Count’s steward. Set over the course of one day in the Count’s palace in Seville in the 1820’s we see how Susanna, Figaro and Countess Almaviva plot to thwart the Count’s plans. The Count fights back by insisting that Figaro should marry a much older woman, Marcellina, who it transpires is Figaro’s mother. Through the machinations of Susanna and Countess Almaviva, Figaro marries his bride and the Count is schooled in the virtues of fidelity.
Mariame Clément’s production, ably managed by revival director James Hurley, takes no creative risks but creates a delightful 18th century frame for this most bullet-proof of operas. Sliding screens, rows of doors and rotating sets guiding us through this most labyrinthine of plots, as if a Feydeau farce had been transplanted back a century. Designer Julia Hansen’s sets are heavily influenced by18th-century painter Louis Carrogis Carmontelle, who famously painted a watercolour of Mozart as a child performing with his sister and father. The final act’s set featuring a swing, pavilion, statue, and ornamental gardens was a clear homage to Carmontelle’s landscape paintings. It was both charming and full of comic potential.
The Glyndebourne autumn season is a fantastic showcase for up-and-coming young singers and in this production Jasurbek Khaydarov (Figaro), Madeline Boreham (Countess Almaviva) and Anton Beliaev (Count Almaviva) were all Glyndebourne debutants.

Uzbekistani bass Jasurbek Khaydarov and South Korean soprano Henna Mun, a winner of the 2024 John Christie Award, made a very plausible couple as Figaro and his fiancé Susanna. Khaydarov has a rich-toned voice and his “Aprite un po’ quegli occhi” was dramatically convincing. Khaydarov played the role straighter than Michael Nagl in the 2025 production and this was no bad thing. I’ve been waiting for Henna Mun to take on a leading Mozart role. She gets her chance this season as the original incumbent in the role of Susanna had to pull out giving Mun her breakthrough moment. She was terrific as Phyllis in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Railway Children last year and sparkled as Josephine in the ENO’s HMS Pinafore. Coquettish and scene-stealing, her “Venite, Inginocchiatevi” was a masterclass in light Mozartian charm.

Russian baritone Anton Beliaev brought out the comic elements of Count Almaviva. He has a capacity for physical humour and a voice that can veer between entitled outrage and remorse that should see him delivering this role for a long time yet. “Hai già vinta la causa!…Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” was expressive and dynamically delivered.

British soprano Madeline Boreham as Countess Almaviva has a powerful instrument but also displayed a deep emotion in her “Dove Sono i bei Momenti.”

I had enjoyed British bass-baritone Henry Waddington’s Sacristan in Tosca at The Royal Opera House. As Dr Bartolo, the Countess’ former guardian, he was pleasingly florid and expansive. Reprising her role as Marcellina from Mariame Clément’s Festival 2025 production leading British mezzo-soprano Madeleine Shaw impressed as always with her warm focussed sound.

In the trouser role of Cherubino, British mezzo-soprano Rachel Roper was comically libidinous and sang “Voi che sapete”with precision and elegance.

In the smaller roles English tenor Mark Milhofer’s Don Basilio was suitably comedic and scheming, Russian bass-baritone Alexander Vassiliev was amusing as the drunken gardener Antonio and Chinese soprano Biqing Zhang charmed in the role of his daughter Barbarina Her plangent take on “L’ho perduta” gave evidence that she is one to watch.

Conductor Bertie Baigent brought a tight compact sound out of the Glyndebourne Sinfonia in a dynamic performance that showed much attention to detail.
The autumn season at Glyndebourne has a very different feel to the summer. There is very little picnicking to be seen, dress is smart-casual rather than formal and the shows tend to finish at around 7.30. The pricing makes a trip to Glyndebourne much more accessible than the summer season so this impeccable production would be a great way to dip your toe into the Glyndebourne experience without breaking the bank.

The Marriage of Figaro

14 October – 8 November
Tickets from £15

Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU

Check out our guide to the 2026 autumn/winter opera season.

The post The Marriage of Figaro – Glyndebourne Autumn Season appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 15, 2026

The Riviera Comes to The Lanesborough at Le Café LPM

Those of you familiar with London’s restaurant scene will know of La Petite Maison, the classic Mayfair fixture that opened in 2007 with a menu inspired by the French Riviera. Since it opened, there have been many other copycat restaurants in London, but La Petite Maison engenders a fierce loyalty amongst its clientele and is still as successful as ever. There are now offshoots in Dubai, Miami and Hong Kong but their latest opening is the all-day Le Café LPM in The Lanesborough hotel that straddles Hyde Park and Knightsbridge.

Le Café LPM opened in early September, and we visited on a balmy evening a couple of weeks later. Le Café LPM has its own entrance accessible from the street opposite The Peninsula hotel. You don’t need to do the long hike through The Lanesborough which we did to get in!

