Lost in the arena: Lily Allen’s intimate theatrical drama falls flat plus other big shows this week

8.47am

Music: Lily Allen performs West End Girl ★★½

By Bernard Zuel

TikTok Entertainment Centre, October 25, also October 26

In her brutal narrative album of marital discord and disaster, West End Girl, Lily Allen has the perfect vehicle to merge several elements of her career and appeal into something new.

There’s the frank feminist who bridged aspiring-cynic teens with seasoned-cynic adults and the hook-tastic pop singer who made that sound like a hoot; the hedonist-who-tried-it-all and the romantic-despite-it-all; the latter-day stage actor of other people’s words and the life-long diarist who will share her truth.

So turning last year’s record firstly into a small theatre creation and then into this year’s arena pop show – to which you can add a solid bit of sisterhood bonding over male treachery, with women near me regularly yelling out affirmations (“you’re too good for him … get him Lils”) and condemnations (“he’s a c---” and, to the marital interloper Madeline, “f--- you bitch”) – didn’t just make sense, it was excitingly different for an artist who has not always found live performance a particularly interesting exercise.

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