All stories by Jessica Handscomb on BroadwayStars

Monday, April 10, 2017

Review: The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Theatre Royal Haymarket by Jessica Handscomb

Modern drama, for me, often evokes the same reaction as modern art does. I consume it, I often enjoy it, but I also am left wondering ‘why?’. Why would someone make something like that? …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 07:12AM
Sunday, April 9, 2017

Review: Consent, National Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Nina Raine, writer of well received Tiger Country and Olivier-nominated Tribes, is back with a fiercely witty new play that brings the politics of the courtroom into everyday life. Consent f…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 06:02AM
Thursday, March 16, 2017

Review: Limehouse, Donmar Warehouse by Jessica Handscomb

The Labour party is divided. Its left-wing leader is unpopular within the party, and there are MPs and cabinet members threatening to leave. Labour is tearing itself apart from the inside an…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:31PM
Saturday, March 11, 2017

Review: Homecomings: The Monkey, Theatre503 by Jessica Handscomb

Synergy theatre project, along with Theatre503, bring us Homecomings, a festival of new plays by prisoners and ex-prisoners about getting out and going home. The Monkey, John Stanley’s fir…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:24PM

Review: Speech & Debate, Trafalgar Studios by Jessica Handscomb

After a couple of successful off-broadway runs, Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate has been brought to the West End. Directed by Tom Attenborough, Karam’s play follows three mi…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 07:36AM
Thursday, March 9, 2017

Review: Decibels, Lion and Unicorn Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

With absolutely no set, a solitary prop being a mug of tea, and on the dark stage of the Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Stephanie (Elaine Fellows) takes us on a journey known as Decibels. A rathe…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 11:54AM

Review: Stepmothers/Stepfathers, The Place by Jessica Handscomb

Arthur Pita, creator of the awarding-winning 2011 adaptation of The Metamorphosis, is back with another stomach-churning production. His new piece, Stepmothers/Stepfathers takes us to the da…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 06:24AM
Monday, February 27, 2017

Review: Living a Little, VAULT Festival by Jessica Handscomb

If the world as we know it were to end tomorrow, what would you do? Would you smartly ration and scrape by, rarely washing in tattered clothes? Or, given the opportunity, would you carry on …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 04:48PM
Saturday, February 11, 2017

Review: The Pitchfork Disney, Shoreditch Town Hall by Jessica Handscomb

Deep in the bowels of Shoreditch Town Hall, Jamie Lloyd’s production of Philip Ridley’s first ever play, The Pitchfork Disney, is staged. In the long, dimly lit room known as The…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:54PM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Review: Crocodile, VAULT Festival by Jessica Handscomb

Vault Festival, sometimes described as London’s answer to the Edinburgh Fringe, is once again upon us. Amongst a wide variety of shows being presented is Crocodile. Joyous Gard’s…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 05:12AM
Monday, January 30, 2017

Review: Dirty Great Love Story, Arts Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

In most brilliant ‘will they, won’t they?’ stories, we kind of know that they will. But that doesn’t in any way soothe the special kind of aching frustration that bre…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 11:42AM
Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Review: Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Road, White Bear Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Road, written by and starring Keith Stevenson as the loveable redneck JD, has delighted audiences for years at LA’s Pacific Resident Theatre on Venice Bou…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 07:12AM
Monday, December 26, 2016

Review: Saint Joan, Donmar Warehouse by Jessica Handscomb

In case you didn’t know, Joan of Arc was born in 1412 in a small village in rural France. As she grew up, she claimed to experience visions of Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, and the …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 01:48PM
Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Review: The Snow Queen, Theatre N16 by Jessica Handscomb

Originally published in 1844 by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen is ultimately a tale of good versus evil. It’s traditionally told in seven parts, but in this prod…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 04:42PM
Sunday, December 4, 2016

Review: An Act of Kindness, Lion and Unicorn Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

