All stories by Lyn Gardner on BroadwayStars

Monday, October 27, 2014

The Pearl review inventive, affecting Steinbeck adaptation by Lyn Gardner

Greenwich theatre, LondonDumbshow delivers a clever and funny stage version of John Steinbecks novella about the worth of a jewel against the worth of family Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:47AM

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

In Sheffield, women take to the frontline of the miners' strike, while Tom Stoppard's best play is revived in Nottingham and check out the half-term happenings all over the country Continue…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Sunday, October 26, 2014

The Hunters Grimm review storytellers search for a fairytale ending by Lyn Gardner

Deptford Lounge, LondonThis rough-and-ready promenade piece on the streets of southeast London explores storytelling with no shortage of vim Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:07PM
Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Father five-star review a savagely honest study of dementia by Lyn Gardner

Ustinov, BathFlorian Zellers Molière award-winning play, starring Lia Williams and Kenneth Cranham, takes us into the confused world of an elderly man and his carer daughter Continue readin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:11AM

DIY theatre (because nobody else will) by Lyn Gardner

Is it an aesthetic? A political statement? Or just the best way to get things done? Do-it-yourself theatre is all around us Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:59AM
Monday, October 20, 2014

The Scottsboro Boys review a dazzling civil rights musical by Lyn Gardner

Garrick, LondonThe story of nine black men, falsely convicted of raping two white women, is reframed as a minstrel show with a brilliant cast and electrifying choreography Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:33AM

Tweet Bitterness: how Forced Entertainment took over Twitter by Lyn Gardner

Streamed live from Berlin on Saturday night, Speak Bitterness proved that it's possible to have a communal experience watching theatre in your own home"How do you clap over Twitter?&quo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Hunt out stories on the streets of Deptford, see Sweeney Todd in London's oldest pie-and-mash shop or catch up with Mark Thomas's raw and angry Cuckooed out on tour Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Friday, October 17, 2014

The Infidel review David Baddiels musical knocks religion but respects belief by Lyn Gardner

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonKev Orkian delivers a terrifically warm performance, even as this stage adaptation of the hit film topples into pantomimic excess Dont put a fatwa on it: …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45AM

Learning disabled theatre: where is the UK's answer to Back to Back? by Lyn Gardner

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich has been seen around the world. The Diverse Futures project is focusing on nurturing British equivalents to the Australian company Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:39AM
Thursday, October 16, 2014

East is East review a complex and comic portrait of a man adrift by Lyn Gardner

Ayub Khan Din takes to the stage in his depiction of growing up in a mixed race household in the early 1970s Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00PM
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Best of BE festival review uneven trio from emerging theatre-makers by Lyn Gardner

The Pit, LondonThree offerings from the Midlands festival promoting new work range from the neat to the chaotic, producing a disjointed evenings entertainment Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM
Tuesday, October 14, 2014

For crying out loud! Why all this weeping at the theatre? by Lyn Gardner

Emotional theatregoers are bursting into tears more and more but it shouldn't be a measure of how good a play is Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AM

Uncle Vanya review John Hannahs Yorkshire Chekhov falls flat by Lyn Gardner

St James, LondonAny real sense of tragedy goes missing in a production that encourages too much acting and mistimes the big moments Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:21AM
Monday, October 13, 2014

Romeo and Juliet review good set, nice fights, shame about the lovers by Lyn Gardner

Sherman theatre, CardiffTrue love makes this Romeo bland. His stroppy Juliet tries hard to make the part new, but doesnt quite pull it off Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:23AM

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Action Hero are in Crewe with the hugely entertaining Hoke's Bluff, Simon Stephens and Katie Mitchell reinvent Chekhov at the Young Vic, and Forced Entertainment live stream Speak Bitterness…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Friday, October 10, 2014

Selfie review digital Dorian Gray looks good but lacks substance by Lyn Gardner

Ambassadors, LondonThis Oscar Wilde update is a neat idea, but it embraces, rather than dissects, our looks-obsessed celebrity culture Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM

Here's how a touring company can keep moving while celebrating local voices by Lyn Gardner

Come to Where I'm From, Paines Plough's project in which new writers focus on home, succeeds in nurturing regional richness Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:27AM
Thursday, October 9, 2014

Battle fatigue: war on the stage by Lyn Gardner

There's been plenty of war on stage in this first world war centenary year. But do the difficulties of staging conflict leave theatregoers battle-scarred? Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:14AM

Peer Gynt review hollow rocknroll take on Ibsen by Lyn Gardner

Barbican, LondonDespite a barnstorming lead performance, Iggy Pop songs and Sam Shepard poetry, this rock-star version of Ibsens fantasy fable is a bit obvious Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56AM
Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Private Peaceful review fails to deliver emotional punch of Morpurgo story by Lyn Gardner

Ambassadors, LondonThe poignancy in this tale of brothers at war is deserted by the clutter of the National Youth Theatres clumsy production Video: Michael Morpurgo meets the youngsters brin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:26AM
Monday, October 6, 2014

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Fifty Shades of Grey gets ripped up in Camden, Ibsen finds himself collaborating with Sam Shepard and Iggy Pop at the Barbican and there's an all-day theatre lock-in in Cardiff Continue rea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Monday, September 29, 2014

Gardens Speak: the sound installation unearthing Syrias backyard tragedies by Lyn Gardner

Tania El Khourys interactive piece marks the lives of 10 Syrians whose families were forced to bury them at home Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Forced Entertainment have a UK premiere at Warwick Arts Centre, Here Lies Love brings Imelda Marcos to the NT in disco style, and Fun Palaces pop up all over the country this weekend Continu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Thursday, September 25, 2014

What makes a great theatre festival? by Lyn Gardner

Europe's oldest theatre festival opens again in Dublin this week, with the perfect combination of modest size and top-class work. What are the essential components of a great festival for yo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:13AM
Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Sequence 8 review chiselled bodies, little humanity by Lyn Gardner

Peacock, LondonCircus innovators Les 7 Doigts de la Mains recent quest to match Cirque du Soleil has robbed their work of any profundity Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:05AM
Monday, September 22, 2014

The Liberation of Colette Simple review witty and energetic by Lyn Gardner

Jacksons Lane, LondonThis plucky experiment in theatrical form, inspired by an early Tennessee Williams play, brings together a multiplicity of distinctive voices Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:23PM

Theatre's gender inequality is shocking but change is in the air by Lyn Gardner

With Agatha Christie the only female playwright represented in London's West End, a Tonic Theatre initiative is taking aim at the traditional gender imbalance in British playhouses Continue …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:17AM

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

In a packed week across the British Isles, Kristin Scott Thomas takes on Electra, there is exciting work from a host of independent companies, and the brilliant German director Thomas Osterm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Friday, September 19, 2014

Immersive theatre: living up to its name, or just an overused gimmick? by Lyn Gardner

Immersive theatre has become ubiquitous, but too often such billing is just a commercial come-on designed to sell tickets Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:40AM
Thursday, September 18, 2014

Ghosts by the coast: Sea Breeze breathes new life into Morecambes Winter Gardens by Lyn Gardner

A new theatre show celebrates the colourful past of one of Victorian Englands finest seaside pleasure palaces Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:38AM

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