I hadn’t taken on board that Le Café LPM was situated in a posh conservatory to the side of The Lanesborough and with its retractable ceiling and doors you feel as if you’re outside even when they are closed. On a warm evening such as this it was a lovely space to be in with the security of electric heaters if needed.

The design is very attractive with dark wooden floors, black bistro style chairs and white linen tablecloths contrasting with colourful fabric banquettes, wall art and an abundance of greenery. There is a small but perfectly formed menu which we perused to the sound of a disco funk playlist.

La Petite Maison is known for its cocktails so it would have been a dereliction of duty not to try a couple. The tomato and olive oil sour was a real taste of the south and was a very smooth blend of Ketel One vodka, vermouth blend, cherry tomato, lemon and olive oil. A fig leaf Negroni brought together Tanqueray gin, vermouth blend, Campari bitters and fig leaf. It was lighter than a traditional Negroni and was infused with fig flavour which was surprisingly good.

With our cocktails we snacked on a rich, salty tapenade served with a crisp flatbread. I loved the intensity of its olive flavour. We also had a dish of aubergine caviar, similar to a Baba Ganoush, which was deliciously smoky, light and creamy, coming with the crunch of garlic croutons.

We moved on to the elegant red berry notes of Laurent Perrier Rosé and the peach and citrus flavours of a 2023 Mâcon-Villages, Vignerons des Terres Secrètes.

A tuna carpaccio in a soy citrus dressing was tender and delicious. This was one of several standout dishes.

Hand-cut fried squid had a lovely smoked paprika-infused spicy batter and a delicate saffron aioli.

Tasty slices of grilled octopus were slathered with an excellent olive oil and served with confit potatoes and olives.

Meaty grilled prawns were doused in a herb butter. The crustaceans had a deep, rich, funky flavour. Of course, sometimes you just need chips. They were crisp and fluffy. Little spears of broccoli had a pleasing snap and were cheered up by a chilli, olive oil and lemon dressing.

From “Les plaisirs sucrés” section of the menu, the crème caramel was simply fabulous. The vanilla custard was light and creamy and the caramel sauce rich and sweet.

When you’re in Mayfair you pay Mayfair prices. However, Le Café LPM impressed me with its consistent quality and charming service. It’s about simple dishes delivered to a very high standard in an informal and attractive space. Perfect for ladies who lunch, groups of friends and family, and hot dates!

Le Café LPM at The Lanesborough
Hyde Park Corner, London, SW1X 7TA

+44 20 7259 5599

For another Mayfair restaurant option you could try Italian restaurant Bocconcino.

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Last Updated on October 15, 2026

Manon, Kenneth MacMillan’s transporting ballet, opens at Covent Garden

Manon, Abbé Prevost’s novel of innocence corrupted in 18th-century Paris, where abject poverty coexisted with an obscenely rich, amoral aristocracy and everything was for sale, offered fertile material for choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan, a peerless chronicler of tempestuous human feelings and frailties. Shocking when it premiered in 1974, MacMillan’s three-act ballet has since become a much-loved staple of The Royal Ballet repertoire, for if modern-day audiences are less easy to shock, the story has, nevertheless, lost none of its power to draw us into its world and stir our emotions. After a two-year absence, Manon is back on stage at Covent Garden,

Manon Lescaut is an innocent country girl who stops in Paris on her way to a convent, and there falls in love with a young, penniless student, Des Grieux, much to the fury of her debauched brother, Lescaut, who plans to pimp her out to a rich patron. Manon soon understands how to use her beauty and desirability to get the life of luxury she yearns for.

Enticed by furs and jewels, she becomes the mistress of the rather repulsive Monsieur GM; an attempt to swindle him in order to run off with Des Grieux ends in tragedy. Branded a prostitute, Manon is deported to Louisiana, followed by the faithful Des Grieux. There, she dies of fever in the arms of her desolate lover.

The current extended run of Manon features a wide variety of casts, some debutants, some tried and tested. Opening night brought back the established partnership of Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé. Well suited physically, there’s an easy chemistry between them, which vividly brings to life the complex nature of their relationship. As a character, Manon is not easy to love: she is shallow, grasping, and quick to swap love for riches.

Francesca Hayward gave us a rounded character, with dancing that flowed easily from the discovery of first love – though I would have liked a little more languor in the famous bedroom pas de deux, after her first encounter with Des Grieux – to the total helplessness of her final degradation, through the regal bearing with which she signalled her prominence amid the brothel women as the mistress of a rich man.

Marcelino Sambé’s magnificent performance, though, was for me the beating heart of the ballet. Technically faultless, he negotiated MacMillan’s demanding choreography with total assurance, so that every step told the story of a young man whose passionate love and loyalty led to his very own degradation, gradually turning him into a thief, cheat and finally murderer.

