Reviews by Matty Czaczkes
Beyond The Barricade
Matty Czaczkes
Beyond the Barricade is the very epitome of WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get'. The group deliver expert renditions of all your favourite numbers from all your favourite stage musicals. No props, ...
5 years ago
Beyond The Barricade
Hotter
Matty Czaczkes
Strong and vulnerable and honest and silly, Hotter explores the more intimate side of womanhood with wit and wisdom.
Mary Higgins and Ell Potter take to the stage to share with the audience their ...
5 years ago
Hotter
WNO Autumn Season 2019
Matty Czaczkes
Carmen, 19th November 2019 The Welsh National Opera get their 'wow's in early. As the curtains rises, a towering three-storey set is revealed, dominated by chain-link fence and grimy modern ...
5 years ago
WNO Autumn Season 2019
The Storm
Matty Czaczkes
James Wilson Dance successfully explores complex themes with great skill and flawless delivery, though the whole isn’t always the sum of the parts.
The dancers were, of course, top notch. ...
5 years ago
The Storm
Stand-up Literature
Matty Czaczkes
Stand-Up Literature, Fri 18th October 2019 Jericho Comedy’s stand up offerings usually deliver a great mix of laughing and learning, but you can’t win ‘em all, and tonight’s show fell a ...
5 years ago
Stand-up Literature
The London African Gospel Choir Performs Paul Simon's Graceland
Matty Czaczkes
Rich voices, strong rhythms, energetic choreography and a whole heap of love: the London African Gospel Choir (LAGC) truly brings the joy of music and their treatment of Graceland is excellent. By no ...
5 years ago
The London African Gospel Choir Performs Paul Simon's Graceland
Humans
Matty Czaczkes
Humans is to the circus what the 'Mona Lisa' is to a doodle of a smiley face. Sure there are similarities, but really it’s in a different league.
Humans is and ten-strong acrobatic dance show ...
5 years ago
Humans
Little Miss Sunshine
Matty Czaczkes
Little Miss Sunshine is like a good lemon meringue pie: light and sweet, but with a tiny touch of acid and just a hint of bitterness to lift the flavour.
A stage musical adaptation of the 2006 ...
5 years ago
Little Miss Sunshine
Waterperry Opera Festival 2019
Matty Czaczkes
The Magic Flute, Waterperry Gardens, Thursday 25th July 2019 I’m no opera aficionado, but I now have affection for the Waterperry Opera Festival. The first (and last) opera I saw was in London. It ...
5 years ago
Waterperry Opera Festival 2019
Hair the Musical
Matty Czaczkes
Well, that was quite the trip. The 50th anniversary tour of Hair at the New Theatre was a full-on kaleidoscope of songs, lights and colours which, despite some excellent numbers and full effort, ...
5 years ago
Hair the Musical
Xanadu
Matty Czaczkes
Giffords Circus dishes up a fun and classy family outing. So much more than just a series of acts, the Xanadu show is a complete experience, carefully designed to delight the young and ...
6 years ago
Xanadu
Ordinary Days
Matty Czaczkes
Ordinary Days distils the very essence of a musical. In just over an hour, and with just four actors on stage, the cast and crew managed to deliver on everything that gives a great musical its heart. ...
6 years ago
Ordinary Days
OSJ Ashmolean Proms series
Matty Czaczkes
The Beauty of the Cello - Sat, 1st June 2019 The Orchestra of St John's give a resounding performance Monn’s Baroque cello concerto and other pieces as part of a series of proms, in the perfect ...
6 years ago
OSJ Ashmolean Proms series
Laurel Grace
Matty Czaczkes
Delicious gin, soft jazz, an array of nibbles and good company: it’s the perfect date night.
Around once every three months the New Theatre team up with Oxford-based gin distillers The Oxford ...
6 years ago
Laurel Grace
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons
Matty Czaczkes
You only have 140 words per day - how would you use them? By giving this absurd law an impressively serious treatment, this play cleverly explores two deep characters in a complex and intense ...
