We’ve covered Bromley Little Theatre repeatedly during our five years of podcasting and we’ve often used our platform to celebrate what is definitely a hidden gem of Bromley. Albeit, one that is in plain sight, if you’re standing by Bromley North train station. Two of our favourite episodes include one recorded in the theatre dressing room (a bit dark, lots of hair spray), and a second recorded on the stage with Frank and Eve from the Youth Group.
Watching the play How To Date A Feminist, written by Samantha Ellis and Directed by Karen O’Neill, felt like experiencing the best of Bromley Little Theatre condensed into one night. It was a well put-together, well-acted, well-produced and highly enjoyable show. That is the standard at the theatre, so no surprise there. But the bar shows, and this was one, are off-stage, actors and cast barely separated. That is a bit more special. The play itself, with lives unfolding before us, was pleasingly unpredictable, tangling up the characters in a funny, poignant, enchanting mess which didn’t quite detangle. Think Gavin and Stacey meeting any Richard Curtis movie and you might get the vibe.
Those characters? Kate (Sarah Kidney), a superficially feisty girl, her spark hiding the kind of vulnerability that can be exploited by the wrong partner. Talking of wrong partners, step forward Steve and Ross. Steve (Ed Sinnott), a paragon of male virtue, an exemplary, enlightened feminist. Or is he? Ross (Rafael Kent), who channelled Hugh Grant’s creepier moments from the Bridget Jones movies. Yet at times he was the better man (insert your own definition of that here) than the sainted, or tainted, Steve. And Morag (Paula Smoothy) and Joe (Ian Crosson), parents extraordinaire to Steve and Kate respectively. If their children were at all f**k ups, those two are as culpable as many another parent out there.
Add in a touch of political angst and cultures meeting gently. Kate’s Jewish parentage has its repercussions, while the political past of mother Morag impacts Steve even more.
Quirky, chirpy, flat, and at times despairing, Kate is the most sympathetic character on stage, or, rather, in the bar, played beautifully by Sarah Kidney. Actors can be judged on response, and responses there were from the rapt audience. Chiefly these: Steve triggered exasperation; Joe, ire at some of his smugness; Morag, irritation at her mixed-up outlook; Ross, who often repulsed; and the as-yet unmentioned Carina, an added love interest helping the plot along. What did Carina conjure up emotionally? Smart, attractive, very well-dressed Carina, played with poise by Gabrielle Gardner, came across as simply missing something. But then, as this play showed very well, at one time or another, most of us are perhaps missing something and can’t see it, or find it.
These adult shows are where some of the Youth Group end up, and it is worth remembering that the theatre alumni includes actress and theatre Co-President Zoe Tapper, whose own love of the theatre came across so vividly when we interviewed her in episode 195 of the Bromley Buzz podcast.
If you’ve not found the Bromley Little Theatre before, we recommend you do.
Darren Weale
26 September 2026
