Hot Mess: A New Musical Tickets

Hot Mess at the Other Palace transferred straight from Edinburgh last year to Southwark Playhouse. Now it returns, and it’s no surprise because Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, the team behind the much-acclaimed 42 Balloons, have created a musical two-hander which is both ingenious and witty. The premise is this: when Earth, on the rebound from her relationship with Tyrannosaurus Rex, which ended badly, and Hu (short for humanity) get together, they are a real power couple. But as Hu starts to exploit the natural resources which Earth shows him, the relationship looks increasingly doomed. It’s a clever device to explore climate change, and it’s done with a light touch. Lots of fun.

Stephen Mangan, Ardal O’Hanlon, Sarah Hadland and Janie Dee star in The Truth (Apollo), a play which asks how much truth-telling any marriage can really bear. It’s witty and sophisticated stuff and stylishly written by French playwright Florian Zeller, best known for The Father, which was turned into a movie with Anthony Hopkins. It is a deviously plotted comedy telling of two couples, one of whom from each pair is cheating with the other’s spouse. If director Lindsay Posner does it justice, it’s an evening which doesn’t stint on the self-deceptions and sleights of mind that we all employ in our relationships when it suits us.