We learned the hard way never to trust someone you meet on a train, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t settle back and get all comfortable for a gripping show set on the tracks coming to a stage near you this month. And comedy? We’ve got it, by the jokeload. Here are this month’s […] The post Full steam ahead for the psychological thriller appeared first on MK Pulse.
We learned the hard way never to trust someone you meet on a train, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t settle back and get all comfortable for a gripping show set on the tracks coming to a stage near you this month. And comedy? We’ve got it, by the jokeload. Here are this month’s best bits by Pulse’s Sammy Jones.
The Girl on the Train pulls into Milton Keynes Theatre (June 10-14) for a first class performance, with actress and broadcaster Laura Whitmore taking on the role of Rachel Watson in the psychological thriller from the mind of Paula Hawkins.
Rachel longs for a different life. Her only escape is the perfect couple she watches through the train window every day, happy and in love. Or so it appears. When she learns that the woman she’s been secretly watching has suddenly disappeared, Rachel finds herself as a witness and even a suspect in a thrilling mystery in which she will face bigger revelations than she could ever have anticipated.
“I read the book when it first came out and I was obsessed by it,” Laura says, “I love it when you find a book and all you can think about is that story. You wake up a little bit earlier to read the book and stay up too late to finish it. I am excited to show people my portrayal of Rachel this summer.”
In page-turning form, The Girl on the Train has gripped many of you – with more than 20 million copies sitting on bookshelves around the world. And let’s not forget the big screen version which was led by Emily Blunt.
The other big rock n roller this month, is literally that – a two-week stay for the award-winning rouser, Bat out of Hell (June 16-28).
Rather than us wasting precious column inches here, let your eyes focus on the page facing this one for the detail you need.
Instead, we’ll run you through June’s one-nighters at the venue: Enjoy a Fistful of Clary with funny fella Julian (June 3), boogie-woogie with the inimitable Jools Holland (June 4), Prime Cut Comedy Cow with the promotion carving up slices of Adam Kay, Seann Walsh, Ninia Benjamin and Mark Watson (June 5), or enjoy the lip quivers and leg shivers of A Vision of Elvis (June 6).
And there’s more still; Glitterball winner and all-round funny fella Chris McCausland will turn frowns upside down with Yonks (June 7), Sounds of the 60’s Live is back with Tony Blackburn (June 9) followed by Showstopper! The Improvised Musical (June 30).
So that’s your peek into MK Theatre, but there are some gems hidden alongside the musical moments at The Stables, starting with West End leading man Lee Mead (June 10), back in town with The Best Of Me.
Since bagging the top spot on the reality TV show Any Dream Will Do when Lee beat 10,000 hopefuls to wear that Technicolor Dreamcoat in the Lloyd Webber and Rice smash hit, Joseph, Lee has proven a smash hit on stage and screen, and on disc – with several album releases.
This Stables show will celebrate his two-decades long career, with music from theatreland, contemporary hits and tracks from his new EP.
The Scummy Mummies are back for a two night stay (June 25 & 26) with Hot Mess.
‘From menopause to mansplaining, teenagers to Tinder, no subject is safe’ in this show they say will, ‘have you laughing till you wee.’ Best take some fresh bloomers!
There is more funny stuff with Alfie Moore (June 27) and his show, A Face for Radio, before the venue wraps up June with the biggest present of all, a night in the company of comedian, presenter, screenwriter, and director, Simon Amstell (June 29).
Sometimes, when we’re fed up with the humdrum of the daily grind, we go deep into Amstell’s historic put downs of muso’s and wannabees on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and we always come back up for air grinning broadly. Perhaps Amstell should be available on prescription. Just sayin’.
Over at Stantonbury Theatre, #Hashtag (June 7, 2pm & 7pm) brings a vibrant exploration of modern adolescence to make you think. Plunge into a treacherous world of social media, where instant is the only sufficient, where sharing is a must, and where emotions are reduced to emojis.
The reminder here is that the most authentic moments in life arrive ‘when we dare to look up from our screens and face the unfiltered reality before us.’
The post Full steam ahead for the psychological thriller appeared first on MK Pulse.