new writing
Invincible, Orange Tree TheatreTuesday, 18 March 2014
It's unusual for a play to be political without being preachy, or dull, or both. As obsessed as we are with class distinctions, we aren't as good as we should be at pulling them apart. Invincible is therefore something rare, for it turns social... Read more... |
The Mistress Contract, Royal Court TheatreThursday, 06 February 2014
What exactly is unconventional about an unconventional couple? In Abi Morgan’s new two-hander, an adaptation of last year’s book of the same name by She and He (a West Coast American couple now aged 90ish), the situation is simple. Boy meets girl at... Read more... |
Blurred Lines, National Theatre ShedThursday, 23 January 2014
You can’t accuse Nick Payne of being fainthearted. His new play explores what it means to be a woman and it features a wonderful all-woman cast. But wait a minute: isn’t he a man? And what do men really know about being a woman? You see what I mean... Read more... |
The Pass, Royal Court Jerwood Theatre UpstairsMonday, 20 January 2014
You don't have to know the difference between Dennis Wise (who is referenced during it) and Ernie Wise (who is not) to be immensely gripped by The Pass, the scorching new Royal Court play that traffics ostensibly in the world of football only to... Read more... |
The Duck House, Vaudeville TheatreWednesday, 11 December 2013
This political satire is hardly a case of rapid-response playwriting. Opening in London's West End last night, after a month touring the regions,The Duck House is a farce about a fictional MP caught up in the parliamentary expenses scandal which hit... Read more... |
Gastronauts, Royal Court Theatre UpstairsSaturday, 30 November 2013
For increasing numbers of people, food is theatre, so what better time to combine the two into the slight, sweet, determinedly socially conscious evening that is Gastronauts? The Royal Court "happening" of sorts is catering to audiences of 60 per... Read more... |
Nut, National Theatre ShedWednesday, 06 November 2013
One of the best kept secrets about contemporary theatre is that audiences rather like short plays. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with epic classics, but sometimes it makes a change to witness a playwright who has something to say and manages to... Read more... |
The Djinns of Eidgah, Royal Court TheatreWednesday, 23 October 2013
The Royal Court is justly proud of being the home of British new writing, but it is also a venue which has a great tradition of staging work from abroad. From bringing Brecht and Beckett here in the 1950s to its more recent international summer... Read more... |
The Light Princess, National TheatreThursday, 10 October 2013
Once upon a time, there were two cultures, and they were at odds. A forested wilderness stretches between the kingdoms of Sealand and Lagobel, as we glean from the childishly-drawn, giant map that serves as a front cloth for the NT's new musical... Read more... |
Routes, Royal Court TheatreThursday, 26 September 2013
You could call it the iceberg syndrome. It’s a work of art that is a flash, a sliver or an imprint: think of a passport photograph, a cheap trinket or a half-finished graffiti. Yet beneath the simple image there is a world of pain. Rachel De-lahay’s... Read more... |
The Lightning Child, Shakespeare's GlobeThursday, 19 September 2013
Having boundaries actually sets us free. So Neil Armstrong's wife argues. She is dogmatically keen to stop her husband rocketing off to the moon in the first scene of The Lightning Child – a groundbreaking show in so far as it's the first musical to... Read more... |
The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas, Royal Court TheatreThursday, 12 September 2013
Since his arrival about a decade ago, Dennis Kelly has proved himself to be a master of versatility. He has written in-yer-face shockers such as Osama the Hero and Orphans, elaborate experiments in theatre form such as Love and Money, sprawling... Read more... |
