Monday, November 25, 2013
Lady Macbeth peeing on stage, Gloucester's flying eyeball, a cast dressed as clowns … share your stories about performances so wrong they are unforgettableAlfred Hickling's review of the N…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:14AMFriday, November 22, 2013
Guildhall, ExeterThis funny, sometimes cringe-worthy piece, has no actors but turns the audience's conversation into urgent, playful theatreHow hard can it be for a group of people to decide…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:34AMWhether you're a critic or a regular theatregoer, honesty is the best policy when it comes to criticismThe other day at a school, A-level theatre studies students asked my top tip for writin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:15AMWednesday, November 20, 2013
Vaudeville, LondonIt's hard not to warm to the sweet silliness of Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens's tribute to Morecambe and Wise"Where would you be without me?" asks Eric Morecambe. "Be a c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00PMI've had a break from theatre recently. Yes I've missed stand-out shows, but it isn't a cultural crime. Others will be along soonI've just had a couple of weeks off, and it's been a real ple…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:09AMThursday, November 14, 2013
Soho theatre, LondonHattie Naylor's bold attempt to explore women's complicity in sexual violence through a male abuser's voice is both insightful and uncomfortableIn traditional versions of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:15AMWednesday, October 30, 2013
Some theatregoers feel short-changed by a short play. But can brevity be a bonus, or do you expect a full-night's entertainment?Linger at a press desk on a first night and you are guaranteed…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:22AMTuesday, October 29, 2013
Polka, LondonThe stage version of Anthony Browne's emotionally complex picture book has a sprinkling of magic for children and a few witty offerings for adultsHannah loves gorillas. In fact …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:05PMMonday, October 28, 2013
Do you look the other way when a performer invites you on stage? Or get into the spirit of things?Last Saturday afternoon in Newcastle, I watched a very good actor struggle and work incredib…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:23AMOrange Tree, LondonDespite some fine performances, the first instalment of Geoffrey Beevers's tripartite Eliot adaptation lacks pace and tensionGeoffrey Beevers has previously adapted George…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AMSunday, October 27, 2013
BAC, LondonNic Green's tale inspired by her one and only meeting with her father at the age of 16 raises some very worthy questions, but does at times seem a little remoteIs it possible to h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:45PMFriday, October 25, 2013
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonCaroline Bird's latest piece instils a heightened sense of alertness, its audience playing witness and colluder in the dramaCurious how not knowing what you're going…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:39AMThursday, October 24, 2013
The Junction, CambridgeTwo performers imagine possible future worlds in this unbearably sad yet absurdly optimistic performance"Those who come 100 years after us will despise us for having l…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AMWednesday, October 23, 2013
Curve theatre, LeicesterMelodrama gives way to moments of poignancy in Paul Kerryson's revival of Martin McDonagh's black comedyIt may be as creaky as the rocking chair the witchy Mags sits …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AMIf you are reading this blog, it probably means that you are interested in theatre. So why are some areas of theatre valued over others, particularly theatre for young audiences?This is an e…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:21AMTuesday, October 22, 2013
Park theatre, LondonSarah Rutherford's play about a middle-class party watching the Obama election attempts to expose liberal hypocrisies but lapses into caricature and crueltyIt's US electi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:38AMMonday, October 21, 2013
Excavating stories, creating living history and working with the community. It's good to see local theatres being just that – localLast Wednesday night, I wandered around the streets of Yo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:47AMThursday, October 17, 2013
Unicorn, LondonCleverly recast for young audiences, Shakespeare's warrior king becomes a stroppy teenager unwisely itching for a fightShakespeare's Henry V can be seen as a celebration of he…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:45AMWednesday, October 16, 2013
ATG intends to sell off the naming rights to some iconic theatres including the Lyceum and Duke of York's. Does it matter, and if you had the money who would you name a theatre after?When re…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:26AMWest Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsAlice Nutter's heartfelt play moves from squats to raves to government cuts, through a family's history in the counter-cultureRestless, messy, infuriating, inf…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:59AMTuesday, October 15, 2013
Rose, Kingston Tall Stories' adaptation of the much-loved children's book is a small but ingenious pleasurePage-to-stage adaptations of children's stories are getting better and more creativ…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:17AMMonday, October 14, 2013
Been to any previews lately? Did you get a good discount on your ticket? Or did you feel you had paid to watch a rehearsal?Have West End previews become "super-rehearsals"? That's the claim …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:20AMSunday, October 13, 2013
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonThis Streetcar Named Desire is like seeing Shakespeare performed in a foreign language: fresh yet disconcerting"When a play employs unconventional techniques it is n…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:50PMSaturday, October 12, 2013
Theatres are queuing up to make relationships with artists, but they should be tending their relationships with audiences tooAt this year's Edinburgh TV festival, Kevin Spacey talked about t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00PMFriday, October 11, 2013
Bristol Old VicThis clever, unsettling Dickens played out on an almost bare stage is storytelling theatre at its bestNeil Bartlett has produced impressive adaptations of Oliver Twist and A C…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:14PMBristol Old VicThis clever, unsettling Dickens played out on an almost bare stage is storytelling theatre at its bestNeil Bartlett has produced impressive adaptations of Oliver Twist and A C…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:14PMThursday, October 10, 2013
Ambassadors, LondonThis Hamlet prequel is not on a par with Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but it has some artful momentsEverything is rotten in the state of Denmark. The young…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:55AMAmbassadors, LondonThis Hamlet prequel is not on a par with Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but it has some artful momentsEverything is rotten in the state of Denmark. The young…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:55AMWatford PalaceGary Owen's spry online-dating satire stretches credulity but doesn't dodge some of the trickier questions around loveThe nagging thought that there might be someone out there …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:22AMWednesday, October 9, 2013
Lyttelton, LondonThis almost entirely sung-through show lacks a genuine fairy tale sense of wonder or real emotional punchOnce upon a time the National Theatre proposed to stage a fairy tale…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19PMDonmar Warehouse, LondonA fine revival of Wesker's kitchen-sink drama, in which a daughter's return reveals the emptiness of lives marked in potato peelingsLook Back in Anger is often cited …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:40AM 
