Hampstead Theatre
The Phlebotomist, Hampstead Theatre review - thought-provoking dystopian thrillerTuesday, 26 March 2019
Contemporary British theatre loves time travel — and not just to the past. It also enjoys imagining the future, especially the bad stuff ahead. So Ella Road's debut play, The Phlebotomist, is set in a convincingly coherent dystopia where genetic... Read more... |
Eden, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs review - thoughtful commentary on people and principlesSaturday, 23 February 2019
"It's gonna be the best golf course in the world," a man in an Aertex shirt and a bright red baseball cap is assuring us. "The best. I guarantee it." You can tell he's the kind of person who thinks talking quickly and loudly is the same thing as... Read more... |
Cost of Living, Hampstead Theatre review - tough but tenderFriday, 01 February 2019
The Off Broadway production of Cost of Living two years ago brought Martyna Majok the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the height of acclaim of which most new writers – Majok, with four plays behind her, has yet to turn 35 – can only dream. High... Read more... |
Best of 2018: TheatreSunday, 30 December 2018
Will pride of place amongst theatre productions every year go in perpetuity to the work of Stephen Sondheim? One might be tempted to think so given the preeminence during 2017 of Dominic Cooke's breathtaking revival of Follies (due back in the... Read more... |
The Hoes, Hampstead Theatre review - sex and drink and grimeSaturday, 10 November 2018
Because of the #MeToo movement, and the revival of feminist protest, the theme of sisterhood now has a much stronger cultural presence than at the start of the decade. It seems to be a great time to be a female playwright, and Ifeyinwa Frederick's... Read more... |
I and You, Hampstead Theatre review - Young Adult drama packs emotional punchTuesday, 30 October 2018
Here's a good pub quiz question: after Shakespeare, who was the most performed playwright in America last year? Arthur Miller? Tennessee Williams? David Mamet? None of those. It was Lauren Gunderson, and here is the UK premiere of her intimate two-... Read more... |
Every Day I Make Greatness Happen, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs review - live-wire immediacyFriday, 28 September 2018
"I’m not a number, I’m not a grade, and I’m not a failure." The 17-year-old girl stands in front of the small class, who gaze at her goggle-eyed. "A robot factory. That’s all you’ve got here." The teacher’s response is caustically admiring. "Why are... 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... |
Genesis Inc, Hampstead Theatre review - Harry Enfield in ungodly messFriday, 29 June 2018
We are now pretty familiar with the idea that human reproduction (making babies) has been turned into big business, and there have already been several good recent plays about desperate couples and surrogacy – Vivienne Franzmann’s Bodies and... Read more... |
The Strange Death of John Doe, Hampstead Theatre review - ambitious but not entirely successfulWednesday, 06 June 2018
Regular air travel is a hassle. All that queuing, all that security, all those hot halls, and then the endless waiting, the bawling kids and the limited legroom. Basically air travel sucks. But at least it’s reasonably safe. The same cannot be said... Read more... |
Describe the Night, Hampstead Theatre review - epic take on the mythology of PutinFriday, 11 May 2018
Five years ago, when New York playwright Rajiv Joseph started on his fantasy disquisition on truth, lies and the recent history of Russia, no one was talking about a new Cold War and trump was still a thing you did in a game of cards. Now, at the... Read more... |
Caroline, or Change, Hampstead Theatre review - Sharon D Clarke conquersWednesday, 21 March 2018
It's long been a theatrical given, especially in musicals, that characters need to be seen to change: a climactic duo in the eternally crowd-pulling Wicked makes that abundantly clear. ("Because I knew you," goes the lyric, "I have been changed for... Read more... |
