Theatre Reviews
Only Fools and Horses, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - rollicking remake of much-loved TV sitcomWednesday, 20 February 2019
It was TV gold-dust. The original seven series of Only Fools and Horses were broadcast on BBC One from 1981-1991, and a string of Christmas specials kept the show running until 2003. It was showered with awards and critical acclaim, and in 1996 the episode "Time on Our Hands" drew a record-breaking 24.3 million viewers. Read more... |
All in a Row, Southwark Playhouse, review - soapy and shrill pity partyWednesday, 20 February 2019
Time once again to roll out that line about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. Read more... |
Cyprus Avenue, Royal Court Theatre review - Stephen Rea is utterly compellingWednesday, 20 February 2019
David Ireland is a playwright who likes to jolt his audience and Cyprus Avenue, a dark absurdist comedy about an Ulster unionist afraid of losing his identity, does just that. Read more... |
Gently Down the Stream, Park Theatre review - gay history sifted for compact dramaTuesday, 19 February 2019
Ripeness is sometimes all. Read more... |
Come From Away, Phoenix Theatre review - a necessary corrective to our traumatic timesTuesday, 19 February 2019
Against the grimmest of backdrops, generosity and even grace can be possible. Read more... |
Agnes Colander, Jermyn Street Theatre review - Naomi Frederick shines in 'new' Granville BarkerTuesday, 19 February 2019
Remembering meeting Harley Granville Barker when casting him as Marchbanks in Candida, Shaw described the 23-year-old as, "altogether the most distinguished and incomparably the most cultivated person whom circumstances had driven into the theatre at that time." He judged his performance as the romantic poet "perfect". Read more... |
9 to 5 the Musical review - Dolly Parton's film returns as retooled version of a Broadway flopMonday, 18 February 2019
A musicals-intensive season gets off to a wan start with 9 to 5, a retooled West End version of a 2009 Broadway flop based on the beloved 1980 film that proffered a sisterhood for the ages in the combo of Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin. Read more... |
The Lady from the Sea, Print Room at the Coronet review - freedom to choose?Monday, 18 February 2019
Ellida (Pia Tjelta) has a choice to make, the outcome of which will bind her future to her past or her present, each represented by a man. On the one hand, there is the tempestuous seafaring Stranger (Øystein Røger) to whom, long ago and in a fit of delirium, she pledged herself; on the other, there is her devoted and rational doctor husband Wangel (Adrian Rawlins). Read more... |
Berberian Sound Studio, Donmar Warehouse review – improves the originalFriday, 15 February 2019
Two men called "Massimo" face the audience, one very tall, one very, well, minimo. The tall Massimo (Tom Espiner, pictured below) sports wavy shoulder length blond hair and an exuberant pearl rosary, the minimo Massimo (Hemi Yeroham) has dark hair, a beard and glasses, and intense stare. Read more... |
The American Clock, Old Vic review - Arthur Miller's musical history lesson dragsThursday, 14 February 2019
This year’s unofficial Arthur Miller season – following The Price and ahead of All My Sons at the Old Vic and Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic – now turns to his 1980 work, The American Clock, inspired in part by Miller’s own memories of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and subsequent Great Depression. Read more... |
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