Another great afternoon and evening… in spite of the Pride crowds in Soho. America and Hastings in the pub where Dylan Thomas met his wife-to-be!
Join us – www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com.
Review: Archduke – Royal Court Theatre
Theatre Review: Memory, History and Humanity Collide in ‘Rika’s Rooms’ at the Tabard.
🍷🍷🍷🍷 – 4 out of 5 glasses of fine claret!
Photo: Paddy Gormley.
Some stories refuse to stay in the past. ‘Rika’s Rooms’, now playing at London’s Tabard Theatre, is one of them.
Written by acclaimed playwright Gail Louw and inspired by the life of her own mother, this powerful one-woman drama follows Rika as she journeys through the fractured landscape of dementia. As memories ebb and flow, audiences are taken from Nazi Germany in 1939 to Palestine, apartheid South Africa and finally England, where an elderly Rika struggles to distinguish past from present.
Before becoming a stage production in 2024, ‘Rika’s Rooms’ began life as a novel by Gail Louw, published in 2022.
In the first half of the play there are two separate stories. The first follows Rika as a 76-year-old, who has dementia, as she becomes repeatedly suspicious of the people caring for her, including her daughter. The second perspective starts when Rika is a young teenager, leaving Germany. The perspective of the inner monologue of a person with dementia is both humorous and deeply moving, offering audiences a rare glimpse into the fear, confusion and vulnerability that accompany a fading memory. I think it is one of the productions greatest strengths.
Although the shifting perspectives can be slightly difficult to follow at first, the audience gradually becomes familiar with Rika as figures from her past appear like ghosts. In the second half, her relationships with friends and family become more fully developed, allowing her story to unfold with greater clarity. As the narrative reaches its climax, the two timelines eclipse one another, with memories and reality colliding until past and present become almost indistinguishable. The emotional strands are brought together in a poignant and deeply satisfying conclusion.
Award-winning actor Emma Wilkinson Wright carries the production alone, portraying Rika from the age of 14 to 76 while seamlessly inhabiting the many people who shaped her extraordinary life. It’s a demanding role that promises emotional depth, physical intensity and remarkable versatility.
Far more than a story about memory loss, ‘Rika’s Rooms’explores the moral complexities of war, displacement, identity and survival. Rika witnesses some of the twentieth century’s defining moments, forcing audiences to confront uncomfortable questions about political conflict, colonialism, justice and the consequences of personal choices. Yet beneath the historical backdrop lies an intimate portrait of love, family and the lingering power of memory.
Director Anthony Shrubsall keeps the focus firmly on the storytelling, allowing Louw’s script and Wilkinson Wright’s performance to take centre stage.
For audiences who appreciate theatre that challenges as much as it entertains, Rika’s Rooms’offers an evening of thought-provoking drama. Its themes feel particularly timely in a world still wrestling with conflict, migration and the legacy of historical injustice.
‘Rika’s Rooms’ is running at the Tabard Theatre, Bath Road, London W4 1LW from the 1st-25th July 2026.
By Chaya Star
More fun in our Literary Pubs…
It’s so cool that most of August has sold out. But come and expore Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Virgina Woolf, William Morris and others.
http://www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
Kevin McNally: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, R.A.D.A., Birmingham and Sci-Fi!
Nick Hennegan talks to actor Kevin McNally about his life and career. Birmingham, R.A.D.A., Pirates of The Caribbean, and his book, ‘Sons Of Sol.’
Sci Fi pirates of the Caribbean…
I’m interviewing the brilliant ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ (and Brummie!) actor Kevin McNally this afternoon about his book. Any questions you’d like me to ask him? Dm me. And watch us here, later, on BohemianBritain.com
USA Moms in Literary Soho!
We had a great time with a great bunch of women from the USA! They booked a private tour. They’re in London for a few more days.
Join us this Saturday!
Podcast Episode: Literary Voices And London Walks
Pip: Nick Hennegan's Bohemian Britain — where beat poetry, Bloomsday, and a rainy pub crawl through Soho all somehow belong in the same week.
Mara: That's actually a fair summary. Today we're covering literary readings and anniversaries, London pub crawls taking to the streets, and a conversation about television and the craft of writing. Let's start with the readings.
Joyce and Ginsberg: Celebrating Literary Giants
Pip: Two major literary birthdays and anniversaries land close together on the calendar, and the question is how you actually honor writers like these — not just mention them, but let them speak.
Mara: The Bloomsday post gets right to the heart of it: "rare recordings of Joyce reading part of his work, his first-time publisher Sylvia Beach, founder of Shakespeare and Co Bookshop in Paris, and Brendan Behan singing."
Pip: So it's not a retrospective — it's a listening experience. You're hearing Joyce's own voice, the woman who first believed in Ulysses, and Behan throwing in a song. That's a room worth being in.
Mara: The Ginsberg post takes a similar approach, marking his birthday by gathering his most famous poems for listeners to hear directly. Beat poetry lives in the reading aloud, so the format fits.
Pip: From Ulysses to Howl — not a bad week for your ears. Which brings us to somewhere you can take those ears in person.
Literary Pub Crawls: Soho, Rain, and All
Mara: The London Literary Pub Crawl covers Soho and Fitzrovia, and the post describes it plainly: "We're selling out our brilliant 5-star London literary pub crawl tour in Soho and Fitzrovia."