He projected a range of emotions: the passionate, uncomplicated love of his first encounter with Manon, his hurt and incomprehension at seeing her relishing her status in the hôtel particulier, his slow realisation that the woman he was holding during their brief escape from Monsieur GM was no longer the innocent girl of their first love, but a knowing harlot. And finally the loyal lover mad with grief at her death, in a finale which brought tears to my eyes.

Set to an arrangement of music by Massenet, with sumptuous designs by Nicholas Georgiadis, MacMillan’s Manon offers an eye-filling recreation of 18th-century Paris, with a number of ensemble dances for hustling beggars, led in this cast by a vibrant Daichi Ikarashi, the increasingly debauched partying between women and clients in the high-end brothel, and the final sombre scene amid the Spanish moss of the Louisiana bayou.

MacMillan also created important secondary roles, including Manon’s brother Lescaut, beautifully danced in this cast by Joseph Sissens, who brought the requisite humour to his drunk scene.

Anna Rose O”Sullivan was convincing as Lescaut’s long-suffering mistress, and Bennet Gartside was a suitably unpleasant Monsieur GM, but could perhaps bring a little more detail to the character’s overbearing nature.

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House was in fine fettle, but conductor Koen Kessels tempi were unaccountably slow, which at times robbed the performance of much-needed intensity.

Manon is in repertoire at the RBO 13 Oct – 25 Nov at 7.30 pm. Matinees available.
Dur.: 2 hours 45 mins inc. two intervals. Tickets: £9 – 207

RBO
Bow Street
London WC2E 9DD

Manon, starring Yasmine Naghdi & William Bracewell, will be streamed live to cinemas nationwide on Tues 27 Oct at 7.15 pm
To find a participating cinema near you, click here

For more dance suggestions, see our London Dance Previews – July to December 2026

The post Manon, The Royal Ballet appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 13, 2026

La Divina serves up a warm Mediterranean welcome

As soon as I walk through the door of La Divina, an Italian restaurant on Upper Street, Islington, I’m given a warm Mediterranean welcome by Enzo, the owner. This is the kind of thing I love about small independent family-run restaurants, and I know it bodes well for the food too.

La Divina is an Italian restaurant on Upper Street, Islington, equidistant between Angel on the Northern line and Highbury & Islington on the Victoria line, making it incredibly accessible, even for someone like me who lives in deepest south London.

Unlike other restaurants nearby, which are all about minimalism, La Divina is maximalist. The decor is colourful and robust. From the ceiling hang 1970s Italian scooter helmets and vintage Italian film posters adorn the walls. This is all about la dolce vita.

We chose our wine, the Montepulciano, ripe, full-bodied and exceptionally smooth. The wine list offers only Italian wines from across the country, something Enzo is proud of. Likewise, the chef, though he’s Romanian, was brought up in Italy, cutting his teeth in the kitchens of Rome before arriving in the UK. Enzo is Turkish and grew up in the Islington neighbourhood and has spent his life working in hospitality.

La Divina’s food menu is ample, full of classic Italian dishes. And they’ve thought of everything. If you’re heading to the Almeida, there’s a handy theatre menu; if you’re making your way to the football, yes, there’s a football menu; and if you’re vegetarian or vegan, they’ve thought of that too!

As soon as I opened the menu, my eyes were drawn to the impepata di cozze, mussels in white wine. It’s one of my favourite Italian starters and I always find it hard to resist. It reminds me of a holiday in Rome, staying in Trastevere and dining in a small neighbourhood trattoria called Enzo. The mussels arrived as they should, sweet, plump and juicy, with plenty of white wine sauce to soak up with the accompanying toasted bread.

It turned out to be seafood starters all round. Sam decided on the king prawns sautéed in chilli, garlic, butter and lemon. There’s no need to worry about peeling the shells off these juicy prawns; that’s been done for you. All you need to do is plunge in your fork and eat, which we happily did.

For my main course, I went straight for secondi, choosing the saltimbocca alla Romana, veal wrapped in Parma ham, cooked with sage and served with a generous portion of vegetables. It was like having a Sunday lunch served up on a Wednesday night, hearty helpings for an autumnal evening. The veal was moist and tender, and the saltiness of the Parma ham complemented the sage.

Sam, who loves pasta, wanted another autumnal warmer, and the house special, the classic lasagne, fitted the bill. A sign of a good Italian restaurant has to be its lasagne. If it arrives and it’s obvious it’s been reheated in the microwave, send it back! We didn’t have to send the La Divina lasagne back. It arrived piping hot, the sauce still bubbling, which is always a good sign. Sam had to wait a minute biting into firm layers of pasta, béchamel and ragù. And be warned,  portions are generous!