6 years ago
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons
Made in Dagenham
Matty Czaczkes
With lots of fun and
lots of energy, MAC’s production of Made in Dagenham offers everything
you could want from a musical. Upbeat songs, well-developed characters
and good humour were backed ...
6 years ago
Made in Dagenham
Dorchester Festival
Matty Czaczkes
Ben Morris – Star Wars, CGI and Me - Sun 5th May 2019 Ben Morris, Creative Director of Industrial Light & Magic’s London Studio, offered a fascinating, astounding and amusing peek behind the Star ...
6 years ago
Dorchester Festival
Balletboyz - Them/Us
Matty Czaczkes
Balletboyz new work Them/Us is a tour de force in two distinct halves. Mixing flawless dancing, creative choreography and evocative composition, the performance is just the right mix of interesting, ...
6 years ago
Balletboyz - Them/Us
Andy Askins, George Rigden, Suzi Ruffell
Matty Czaczkes
The Glee club at the Bullingdon offers constantly decent comedy in a slightly squishy venue, for middling prices. For around £17 you get two hours of comedy, two breaks and a plastic chair squeezed ...
6 years ago
Andy Askins, George Rigden, Suzi Ruffell
The Floyd Effect - The Pink Floyd Tribute Show
Matty Czaczkes
The Floyd Effect make worthy tribute to Pink Floyd’s genius with technical excellent, a top notch stage show and every note right on the money. The backroom of Abingdon Football Club didn’t ...
6 years ago
The Floyd Effect - The Pink Floyd Tribute Show
Kinky Boots
Matty Czaczkes
Funny, openhearted and utterly charming, Kinky Boots at the New Theatre is a big glitter bomb of fun, guaranteed to leave you buzzing. The story follows Charlie, the owner of an ailing shoe ...
6 years ago
Kinky Boots
Chinese New Year Festival Show
Matty Czaczkes
Well, you don’t see that every day! The annual Chinese New Year Festival was pure entertainment and a triumph all round.
The event is best described as Chinese culture themed variety circus act, ...
6 years ago
Chinese New Year Festival Show
TEDx Oxford
Matty Czaczkes
TED (standing for Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a nonprofit aimed at spreading ideas through medium of short, punchy talks. TEDx are independent but affiliated events inspired by TED, ...
6 years ago
TEDx Oxford
Vampires Rock
Matty Czaczkes
Vampires Rock is a thinly veiled excuse to give the audience a couple of hours of classic rock, performed with full light show and thigh-bare dancing ladies. All your old favourites will make an ...
6 years ago
Vampires Rock
Jericho Comedy Presents: Sara Barron
Matty Czaczkes
I think Sara Barron should be famous. She’s faster, sharper and downright funnier than anything you’d get on Live at the Apollo. Filthy, direct and right on point, Barron is the master of the ...
6 years ago
Jericho Comedy Presents: Sara Barron
Enter The Dragons
Matty Czaczkes
Behold Chronos! Master of time, plower of wrinkles, clouder of minds, scourge of the firm breast! And lo, our brave protagonist did take up arms and join the quest to confront youth’s demon. A ...
6 years ago
Enter The Dragons
Shakespeare in Love
Matty Czaczkes
Though originally a film, Shakespeare in Love makes most sense as a play. The story follows a young Shakespeare as he falls in love with his unobtainable muse Viola while writing Romeo and Juliet. As ...
6 years ago
Shakespeare in Love
Stand-up for Bacteria
Matty Czaczkes
The basic premise of these regular but infrequent shows is that five well-informed people share a comedy routine loosely based on a seemingly unfunny subject. Last night’s show was about the ...
6 years ago
Stand-up for Bacteria
The Pit and the Pendulum
Matty Czaczkes
Walking up to the Bodleian Library at night you feel the weight of years upon you - heavy stone, looming architecture. Go through the arched door into a small crowded room. Towered over by dark and ...
