Hampstead Theatre
Sea Creatures, Hampstead Theatre review - mysterious and allusiveFriday, 07 April 2023
Is it possible to successfully challenge naturalism in British theatre today? At a time when audiences crave feelgood dramas, uplifting musicals and classic well-made plays, there is very little room for experimental writing.Still, the Downstairs... Read more... |
Akedah, Hampstead Theatre review - long-separated sisters reunite to battle over their pastWednesday, 22 February 2023
Michael John O’Neill’s first full-length play, premiering at the Hampstead's studio space downstairs, is a puzzler. There’s the title, to start with, a Hebrew word that means “binding” and is a reference to the story of Abraham preparing his son... Read more... |
Linck & Mülhahn, Hampstead Theatre review - problems as well as pleasuresWednesday, 08 February 2023
With the total loss of its Arts Council funding, Hampstead Theatre’s future as a specialist new writing venue is in doubt. But before anything drastically changes, the playwrights and plays developed by Roxanna Silbert, who was edged out as artistic... Read more... |
The Art of Illusion, Hampstead Theatre review - a hit from Paris conjures up strange-but-true storiesSaturday, 14 January 2023
First came Yasmina Reza’s 1994 long-runner Art; now another French hit, The Art of Illusion, has arrived after eight years in Paris. The two pieces couldn’t be more different: the former is a chatty spat between three sophisticated male friends (... Read more... |
Sons of the Prophet, Hampstead Theatre review - perfect mix of pain and comedyThursday, 15 December 2022
Pain is, at one and the same time, something to avoid, and also something you can use. Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese-American mystical author of the 1923 best-seller The Prophet, concludes that, despite suffering, “all is well”, but how true is that?... Read more... |
Mary, Hampstead Theatre review - compelling study of power politicsWednesday, 02 November 2022
Scottish playwright Rona Munro is both prolific and ambitious. After her trilogy of historical dramas, The James Plays, was staged in 2016, she continues to work on her cycle of seven works, covering the years from 1406 to 1625, which are designed... Read more... |
Ravenscourt, Hampstead Theatre review - strong, but slenderSaturday, 08 October 2022
Therapy is inherently dramatic. After all, it’s all about character – and it has the aim of producing a recognizable change. But who is the most affected by the process: client or therapist?Georgina Burns, a graduate of Hampstead Theatre’s Inspire... Read more... |
The Snail House, Hampstead Theatre - perplexing new drama that lacks biteFriday, 16 September 2022
Hell hath no fury like a teenager scorned. In this perplexing play, we see a highly successful doctor put on trial by his rebellious 18-year-old daughter and found miserably wanting. Ibsen’s influence hangs heavily over an evening in which Sir Neil... Read more... |
The Fellowship, Hampstead Theatre review - strong clashes, too little dramaWednesday, 29 June 2022
I live in Brixton, south London. A few days ago, the borough’s aptly named Windrush Square hosted events which celebrated the contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants.With Windrush Day being 22 June, last week was originally... Read more... |
Lotus Beauty, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs review – uneasy mix of comedy and tragedyMonday, 23 May 2022
Theatre is slowly recovering from the effects of the pandemic, and many shows which were cancelled because of the first lockdown are now finally getting a staging. The latest is Satinder Chohan’s Lotus Beauty, her loving portrait of a Punjabi family... Read more... |
The Breach, Hampstead Theatre review - profoundly uncomfortable work that burns like iceMonday, 16 May 2022
Jude is the kind of girl that no-one would want to mess with – she can dance like a demon to Eric Clapton, skewer an ego in seconds and hit an apple from thirty feet with a knife. Yet in a play that’s so uncompromising it could give Neil LaBute a... Read more... |
First Person: playwright Naomi Wallace on finally hearing her work performed in EnglishSaturday, 23 April 2022
The Breach is a coming of age story and an age-in-the-making story. The play takes place in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1990s, switching back and forth between teenagers in Louisville and their older selves 15 years later. The promise of the... Read more... |