Pip: Selling out a walking tour of literary pubs — apparently the British public will brave anything for a good story and a pint, which tracks.
Mara: There's also a book attached now — Plays Down A British Pub — so the crawl has extended its reach beyond the streets. And a second post documents an actual evening out: a Scottish-themed literary pub crawl, described as "wet, windy but wonderful."
Pip: Brollies deployed, spirits undampened. The Soho streets delivering exactly what they promise.
Mara: The craft behind those stories — and what it takes to build something that lasts — leads us to the next conversation.
In Conversation with Heidi Thomas
Pip: Call the Midwife has been on British television for over a decade, and the question of how a writer sustains something that long — in tone, in heart, in craft — is a real one.
Mara: The post frames it as a direct conversation with Heidi Thomas, the show's creator. Sitting down with the person who built that world and asking how it works is exactly the kind of access that makes this worth your time.
Pip: A show about community, continuity, and care — and here's the writer who kept all three alive across years of episodes.
Mara: Readings, crawls, and long-running television — it's a wide beat, but the thread is the same: how literature finds its audience.
Pip: Same time next week — more Bohemian Britain, presumably whatever the weather.
Kill for a Ticket! – Theatre review.
Dead Guilty by Richard Harris.
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 – 5 out of 5 glasses of wine!
Theatre At The Tabard
2 Bath Road
London
W4 1LW
Yet again the Tabard Theatre are punching above their weight in their intimate space. Yet again production values… the colourful and lively set, lights and sound… are West End quality. And yet again they have a tip-top, West End quality cast.
Although this tense thriller works better at the intimate Tabard than it would in the West End. We are almost ‘in’ the action. Dead Guilty was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in the West End in 1995 and Richard Harris has revised the play for the Tabard production. Directed by Nick Bromley and produced by the Tabard Theatre, this thriller cleverly starts and ends in a single spotlight.
The story concerns Julia, a graphic designer played with delicate and impressive conviction by Charlotte Hunter, who is badly injured in a car crash when her employer John Haddrell suffers a fatal heart attack at the wheel. Housebound and fragile in both mind and body, she cuts herself off from friends and colleagues and instead depends on the two people she has persuaded herself she can trust. But can she?
Richard Harris’ credits include A Touch Of Frost, The Sweeney, The Avengers and The Last Detective. He has written such stage plays as Stepping Out and Outside Edge. He also wrote the West End hit The Business of Murder which enjoyed a successful revival at the Tabard Theatre in 2024.
His television skills are obvious here.
The play is intricately plotted, but the ‘real life’ characters mean that although this is certainly a thriller, the story never feels completely out of the realms of possibility. It’s a drama without being a melodrama and Richard Harris and Nick Bromley manage to skilfully straddle high drama and suspense with the everyday and comedy, cleverly examining different facets of loss. It soon transpires that something is amiss in Julia’s front room. Items in the house aren’t where she left them, small details people have told her don’t add up and Julia is left wondering who in her life she can depend on.
And the cast are universally dead good! We have Margaret, John’s surviving wife, whose desire to nurse Julia back to health starts to feel slightly smothering. Played by Felicity Duncan, Margaret initially presents as a warm and nurturing maternal figure. After meeting Julia, she seems eager to help, quickly becoming another indispensable presence in her life. Duncan captures Margaret’s kindness with great authenticity, creating a character who is immediately engaging and sympathetic.
Anne, Julia’s counsellor, is portrayed by Julia Faulkner. Anne appears to be the epitome of professionalism and empathy, genuinely invested in her client’s well-being. It’s a measured and nuanced performance, combining reassuring gentleness with an unwavering firmness.
There’s also Gary, Julia’s devoted handyman, whose helpful visage appears to be hiding ulterior motives. Gary, played by Freddie Webster, is a slightly lovesick, eager and devoted helper who seems unable to do enough for her. He is often funny, but there is still some sort of menace about him
Julia herself is far from the martyred archetype of the traumatised survivor, and is often irritable and sardonic in her interactions with the other characters. The multi-layered performances of the actors leave the audience not knowing quite who to trust, with perspectives on each character constantly shifting throughout. In fact the performances alone are worth the price of a ticket!
Dead Guilty is Dead Good!
DEAD GUILTY by Richard Harris at The Tabard Theatre
10th-27th June 2026.
Writer – Richard Harris
The cast
Julia – Charlotte Hunter
Margaret – Felicity Duncan
Gary – Freddie Webster
Anne – Julia Faulkner
The creatives
Director – Nick Bromley
Set Designer – Rob Miles
Costume Designer – Faith Powlett
Lighting Designer – Nat Green
Set Build and Scenic Artistry – Rob Miles and Pat McMahon
Stage Manager – Claire-Monique Martin
Produced by Simon and Sarah Reilly for Take Note Theatre for the Tabard
Photography: Felix Hall Close
Celebrating Bloomsday with Joyce’s Readings and Rare Recordings. And Writing Competitions!
Nick Hennegan celebrates Bloomsday… the annual celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses, with rare recordings of Joyce reading part of his work, his first-time publisher Sylvia Beach (founder of Shakespeare and Co Bookshop in Paris) and Brendan Behan singing! Also news of some upcoming writing competitions.