6 years ago
The Pit and the Pendulum
Country For Old Men, Beard Of Destiny, Franklin's Tower
Matty Czaczkes
Ah, the Bullingdon, we’re lucky to have it. Despite the appalling toilets, it’s great that Oxford has a professional music venue that is accessible enough for a good dose of local music at under ...
6 years ago
Country For Old Men, Beard Of Destiny, Franklin's Tower
Sameena Zehra Headlines Comedy Knights at the Castle
Matty Czaczkes
Seek out the Castle Tavern, acquire thyself a beverage, squeeze yourself into the cellar room and - if the stars are aligned just right - the gods of comedy value will smile upon you too.
On the ...
6 years ago
Sameena Zehra Headlines Comedy Knights at the Castle
Unconditional
Matty Czaczkes
"So, it's a story about..." Actually, it doesn’t matter what the story is about. What it’s really about is the delightful characters, whimsical scenes and joyful delivery. What it’s really ...
6 years ago
Unconditional
Hansel & Gretel
Matty Czaczkes
Hansel & Gretel: a Nightmare in Eight Scenes was a mixed medium performance telling the story of Hansel and Gretel via performance poetry. But also with live musical accompaniment, puppetry, paper ...
6 years ago
Hansel & Gretel
Duet For One
Matty Czaczkes
In the peaceful surroundings of the psychiatrist's office, a life and death struggle takes place for the soul of a damaged artist.
At its heart a Duet For One is a story of coming to terms with (or ...
6 years ago
Duet For One
Our House in Town
Matty Czaczkes
A descendant, ever-so-classy, delectable mix of fine music, good wine and even better song, hosted by the ever-fabulous Dusty Limits and his wonderful wife.
If forced to pin it down, I would call ...
6 years ago
Our House in Town
Birdsong
Matty Czaczkes
This stage adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ classic novel Birdsong was a masterpiece. Heartfelt, powerful, occasionally funny and deeply moving, tonight’s performance at the Oxford Playhouse ...
6 years ago
Birdsong
Urban Folk Quartet
Matty Czaczkes
My throat is somewhat sore, for I have been a-hootin’ and a-hollarin’. You wouldn’t expect such behaviour from the thoroughly middle-class audience at the North Wall Arts Centre, but the Urban ...
7 years ago
Urban Folk Quartet
The Pirates of Penzance
Matty Czaczkes
Why are pirates called pirates? Because they arrrgh!
Yup, despite being a Victorian-era operetta, The Pirates of Penzance is by no means a sophisticated, high-brow affair. Rather, it's delightful ...
7 years ago
The Pirates of Penzance
Stand-up Philosophy - Nature Week
Matty Czaczkes
Stand-up Philosophy was brilliant. It was funny. Genuinely funny. Not ‘I’m-laughing-because-I-know-I-ought-to’ funny, but actually, honestly funny. Wasn’t expecting that from something with ...
7 years ago
Stand-up Philosophy - Nature Week
9 to 5: The Musical
Matty Czaczkes
9 to 5 is, unsurprisingly, the Dolly Parton musical. Don’t know who Dolly is? Shame on you. But also, don’t worry about it as the show also comes complete with a decent storyline. Set in a 1979 ...
7 years ago
9 to 5: The Musical
Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead
Matty Czaczkes
Gosh. I don’t know quite what to make of Joseph Morpurgo’s Hammerhead. It was clearly technically impressive, 100% original, super creative and choc full of ideas. But I’m not sure if it was ...
7 years ago
Joseph Morpurgo: Hammerhead
Air on a G String
Matty Czaczkes
Well wasn’t that a delight?! Accessible uptempo classical music in a grand yet intimate setting performed by joyful and skillful musicians: the Oxford Bach Soloists’ performance of Air on a G ...
7 years ago
Air on a G String
Cheer Up Slug
Matty Czaczkes
“Would you rather be fingered by a sloth for three minutes, or give up kissing forever?” Truly one of today’s most vexing questions. Also a great way to start what is a funny, fast paced and ...
7 years ago
Cheer Up Slug
Oxford Symphony Orchestra
Matty Czaczkes
There was a lot going on in tonight’s concert by the Oxford Symphony Orchestra. First up was Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. For me this was a challenging piece. The players did an ...