After such hearty mains, we had to pause before contemplating desserts. All the desserts are homemade and mouthwatering. I do love an affogato; it doubles up as my dessert and coffee. It’s a personal favourite: good-quality vanilla ice cream drowning in a strong espresso is perfection for me. Sam, without hesitation, plumped for the tiramisu, delightfully light and creamy, laced with enough coffee and liqueur to get us back home to South London happy and satisfied.

La Divina Italian Restaurant,
134 Upper Street,
London,
N1 1QP

Telephone: 02086164149

The post La Divina – Italian restaurant, Islington’s Upper Street appeared first on London Unattached.

Last Updated on October 12, 2026

Mayfair Italian Bocconcino is the Real Deal

The Bocconcino group of three restaurants across London’s West End are a small but perfectly formed prizewinning restaurant group with their flagship restaurant in Mayfair and other outposts in Soho and the Strand.

We visited the Mayfair site which on a Monday night was buzzing with the sound of happy Italian punters chowing down on their favourite dishes. The menu celebrates regional Italian cooking and is both un-gimmicky and authentic. Head Chef Marco Corsica, a Marco Pierre White alumnus and Napoli native, is in charge, with pasta being freshly rolled every day. Although prices are Mayfair level, portions are generous and the quality of both ingredients and the cooking is extremely high.

The restaurant sits on two levels. The handsome ground floor has red leather banquettes, marble tiles and blood red walls adorned with decorative metal studs. Metal columns and outsize linen light shades add to the atmosphere.

There’s a sculptural iron spiral staircase that takes you down to the lower floor. The space has all the theatre of an open kitchen and is lit by the glow of a wood-fired oven. There are regular DJ and live music nights for the party crowd..

The à la carte menu is set out in traditional Italian style with plenty of choice. Whilst deciding we kicked things off with a couple of cocktails. The classic Campari Spritz, Campari, Prosecco and soda water was punchy and refreshing with the Campari delivering that familiar bitter jolt of flavour. The Luna Rosa, a blend of sloe- infused Bombay Sapphire gin, apricot liqueur, citrus, tangerine foam and dragonfruit was light and sophisticated with the sweetness of the apricot balanced by tangy tangerine notes. A welcome snack of pickled cauliflower and red pepper and a salty chunk of Parmesan set us up for the meal ahead.

We chose two dishes from the Antipasti menu. Lightly seared Queenie scallops came on the shell, doused in melted butter, with a hint of garlic and chilli and lots of fresh parsley. They were juicy and delicious.

The trio of tuna, salmon and yellowtail tartare was a simple dish but so good. The raw fish was lightly dressed with some excellent olive oil and parsley and prettily dressed with edible nasturtiums.

Bocconcino has a list of more than 300 wines and a Coravin system that allows fine wines to be served by the glass without spoiling.
We drank a Verdeca ‘Talò’, San Marzano, Puglia, 2024 which had a light minerality and floral notes and was perfect with our fish dishes. Grillo “Dei Respiri”, Baglio Oro, Sicily, 2024 was dry, fresh and full of citrus aromas.

From the Primi Piatti menu we tried the Tagliolini al Limone e Scampi. The pasta was fresh, eggy and served al dente with its gentle lemon sauce not overwhelming the delicate flavour of the raw langoustines. I loved this dish which was probably the best plate of pasta I have eaten this year.

We couldn’t resist the turbot on the Pescato Del Giorno (fish of the day) menu although there are plenty of good-looking meat dishes. I was expecting a lonely fillet to arrive on my plate but instead we were brought a fabulous sweet-fleshed whole grilled turbot slathered in a piquant garlic, caper and butter sauce and surrounded by olives, courgettes and tomatoes. Sensational!

The dessert menu is a role call of Italian classics including tiramisù, vanilla soufflé, pistachio fondant and a lemon tart with Italian meringue. However we went for a perfectly-delivered Fondente al Cioccolato con Gelato alla Vaniglia, a hot, melting chocolate fondant served with a dollop of excellent vanilla ice cream and a sliver of freeze-dried pineapple.

Italian food can be about taking high quality ingredients and cooking them simply. The kitchen at Bocconcino does just that but can also has the technical capacity to deliver more complex dishes at a high standard. It’s the real deal gastronomically and service has the typical Italian friendliness and good humour. With its two quite distinct spaces it works as well as a space for a business lunch and client entertaining as it does for a date night or family and friend outings or even just a casual pizza.

Bocconcino Mayfair

19 Berkeley St, London, W1J 8ED

020 7499 4510

Bocconcino Soho
59 Great Marlborough St, London, W1F 7JY

Osteria by Bocconcino
366 Strand, London, WC2R 0JF

If you are interested in high end Italian restaurants in London check out our review of Langosteria.

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