Theatre
Plaques and Tangles, Royal Court TheatreWednesday, 21 October 2015
Once upon a time, quite recently, you couldn’t move for plays about youth. Now, there’s been an avalanche of dramas about ageing, usually in the context of dementia and family life. Maybe all of our main playwrights have suddenly grown up, or maybe... Read more... |
An Open Book: David LanSaturday, 17 October 2015
This year’s Olivier Awards saw the Young Vic trounce its South Bank neighbours, with Ivo van Hove’s revolutionary A View from the Bridge leading 11 nominations and four wins; the production opens on Broadway next week. It reflects an extraordinary... Read more... |
Joanne, Soho TheatreSaturday, 17 October 2015
On my way to see this show, I had to walk across Soho. No fewer than five people asked me for money; one was a real hassle. Yes, I know that the government says that the economy is booming, but the record number of homeless in the capital tell a... Read more... |
The Crucible, Bristol Old VicFriday, 16 October 2015
Tom Morris has a strong feel for drama that explores the personal implications of fanaticism: his production of John Adams’s powerful opera The Death of Klinghoffer for New York's Met and the ENO, used a language of great simplicity that allowed the... Read more... |
A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Tricycle TheatreFriday, 16 October 2015
Molière’s 1664 comedy Tartuffe transplanted to present-day Atlanta, Georgia: it sounds like an inspired idea. The hypocritical religious devotee becomes a charlatan preacher fleecing his flock, offering salvation in exchange for hard cash and a... Read more... |
French Without Tears, Orange Tree TheatreWednesday, 14 October 2015
Over the past quarter century the reputation of toff playwright Terence Rattigan has been restored, mainly by strong stagings of his classic dramas, such as Deep Blue Sea. But his first smash hit, French Without Tears, has been the unicorn of... Read more... |
In the Heights, King's Cross TheatreWednesday, 14 October 2015
Rents are going up, local businesses priced out, and the rich folk and hipsters are invading. That’s in Washington Heights, New York’s largely Dominican-American quarter, but it could as easily describe King’s Cross, one of multiple London areas... Read more... |
Ticking, Trafalgar StudiosTuesday, 13 October 2015
There’s nothing like a death to bring a family together. In Simon’s case, that death is his own – impending execution by firing squad in an unnamed Asian country, unless he can win a reprieve from the Prime Minister, President or Pope, “one of the... Read more... |
Measure for Measure, Young VicFriday, 09 October 2015
If one definition of Shakespeare’s problem plays is that they can’t easily be categorised in the canon, being neither tragedy nor comedy, then that issue is swept aside by this radical Young Vic production. In the hands of director Joe Hill-Gibbins... Read more... |
Eventide, Arcola TheatreThursday, 08 October 2015
His style is probably too subtle to be described as causing anything as noisily obtrusive as a splash, but Barney Norris’s debut play Visitors certainly created significant ripples last year. This follow-up drama is also, on the surface at least,... Read more... |
Barbarians, Central St MartinsWednesday, 07 October 2015
Paul, Jan and Louis, three young men living in a gritty part of south London, are bored and broke and, for them, there are two kinds of Britain – one with money and power, and the one they live in, with no money and little to look forward to.... Read more... |
The Father, Wyndham’s TheatreTuesday, 06 October 2015
Dementia is an increasingly common theme in theatre, television and film. But although there are plenty of stories about old people suffering from Alzheimer’s, what does it feel like to experience this condition? French playwright and novelist... Read more... |