7 years ago
Oxford Symphony Orchestra
Simon Evans
Matty Czaczkes
Simon Evans’ new show Genius was a solid performance. Despite the some slower stretches it was peppered with genuine laugh-out-loud moments and was a solid display of reliable comedy talent. For ...
7 years ago
Simon Evans
An Oxford Elegy
Matty Czaczkes
For me, Jubilate are Oxford’s premium chamber choir. It would be hard to beat them for affordable quality classical music. Their most recent concert, An Oxford Elegy, was no exception, even given ...
7 years ago
An Oxford Elegy
Roll With Me Sushi
Matty Czaczkes
The Roll With Me Sushi Making class was easy, delicious, good value and great fun. Combining foody creativity with a relaxed and playful atmosphere, the experience was ideal for a ...
7 years ago
Roll With Me Sushi
The Event
Matty Czaczkes
A one-man-play, which used a discussion of theatre as a springboard to look at modern alienation and the human condition. First, speaking about plays and their conventions, the protagonist then ...
14 years ago
The Event
Billy Elliot Youth Theatre
Matty Czaczkes
Well, Stagecoach did it again. In an audacious display of ambition they decided to put on a full length production of a top West End show in the ridiculous time of five and a half days.For those six ...
14 years ago
Billy Elliot Youth Theatre
A Clockwork Orange (Theatre)
Matty Czaczkes
Come, join me my droogies and together we shall descend into a world of blood, savagery and ultra violence. A Clockwork Orange does not make easy watching, but for those with the bottle for it a ...
15 years ago
A Clockwork Orange (Theatre)
Hanging Hooke
Matty Czaczkes
Hanging Hooke is simply excellent, both as a play and as a performance. A one man play about an episode in the history of science does not sound like a great idea, so it is a testament to the skill ...
15 years ago
Hanging Hooke
Anything Goes
Matty Czaczkes
Abingdon Operatic Society’s rendition of Anything Goes was a fun and light-hearted affair that stayed true to the show's roots and captured the feel of the time very well indeed. Anything Goes is a ...
15 years ago
Anything Goes
Oxfringe 2010
Matty Czaczkes
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, squeeze into your seats and set your faces to ‘mirth’, for tonight we shall be amused, amazed and entertained by the most affable magical duo in town: Morgan ...
15 years ago
Oxfringe 2010
The Ethics of Progress
Matty Czaczkes
I cannot understate how much I approve of this show. In The Ethics of Progress Jon Spooner delivers an introduction to some concepts in quantum mechanics, and a few of their ethical and philosophical ...
15 years ago
The Ethics of Progress
Hugh Hughes in… 360
Matty Czaczkes
Tonight's show, a stand-up comedy story, was both charming and funny; chummy. Its chumminess was down to Hugh Hughes’ energy and social ease, and I warmed to Hughes a little like I would to a ...
15 years ago
Hugh Hughes in… 360
Porridge
Matty Czaczkes
Porridge. Say to yourself. Let's face it, it's not a word that immediately fills one with excitement, like say the word ‘fiesta’. But neither is it a word that is immediately repulsive, like say ...
15 years ago
Porridge
...And The Shuffle of Things
Matty Czaczkes
I guess I would describe Andrew Poppy’s …And the Shuffle of Things as experimental minimalist classical crossed with lo-tec electronica. It mixed piano and glockenspiel with vibraphone and bass ...
15 years ago
...And The Shuffle of Things
A State Affair
Matty Czaczkes
There was clearly a lot of heart and sincerity behind this play. I appreciate what it was trying to do, and it’s a noble endeavour. The difficulty comes in turning the lives of real people, some of ...
15 years ago
A State Affair
Kes
Matty Czaczkes
Well, it was never going to be a barrel of laughs now was it? Kes is the story of Billy, a feckless young lad in bleak northern mining town. He comes from a broken home with a bully (step?-)brother, ...
