Theatre
Collapsible, Bush Theatre review - a high-wire solo engagementTuesday, 11 February 2020
There’s such remarkable symbiosis between material and performance in Irish dramatist Margaret Perry’s Collapsible that you wonder how the hour-long monologue will fare in any future incarnation. I don’t know how much Perry had the performer... Read more... |
On McQuillan's Hill, Finborough Theatre review - timely glance at Northern Irish myths and tensionsMonday, 10 February 2020
The news that the Continuity IRA created a bomb destined for England on Brexit Day has added to the timeliness of this revival of Joseph Crilly’s gut-punching comedy. Set in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement, it takes a merciless glance at... Read more... |
The Taming of the Shrew, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - a confused and toothless messSaturday, 08 February 2020
Say what you will about The Taming of the Shrew (and you’ll be in good company), but it is one of Shakespeare’s clearest plays. Asked to summarise the action of, say, Richard II or Love’s Labours Lost and you might lose your way somewhere between... Read more... |
Death of England, National Theatre review - furious but fabulousFriday, 07 February 2020
Is this an angry island? Although the British national character (if there is such a thing) has traditionally been one of reserve, repression and restraint, more recently it has become increasing passionate and full of anger. More a clenched fist... Read more... |
The Haystack, Hampstead Theatre review - a chilling surveillance state thrillerFriday, 07 February 2020
With counter-terrorism an urgent concern – and specifically how best to find, track and use the data of suspected threats, without sacrificing our privacy and civil liberties – it’s excellent timing for a meaty drama about the surveillance state.... Read more... |
Albion, Almeida Theatre review - more rewarding and resonant than everThursday, 06 February 2020
It's not been three years since Albion premiered at the Almeida Theatre, since which time Brexit has happened and, not without coincidence, Mike Bartlett's time-specific play is beginning to look like one for the ages. Set amongst a... Read more... |
Asking For It, Birmingham Repertory Theatre review - victim-blaming and abuse in small town IrelandThursday, 06 February 2020
In a world where the contentious report of a young English woman gang raped by teenage boys in Cyprus last year continues to make headlines, Asking For It is more than relevant. Such scenarios are by no means new but are once again making news... Read more... |
Endgame/Rough for Theatre II, Old Vic review - Beckett played for laughsWednesday, 05 February 2020
“Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.” Director Richard Jones has certainly taken Beckett’s words to heart in this vividly comic, star-cast Old Vic double bill, pairing Endgame with a lesser-known short play – which acts as a sort of stylistic and... Read more... |
Persona, Riverside Studios review - Bergman masterpiece transformed into 'The Mumbling'Friday, 31 January 2020
A work of genius isn't sacred, copyrighted territory. A great film may become a play, a novel a film; the adaptation shouldn't be about fidelity, as Elena Ferrante has written about the latter case, but down to to the director "to find...the... Read more... |
Kunene and the King, Ambassadors Theatre review - a Shakespearean voyage through the legacy of apartheidThursday, 30 January 2020
John Kani’s Kunene and the King is history in microcosm. Its premiere at the RSC last year, in this co-production with Cape Town’s Fugard Theatre, coincided with the 25th anniversary of the end of apartheid, offering a chance to assess the momentous... Read more... |
The Sugar Syndrome, Orange Tree Theatre review - pushing empathy to the limitWednesday, 29 January 2020
Your sweet tooth can get you into trouble. Lots of trouble. In this revival of Lucy Prebble's provocative debut, first staged at the Royal Court in 2003, the metaphor of sugar, and of the powerful attractions of this drug-like substance – bad for... Read more... |
Faustus: That Damned Woman, Lyric Hammersmith review - gender swap yields muddled resultsWednesday, 29 January 2020
Changing the gender of the title character “highlights the way in which women still operate in a world designed by and for men,” argues Chris Bush, whose reimagining of Marlowe’s play premieres at the Lyric ahead of a UK tour. It’s certainly a... Read more... |
