Comedy Theatre ThisWeek In London

Three To See on 2 May: Kes, Anuvab Pal – The Empire, Worth A Flutter

By TW Editorial | Published on Wednesday 25 April 2018

And today’s ThisWeek-tipped, LDN-based events are…

Kes | Jack Studio | 7-19 May
“Billy Casper is 15 years old. Bullied at school and unhappy at home, he doesn’t fit in. But when Billy comes across a wild kestrel and realises he can train her, he discovers a new life above the small Northern mining town in which he lives. Together they learn to fly and Billy finds friendship and hope – until one snap decision and an unplaced bet change things forever.” The staging of an adaptation by Robert Alan Evans from Barry Hines’ well loved novel ‘A Kestrel For A Knave’, which you’ve no doubt come across in its incarnation as a film. I definitely want to take a look, so I bet you do too: see this page here.

Anuvab Pal – The Empire | Soho Theatre | 1-5 May (pictured)
One of India’s top comedians Anuvab Pal with his interesting sounding angle on colonialism and empire: “The British came and gave him a colonial accent, British values, decorum, all that and left. He lives in contemporary India – a billion confident humans fed on social media, American consumerism and way past their colonial hangover. How does this man still under the influence – the British influence – survive in ‘New India’? Nobody knows, the least of all him.” For all the info, step right this way.

Worth A Flutter | The Hope Theatre | 1-19 May
This definitely sounds like it’s got betting as a theme, what with that title, and the fact that, in the blurb, we’re offered odds on each character, but I am not entirely sure exactly where to expect that theme to take us: but for that reason I am intrigued, and should definitely go to see it and find out. It certainly sounds like it’s going to deal with some fairly heavy stuff – Broken marriages, loss, domestic violence and a dysfunctional member – but it also promises to be a comedy, however dark. Details here.