15 years ago
Kes
Lord of the Dance
Matty Czaczkes
Lord of the Dance was like an Irish variety show, complete with soulful singers, hot fiddlers, and of course lots and lots of mincy-foot Irish dancing. It is without a doubt a show that will divide ...
15 years ago
Lord of the Dance
Decadence
Matty Czaczkes
Wow. Decadence sure was one offensive play. It would have been inexcusably offensive only, like that one mate, it gets away with it because it was just so darn funny. Essentially the play consisted ...
15 years ago
Decadence
Oxford Lieder Festival 2009
Matty Czaczkes
Saturday evening’s performance in the Britten Weekend was a complete success. Though not something one would just turn up to on spec, for those interested it was certainly a sumptuous ear feast, as ...
15 years ago
Oxford Lieder Festival 2009
An Ode to my Sisters
Matty Czaczkes
An Ode to My Sisters was a strong play about the lives and experiences of Muslim Pakistani women living in the UK. The issues of arranged marriage, social manipulation and the difference between ...
15 years ago
An Ode to my Sisters
Siberia
Matty Czaczkes
If Victor Meldrew’s wife died, and they put him in a home, it might start out funny, but it would end bitterly sad.Siberia is a one man play following the plight of a deteriorating old man named ...
15 years ago
Siberia
The Walworth Farce
Matty Czaczkes
The Walworth Farce follows a disturbed man and his two sons, caught in a cycle of enacting a play about two families fighting over the wills of their deceased loved ones by concocting lies to their ...
15 years ago
The Walworth Farce
Life And Laundry
Matty Czaczkes
A shocking but not exceptional event leaves our main character Kate questioning the roles she has played in the lives of others, and ultimately the role she plays in her own life. Through encounters ...
15 years ago
Life And Laundry
Les Miserables School Edition
Matty Czaczkes
Les Misérables is, first and foremost, about the music. It stands and falls on its ability to rouse, move and inspire the crowd. So it was with delight that I found Stagecoach's efforts standing ...
15 years ago
Les Miserables School Edition
Bamboozlement
Matty Czaczkes
Gasp! At incredible psychic powers. Wonder! At feats of shear impossibility. Thrill! To banter and fine comedy. Bamboozlement is a fantastic piece of performance theatre, where two (handsome, ...
16 years ago
Bamboozlement
The Naked Truth
Matty Czaczkes
The lights go down. There is an announcement about mobile phones. They suggest you having it on vibrate in your pocket. Cheesy girl-power-ballads rip forth and a grin spreads across your face. The ...
16 years ago
The Naked Truth
We'll Meet Again
Matty Czaczkes
We’ll Meet Again is an odd play: its grab-bag of characters deliver a slew of good jokes throughout the hour long performance, and it all somehow ends up as more then the some of its parts. The ...
16 years ago
We'll Meet Again
A Real Doll by Theo Merz
Matty Czaczkes
A Real Doll is a play about a lonely middle aged man who orders a custom made sex doll to fulfil all his social and emotional needs, amongst others. With a premise like that the show could have got ...
16 years ago
A Real Doll by Theo Merz
The Recruiting Officer
Matty Czaczkes
The Recruiting Officer was an ambitious amateur production of a difficult play, and The Studio Theatre Club put on a performance to be proud of. A character-driven 'Restoration ...
16 years ago
The Recruiting Officer
National Youth Guitar Ensemble: 35 Guitars At The North Wall!,
Matty Czaczkes
An ensemble composed entirely of thirty or so guitars is not something you hear everyday, and so I could not resist checking out this show, put on by the National Youth Guitar Ensemble in the North ...
16 years ago
National Youth Guitar Ensemble: 35 Guitars At The North Wall!,
Oxfringe 2009
Matty Czaczkes
Tonight’s entertainment was composed of two discrete parts: a performance poetry routine and a gypsy-ska gig. This rather strange coupling is, I think, explained by one of the poets being the lead ...