An Act of Kindness, written by Helena Westerman, is a two-hander with Westerman herself playing 22-year-old bohemian free-spirit Leila, and Robert Hayes as businessman and alpha male Martin.…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 07:18AM
Thursday, November 24, 2016

Review: Mocketh the Weak, Canal Café Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

The premise of Mocketh the Weak is promising – a faux game show featuring Shakespeare’s most famous fools, competing in a battle of wits and sharp tongues. It received some posit…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 05:31AM
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Review: Half A Sixpence, Noël Coward Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Hold it! Flash, bang, wallop, what a show! After a run that received rave reviews at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the foot-stomping Half a Sixpence has ‘blown right in’ to London’s…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 09:31AM

Review: La Soirée, Spiegeltent at Leicester Square by Jessica Handscomb

In the Spiegeltent at Leicester Square lies a small circular stage surrounded by an audience of buzzing spectators. We’re told to ‘leave our troubles at the door’ and are promised …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 08:31AM
Monday, November 14, 2016

Review: The Worst Was This, The Hope Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

The Worst Was This tells the story of three sisters running a tavern in an imagined post-apocalyptic universe in which Will Shakespeare (Ben Clifford) is a struggling young playwright who ca…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:24PM

Review: It is Easy to be Dead, Trafalgar Studios by Jessica Handscomb

Charles Hamilton Sorley died in the Battle of Loos in 1915 during the First World War. He was just 20 years old. Now, over a hundred years after his death, Neil McPherson has written It Is E…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:24PM
Sunday, November 6, 2016

Review: Still Ill, New Diorama Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Imagine for a moment, that you are ill. You experience muscle weakness, seizures, paralysis, blackouts and other symptoms. You know you are ill, but you’re continuously told there’s noth…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 03:02PM
Thursday, November 3, 2016

Review: Merryville, Camden People’s Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Waiting in the lobby to see Merryville we are offered the option of ear plugs, in case the music is too loud. I take a pair, just in case, and ten minutes in am glad I did. Its creators desc…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 04:03PM
Saturday, October 29, 2016

Review: Apocalypse Cruise Ship Love Affair, Arts Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

After reading rave reviews for Beach Comets Vampire Hospital Waiting Room, I expected great things from their second B-musical – Apocalypse Cruise Ship Love Affair, which also swept up…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 09:12AM
Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Review: Tomorrow I Was Always A Lion, Arcola Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Based on the memoir of Arnhild Lauveng, Tomorrow I Was Always A Lion gives a unique and honest perspective on the mind of a girl who is suffering from schizophrenia. It is simultaneously mes…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 10:10AM
Monday, October 10, 2016

Review: The Autumn Garden, Jermyn Street Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

The Autumn Garden was written by Lillian Hellman and first staged in 1951, and you can certainly tell. Set in the Deep South in 1949, the play follows a group of middle-aged adults over the …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 04:19PM
Monday, October 3, 2016

Review: The Libertine, Theatre Royal Haymarket by Jessica Handscomb

John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester, was the licentious libertine who embodied the spirit of the Restoration era. After King Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, most of the country…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 06:31AM
Monday, September 19, 2016

Review: She Ventures and He Wins, The Rose Playhouse by Jessica Handscomb

Written in 1695 by a woman simply known as ‘Ariadne’, She Ventures and He Wins was one of six plays showcased at The Rose Playhouse as part of ‘A Festival Celebrating Pioneering Women …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 02:35PM
Monday, September 12, 2016

Review: Lottery, New Diorama Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

 On the stage sits two chairs, a desk, and a curtain. All composed of or smothered in shredded paper. Washed over with a blue light, it looks cold and uninviting. Written by Simon Paris, Lo…

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 05:40PM
Sunday, September 11, 2016

Review: Broken Strings, Tabard Theatre by Jessica Handscomb

Broken Strings is a snapshot of domestic life, tainted with the aftermath of the death of a loved one. Joe Wenborne’s story is inspired by his own experience of caring for and living with …

SOURCE: A Younger Theatre at 11:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards