Theatre
The Woods, Royal Court review - Lesley Sharp triumphs againThursday, 13 September 2018
Blackout. Dark, the colour of childhood fear. Black, the colour of despair. Black. No light visible; no colours to see. Just pitch black, maybe even bible black. This is how Robert Alan Evans’s The Woods, which stars the brilliant Lesley Sharp and... Read more... |
Sir Peter Hall: a day of thanksgiving and celebration for a colossus of cultureWednesday, 12 September 2018
Sir Peter Hall had no ordinary life, as might be expected from the director who more than any other defined the British theatre of the last half of the 20th century. The same can be said of the unforgettable two-part send-off he received exactly a... Read more... |
'You won't be able to handle this lady': remembering Fenella FieldingWednesday, 12 September 2018
Fenella Fielding - “one of the finest female impersonators in the business,” joked Eric Morecambe – has died at the age of 90. Most actors of such a great vintage tend to be forgotten, but not Fielding. Last year she celebrated her big birthday with... Read more... |
Holy Shit, Kiln Theatre review - what's in a name?Tuesday, 11 September 2018
Holy shit! After being closed for two long years, the old and battered Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn has been refurbished and relaunched, with a name change and £5.5 million-worth of improvements. It’s now a much more welcoming place, full of light at... Read more... |
Unexpected Joy, Southwark Playhouse review - fully predictable funMonday, 10 September 2018
There's a clear theme running through this year's autumn programme at the Southwark Playhouse: new musicals with strong feminist roots. Wasted, centred on the Bronte siblings, is landing later this month, but first there's ... Read more... |
Underground Railroad Game, Soho Theatre review - scratching the American woundMonday, 10 September 2018
Underground Railroad Game is scabrous theatre – in every sense. To start with, Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R Sheppard’s two-hander is as down and dirty as anything you’ll find on the London stage at the moment, with one sex scene that’s belly laugh-... Read more... |
Square Rounds, Finborough Theatre review - the science behind warfare, told in verseSaturday, 08 September 2018
The title of Tony Harrison's teacherly entertainment – it can't be called a play – refers to the square bullets invented by James Puckle to kill Muslims in the 18th century. This shocking morsel of information is provided by the brothers Hiram and... Read more... |
The Humans, Hampstead Theatre review - a riveting family portraitFriday, 07 September 2018
Transatlantic theatrical traffic is busier than ever, and now here at the Hampstead is not just Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning play, first seen in 2015, but director Joe Mantello and his full Broadway cast. It seems fitting that they should travel... Read more... |
Dance Nation, Almeida Theatre review - a tarantella through the convulsions of the teenage psycheThursday, 06 September 2018
Lycra, jealousy and pubescent ambition are put under the spotlight in Clare Barron’s provocative probe into the American competitive dancing scene. Dance Nation is a tarantella through the convulsions of the teen psyche as its characters respond to... Read more... |
Love's Labour's Lost, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - in praise of a fantastical SpaniardThursday, 30 August 2018
If ever there was a play of “well bandied” words, it’s surely Love’s Labour’s Lost. The early Shakespearean comedy may once have hit a highpoint for verbal wit, but much of that context – the word play, the allusions, the sheer stylistic preening... Read more... |
theartsdesk at bOing! International Family Festival - the best of European children's theatreTuesday, 28 August 2018
Theatre for children can often be dismissed – a box to tick for parents who want to keep up with cultural practices; a job for actors who haven't quite made it in the mainstream; theatre that mums and dads want to see that works for their little... Read more... |
Neil Simon: 'I don’t think you want it really dark'Monday, 27 August 2018
Asked to nominate the most important playwright in America since the war, theatregoers would probably plump for Arthur Miller, Edward Albee or David Mamet. But in terms of sheer popularity there is another candidate. Neil Simon’s wiseacre comedies,... Read more... |
