Kat Mokrynski

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical has been taking The Other Palace by storm since it opened in November 2024. Recently, we had the chance to speak with Max Harwood, who plays Percy Jackson, the titular hero of the tale who goes on a quest after discovering the truth behind his parentage. We discussed how he first got into theatre, his love for the world of Percy Jackson and even which Greek god would be his godly parent!

Having seen over 320 shows in cities like London, New York, Edinburgh in 2024, it was certainly difficult to narrow it down to my top ten shows of the year, but I have done my best! This list is a mix of plays, musicals and stand-up comedy shows that I have seen as both a critic, as well as some that I went to as a punter.

Created by Recent Cutbacks, Hold On To Your Butts is a “shot for shot” parody of the iconic Jurassic Park film, with three actors taking on the movie in only seventy minutes (the original film has a runtime of two hours and seven minutes). Jack Baldwin and Laurence Pears take on nearly all of the characters (yes, even Mr. D.N.A makes an appearance!) through simple costume and prop changes.

“Oh, that I were a man!” In the opening scene, one might worry that they have accidentally stumbled into a one-woman production of Much Ado About Nothing, as the woman on stage gives a passionate rendition of one of Beatrice’s iconic monologues. However, this quickly changes when another woman accidentally crashes the audition, leading to a fateful meeting that will change the paths of these two women forever.

Written and directed by British Panto Award winner Andrew Pollard, Cinderella is given a “North London upgrade” in the King’s Head theatre’s first-ever pantomime. Maddy Erzan-Essien stars as the titular heroine, a girl who longs to find her place in the world and is forced to serve her evil stepsisters under the watchful eye of their mother

Do you relate to the problem of being bullied in state school for being rich and then being bullied in private school for not being rich enough? Then this might be the show for you. Olga Koch Comes From Money is an hour of stand-up in which Koch explores her own relationship with wealth in a show that is formatted like a Q&A, answering the questions the audience might want to know. How did Koch’s family get wealthy? What’s it like being rich? Did you really write this show poolside on Uncle Jeffrey’s island?

With a score by the iconic John Williams, Home Alone is the ideal film to be set to live music at the Royal Albert Hall as a part of their Christmas season. The 1990 film, written by John Hughes directed by Chris Columbus, follows the adventures of Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), an eight-year-old boy who is left home alone (ba dum tss!) and must defend his home from a pair of robbers known as the Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).

Recently, we had the chance to chat with Erika Ishii, who will be taking on the role of The Warrior from 5 to 17 December. We discussed how they first got started in both theatre and Dungeons & Dragons, what it is like to be joining a show like this one and why this is truly a show for everyone, including those who have never played Dungeons & Dragons before!

For its 25th pantomime, the Hackney Empire is putting on Dick Whittington and His Cat, directed by and starring Clive Row, who has been the resident Dame of the Hackney Empire for years. This particular production of Dick Whittington has been written by Will Brenton with original music and songs by Steve Edis and stars Kandaka Moore as the titular Whittington and Kat B as Tommy the Cat.

Joe Kent-Walters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE!!! begins in quite the spooky manner, with Kent-Walters slowly making his way around the stage, shrouded in darkness, creepily whispering, “Here comes Frankie . . .” The show, directed by Jonathan Oldfield, brings audience members into The Misty Moon, a working men’s club in Rotherham that also just happens to double as a portal to hell.

On 20 March 2022 at 4:59 PM, Paul Foot’s life changed forever while he was driving on the outskirts of Lancaster, and we’re about to find out why. Paul Foot: Dissolve is Foot’s way of telling audiences what happened to him and the implications it has on not only him but the world around him as well.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an adaptation of the first book in the hit series by Rick Riordan, which follows Percy Jackson, a young boy who discovers that he is a demi-god, the son of Poseidon, and that he must stop a war between the gods by finding and returning Zeus’s master weapon, his lightning bolt.

Written by comedy duo Flo & Joan and directed by Georgie Straight, One Man Musical has quite the simple description - an “original one-man musical about a very renowned gentleman.” This isn’t going to be a one man musical about just any ordinary man. Instead, we’re going to be taking a peek into the mind of one of the world’s most (in)famous musical theatre giants - Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Written and directed by John Savournin and David Eaton, Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime is a holiday show that promises “historic hilarity” as we follow Napoleon on his quest to defeat the English, particularly the Duke of Wellington. This is the second time Charles Court Opera has collaborated with Jermyn Street Theatre to create a pantomime, the first being Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime last year.

After a successful run at the Criterion Theatre earlier this year, The Merchant of Venice 1936, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s work by Brigid Larmour and Tracy-Ann Oberman, with Oberman starring as a female version of the Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Larmour and Oberman have moved the setting to London in the 1930s, when fascism was on the rise with Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts, culminating in the Battle of Cable Street on 4 October 1936.

Zainab Johnson: Live starts with a metaphorical bang, with Johnson getting on stage and declaring that she has a gun. And just like that, the audience is hooked. Why does Johnson have a gun? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.

Seven years after it closed on Broadway in 2017, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is finally arriving in London at the Donmar Warehouse in December. The show, written by Dave Malloy, takes a seventy-page segment of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (Part Eight, to be specific) and transforms it into a sung-through musical. The titular characters of Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov are respectively played by Chumisa Dornford-May and Declan Bennett.

The award-winning musical The Producers is finally returning to London in its first revival since debuting on the West End in 2004. The show, based on the iconic 1967 film of the same name by Mel Brooks, tells the story of two producers who discover that a producer could make more from a Broadway flop than a hit, which leads them to put on what they think will be the worst show in history - Springtime for Hitler.

Recently, we had the chance to talk with Aaron Sidwell, who takes on the infamous role of Bill Sikes. We discussed what made him want to be involved in Oliver!, how he is able to take on such an emotionally demanding role and what makes this production so special compared to other versions of the musical.

Recently, we spoke with John Dagleish, who plays the titular Benjamin Button, and Clare Foster, who plays his love interest, Elowen Keene. We discussed what it has been like to be joining the show for its West End run, playing for the stage versus the screen and even the impact they hope the show has on audiences.