16 years ago
Oxfringe 2009
Oxfringe 2009
Matty Czaczkes
The Art of Catastrophe was a solid and enjoyable one act, one woman play, presenting a familiar narrative in a funny, powerful and highly compelling way. The thrust of the play was the well trodden ...
16 years ago
Oxfringe 2009
Jubilate! Choir
Matty Czaczkes
Jubilate!’s Saturday night performance was a powerful pleasure to experience; lifting the spirit despite the rather solemn content of the first half.Set in the glorious Keble Collage Chapel, ...
16 years ago
Jubilate! Choir
Dancin' Oxford Festival 2009
Matty Czaczkes
In The Genes was a special performance commissioned by The Pegasus Theatre for the Dancin' Oxford festival currently taking place. The take-home lesson from the night's show was that I should really ...
16 years ago
Dancin' Oxford Festival 2009
The Philadelphia Story
Matty Czaczkes
I fear I must be the harbringer of bad news. For you see, kind reader, The Philadelphia Story was one of the worse dramatic experience I have had the misfortune to attend. The plot revolves around ...
16 years ago
The Philadelphia Story
Found In Translation
Matty Czaczkes
Part lecture, part poetry reading, and 100% brilliant, Found In Translation is a work of pure, unadulterated, genius. It really is fantastic. But where, oh where, to begin? Three young men walk onto ...
16 years ago
Found In Translation
Correctness Gone Mad!
Matty Czaczkes
Sketch shows are often better remembered then seen, and Correctness Gone Mad is a case in point. Please understand; I am not at all comparing this to a trial endured, but merely noting a phenomenon ...
16 years ago
Correctness Gone Mad!
Oxford Gospel Choir Christmas Concert 2008
Matty Czaczkes
It is with sadness in my heart that I must report that this year's Christmas concert by the Oxford Gospel Choir was a disappointing affair. I wanted it to be good. It's been good in the past. But ...
16 years ago
Oxford Gospel Choir Christmas Concert 2008
Approaching Tomorrow
Matty Czaczkes
Physical theatre is not everyone's cup of tea, but for those who are inclined towards contemporary dramatics, Approaching Tomorrow was a high quality, unflinching and grown up offering. The ...
16 years ago
Approaching Tomorrow
The Reality Show
Matty Czaczkes
What ever else The Reality Show was, it certainly was no ordinary night out. I knew from the start that this was going to be different, but I grossly underestimated the sheer level of oddity which ...
16 years ago
The Reality Show
WNO's Autumn Season 2008
Matty Czaczkes
Jenůfa, composed by Leoš Janáček and performed by the Welsh National Opera, was an outstanding night's entertainment and an ideal first opera for a novice such as myself.
The story ...
16 years ago
WNO's Autumn Season 2008
Pride & Prejudice
Matty Czaczkes
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that anyone in possession of a free evening, must be in want of seeing this play. Abingdon Drama Club's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a ...
16 years ago
Pride & Prejudice
My Mother Said I Never Should
Matty Czaczkes
Four daughters, three mothers, two grandmothers and a great grand mother; Charlotte Keatley's play My Mother Said I Never Should' is an exploration of mother/daughter relationships across ...
16 years ago
My Mother Said I Never Should
Oxford Fireworks
Matty Czaczkes
Oxford Round Table Fireworks, South Park, Oxford, Sat 8 November, 2008Remember, remember the fifth of November. Well, the eighth of November to be precise, but a charming night all the same. Gates ...
16 years ago
Oxford Fireworks
Cake Expectations - An Evening of Burlesque and Cabaret
Matty Czaczkes
Cream
Tease, Oxford’s very own burlesque troupe, beguiled the audience with a
bevvy of dancing beauties, pun-laden songs and more than a little
cheek. In group pieces or in solo acts,
the ...
5 years ago
Cake Expectations - An Evening of Burlesque and Cabaret
Stand-Up History
Matty Czaczkes
Jericho Comedy's excellent Stand Up series succeeds once again, but errs on the side of endearing rather than hilarious. It’s
a surprisingly effective formula; you mix a bunch of knowledgeable ...
6 years ago
Stand-Up History
