Look Up At The Stars by Stephen Wyatt, Hen and Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul's Road, Highbury Corner, London N1 | until 27 September 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: William Russell

Look Up At The Stars

by Stephen Wyatt

Hen and Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul's Road, Highbury Corner, London N1 | until 27 September 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Catch a fallen star.”

Patricia Meadows was a film star in the golden years of the British film industry along the likes of Margaret Lockwood, Phylis Calvert, Jean Kent, Patricia Rox and, although she is not mentioned, the greatest of all, Anna Neagle. It is an odd omission. The stars are for a terrific performance from Jessica Martin who brings this fictional lady to glorious life. Born Marjorie Pringle in London somewhere around 1920 she started off in the chorus of a West End show, and her career took off from there helped by the agent who took her on. We find her in retirement discussing her memoirs with a potential ghost writer. It is a terrific idea but Wyatt's play at 85minutes is at least a quarter of an hour too long and the great reveal – Meadows had three husbands and while husband one and three get talked about it is not until the end we learn about husband two – it quite frankly is not the killer punch it ought to have been. Back to the drawing board because there is loads of potential and as it is gives Martin a chance to sparkle delivering some devastating impersonations of Hitchcock turning her down as not blonde enough and Bette and Joan, although not British stars, who she met when in their dog days they ended up filming here. As Meadows sadly says Lockwood found refuge in television whereas here, she is facing a charge of shop lifting and on her own. Although there are some songs this is basically a monologue in which you get the chance to catch a fallen star splendidly conjured up by Jessica Martin.

Cast

Jessica Martin – Patricia Meadows

Creatives

Director – Jason Moore

Designer – Ian Nicholas

Musical Arrangements – Inga Davis-Rutter

Orchestral c0-arrangements – Alex Bellamy

Lighting Designer – Marta Fossati