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Hex Review | London Theatre

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This is not your average Sleeping Beauty. Part avant-garde fairytale, part children’s bedtime nightmare, Hex continually pricks its finger on a thorn to get wilder and weirder with every passing moment.The spin on the classic tale follows the traditional structure of a young princess who is cursed, or in this case “hexed,” to sleep when she pricks her finger on her 16th birthday until a prince comes to kiss her. But Rufus Norris and Katrina Lindsay’s creepy concept pivots the focal point to the Fairy, named just that here, who does the hexing, and explores the mysterious world surrounding the kingdom.That Fairy, played with a folksy and ethereal quality by Lisa Lambe, is a “low fairy,” i.e. one without wings. She’s deeply insecure about what she lacks, longing for beauty and flight like her counterparts, who descend from the rafters as if floating like jelly fish in Lindsay’s enchanting set and costume design.When the Queen’s secretary ventures into the forest searching for a fairy to produce a blessing for the new baby, he discovers Fairy and also an ogre hungry for humans. Fairy saves secretary Smith (Michael Matus) from becoming the creature’s dinner, and he, in turn, invites her to the palace to bless baby Rose.However, when she arrives, her insecurities are brought to light, as the royals chastise her lack of wings and doubt her magical abilities, and in a moment of weakness, Fairy hexes the baby, cursing her to sleep at 16 as the story goes.But a hex is essentially the opposite of a blessing, and when a fairy produces a hex, they immediately lose all magic. So now, not only is the princess cursed to sleep in a palace surrounded by enchanted thorns who put any approaching person to sleep, but Fairy feels powerless to undo the evil she has done.Hex builds a chaotic imaginary world, and the immersive nature of this tragic, horrific universe spins throughout the musical. There were young children dressed in princess costumes peppered throughout the theatre, but this is not a show designed for kids.The cast is universally excellent, with Rosie Graham taking Rose on the journey from bright-eyed naivete to sudden loss of innocence and Michael Elcock embodying his character’s moniker as the winning prince Bert.The standout is undeniably Victoria Hamilton-Barritt who has been making a welcome habit of playing sympathetic fairytale villainesses. She’s traded her Evil Stepmother eyebrows (in her Olivier-nominated performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella) for a different variety as an even more strange and dynamic creature Queenie. Without giving anything away, as her character is somewhat of a spoiler, Hamilton-Barritt takes the musical to alarming new heights in the second act as she, quite literally, chews up all the scenery in the most delicious fashion.There are some gaps in Norris and Lindsay’s concept and moments when the show quickly pivots from comedy to tragedy and back again. While Jim Fortune’s music (with lyrics by Norris) creates a moody atmosphere, some of the songs struggle to propel the narrative and the lyrics are routinely rote. Tanya Ronder’s book comes across as more of an amalgamation of short stories, each with a different objective, tied together by standalone songs.For any fantasy and fairytale lovers, Hex is a welcome twist on the genre, giving us all permission to create worlds within our imaginations and find solace and sympathy in the most unexpected of places. There’s more to everyone than meets the eye, and embracing authenticity and individuality is the key to happiness.Hex is running at the National Theatre until January 14. Book Hex tickets on London Theatre today.Photo credit: Lisa Lambe (Fairy) and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Queenie) in Hex at the National Theatre. (Photo by Johan Persson)

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Sales and Marketing Director (EMEA) – London

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We are working closely with a leading international publisher of licensed children’s books to recruit an experienced Sales and Marketing Director for EMEA. This is an integral leadership role responsible for some of the world’s most recognisable and prestigious book brands.
What it takes:

A demonstrable track record of building both sales and margin growth, with a commercially minded approach
Experience in successfully managing and motivating teams located across international borders
Extensive knowledge and understanding of the co-edition and rights markets in licensed and/or children’s publishing
A complete understanding, beyond sales headlines, of margins, cost management and budgeting
Being capable of creating and executing sales and marketing strategies
Thriving in fast-paced work environments and being able to manage multiple high priority projects simultaneously
A strong leading voice across sales strategy, market development and marketing activities
An agile and strong communicator both internally and with licensors
Extensive EMEA or directly relevant experience

The right person is comfortable as a leader, with commercial experience managing a team to deliver successful business units, going beyond just a ‘sales department’.
With flexible working options, a very competitive salary and bonus structure, this role offers incredible opportunities for an ambitious and proven sales leader.
At Wonderful Recruitment we provide opportunities for candidates to discover some of the most interesting and dynamic roles in the entertainment industry. For more information about this role please send your CV and salary expectations to Dean@wonderfulideasproject.com and Dan@wonderfulideasproject.com.
 

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Paris, Madrid, Barcelona among candidate cities to host ICE from 2025 – IAG

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Clarion Gaming, organizer of ICE London, says it has narrowed the shortlist of potential future hosts of the hugely popular industry trade show to four European cities, with its current London home joined by Barcelona and Madrid in Spain as well as Paris, France.
The decision to explore a potential move comes amid pressure from some industry representatives, with Clarion working alongside specialist consultants Equimore to establish the finalist shortlist. The successful candidate will be announced in 3Q23 following a competitive bidding process and will host ICE for a period of five years between 2025 and 2029.
“This robust process is customer-centric and the decision will be taken in the best interests of our stakeholders and of the global gaming industry,” said Alex Pratt, Group Managing Director of Clarion Gaming.
“iGB Affiliate London is very much part of the process and we are engaging with iGB Affiliate stakeholders in order to identify their preferred strategic path.
“The four short-listed cities will progress through a selection process with the help of the experienced and knowledgeable team at Equimore which is overseeing every aspect of what is a robust program.
“In addition to the suitability of locations in terms of capacity, facilities and the ability to accommodate projected future growth the process also encompasses dateline availability, transport connectivity with the rest of the world as well as the broader hospitality infrastructure including accommodation costs.
“By pursuing all due diligence we will identify the city that’s best equipped to not only host an event which continues to play such a central role in helping to create opportunity and prosperity for gaming businesses of all sizes, across every vertical and in every global jurisdiction, but also demonstrate its leadership in the sector.
“In the interests of transparency Clarion will not be making any further comment during the official process.”

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ICE London 2023 to feature exhibitors from record 68 nations – IAG

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Industry trade show ICE London will feature exhibitors from a record 68 nations, topping the previous best of 65 set three years ago, according to organizer Clarion Gaming.
ICE London returns as a full-sized show for the first time since 2020 from 7 to 9 February, with the total 623 exhibitors representing everything from Argentina to Australia and Macau to Mexico.
“No other exhibition in the gaming space can come anywhere near the internationalism of ICE,” said Clarion Gaming Managing Director, Stuart Hunter.
“To have 68 nations represented by our community of exhibitors means that visitors are immediately part of what is a global experience with unique access to the smartest gaming innovators drawn from every corner of the world. There are very few exhibitions of scale in any industry sector which are able to compare with such international representation and legitimately lay claim to being a ‘global’ or a ‘world’ event.
“Once an event is recognized as being genuinely international, stakeholder groups including brands, regulators, trade associations, media groups and strategic industry-wide bodies focus their activities accordingly.
“Research that we’ve undertaken has shown that for many people ICE and iGB Affiliate London actually start on the Sunday preceding and finish on the following Saturday. In that week we estimate that over 100 gambling industry events will take place outside of the show hours providing a new and compelling perspective on why ICE and iGB Affiliate London are so influential and important to the world industry.”
IAG will have a team of four at ICE London next week. Visit us at Stand ND7-C.

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