All stories by Lyn Gardner on BroadwayStars

Monday, February 27, 2017

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

The National Theatre’s My Country delivers a verbatim verdict on Brexit and Duncan Macmillan adapts Auster’s City of Glass in ManchesterLittle Bulb’s all-singing Wail, which is about w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32AM
Friday, February 24, 2017

Nell Gwynn and Ballet Black: this week’s best UK theatre and dance by Lyn Gardner and Judith Mackrell

Christopher Luscombe’s frisky production tackles male domination of the stage, while a new mixed bill at the Barbican features Annabelle Lopez Ochoa1 The Pitchfork DisneyExhilarating, tens…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM
Thursday, February 23, 2017

Fiddler on the Roof review – Liverpool delivers milkman musical for our times by Lyn Gardner

Everyman, LiverpoolGemma Bodinetz’s loving, elegant revival of the Russian villagers’ story is joyful and warm in the hands of the theatre’s versatile new repertory companyAn old Broad…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM
Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Othello review – thriller focuses on anti-Muslim prejudice and 'alternative facts' by Lyn Gardner

Tobacco Factory, Bristol Director Richard Twyman’s riveting production excels at depicting the racial and religious tensions underlying Othello and Desdemona’s peril“So much ado, so mu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

No excuses necessary: why fringe theatre isn't playing the victim by Lyn Gardner

Theatre-makers are creating personal work that might be hard to deal with but that shouldn’t make it out of bounds for artists, critics or audiencesLast weekend’s The Sick of the Fringe …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:02AM
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Low Level Panic review – sexual anxiety in the bathroom queue by Lyn Gardner

Orange Tree, Richmond Like 1980s precursors to Fleabag, young female flatmates confide their fantasies in a world where men seem to hold all the powerMore than a third of teenage girls suffe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Monday, February 20, 2017

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

Dolphins are taught to speak in a clever satire, Theatre 503 presents works by prisoners and Madame Bovary is relocated to a plumbing company – in a play with no actorsSinners Club, at the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM
Friday, February 17, 2017

Flew the Coop review – prisoner of war lovers escape to a Butlin's disco by Lyn Gardner

New Diorama, London This story of a British POW’s love affair is strong on identity issues but the cartoon Nazis and jolly japes flatten any nuanceHorace Greasley was a British prisoner of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Tuesday, February 14, 2017

La Ronde review – gimmicky theatrical kiss-chase by Lyn Gardner

The Bunker theatre, LondonExaggerating the element of chance in Arthur Schnitzler’s play slows it down, removes vital sexual tension and makes it feel old-fashionedLove, apparently, makes …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

Sinners Club review – glittering gig-theatre soaked in seedy glamour by Lyn Gardner

The Other Room, CardiffLucy Rivers’ show, inspired by the case of Ruth Ellis, hanged in 1955, uses a clever conceit to tell a story of music, murder and motherhoodA microphone suddenly sug…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AM
Monday, February 13, 2017

Bristol festival leaves its mark on audiences with personal, political shows by Lyn Gardner

In Between Time reveals a readiness to respond to the times with shows about refugees, race and togetherness, posing vital questions about an anxious worldI’m wearing headphones. In my ear…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM

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

Tamsin Greig is Malvolia in a gender-shifting Twelfth Night at the National Theatre, while the Traverse’s brilliant Black Beauty does a final lap and Sherlock’s Andrew Scott stars as Ham…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:24AM
Sunday, February 12, 2017

Real Magic review – Forced Entertainment's devilish gameshow is a tour de force by Lyn Gardner

In Between Time at Arnolfini, BristolExquisite torture and infinite complexity are wrung from three performers, six words and scenario repeated like a demented Groundhog Day“Right, let’s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM
Friday, February 10, 2017

I Told My Mum I Was Going on an RE Trip review – crucial show about teenage abortion by Lyn Gardner

Battersea Arts Centre, LondonThe latest production from 20 Stories High is a vivid, clever piece that fuses tough subject matter with wicked humour and moments of pungent emotionOne in three…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PM

Richard III and Matthew Bourne: this week’s best UK theatre and dance by Lyn Gardner and Judith Mackrell

From a full-blooded reimagination of Shakespeare to the best of a celebrated choreographer. Plus: Eurohouse, Joan, BU21 and more1 Richard IIIDavid Hare may be up in arms about the European i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:31AM
Thursday, February 9, 2017

Silver Lining review – witty lines can't save Sandi Toksvig's care-home comedy by Lyn Gardner

Rose theatre, KingstonToksvig’s play has plenty of good gags but there’s far too little characterisation, leaving an experienced ensemble treading waterSandi Toksvig’s new comedy, set …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The Hunting Lodge review – fairytale gets real about love and friendship by Lyn Gardner

Unicorn, LondonPurni Morell directs a lush production of Ignace Cornelissen’s drama about a prince who is under pressure to remarry after his bride goes missingWhat happens after “happil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM
Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Raising Hull: young theatre companies kick-start UK City of Culture by Lyn Gardner

A gang of emerging outfits – including Silent Uproar and Middle Child – hit the road to reveal the Yorkshire city’s buoyant theatre sceneThe big question facing any festival is what wi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Focus Group review – David Foster Wallace's sinister Mr Squishy is staged by Lyn Gardner

Ovalhouse, LondonAudience participation turns from fun to fraught in this assault on the corporate world inspired by the American author’s short storyTerry works for a marketing company wh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM

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

Black Beauty gallops into Glasgow, Cardiff hosts a retelling of the last woman hanged in Britain, and a show created sex workers premieres in the capitalFirst seen at the Traverse in Edinbur…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:48AM
Friday, February 3, 2017

Connie Fisher's click track is not conning theatregoers by Lyn Gardner

The people's Maria is under incredible pressure to perform. I reckon people should give her a break.Relax, it's only a Lloyd Webber musical. Photograph: Tristram KentonLoss of innocence has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM

Let It Shine: why isn't Gary Barlow's talent show interested in acting? by Lyn Gardner

The contestants can belt out a tune but can they cut it in musical theatre? The stage show cast from the BBC1 series will fall flat if it doesn’t find acting talentReality TV and talent sh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM

The Pitchfork Disney review – exhilarating chocoholic apocalypse by Lyn Gardner

Shoreditch Town Hall, LondonJamie Lloyd’s revival of Philip Ridley’s 1991 dark fable, starring George Blagden and Bafta-nominated Hayley Squires, is vivid and monstrousThe gaudy excesses…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

An Inspector Calls and E15: this week’s best UK theatre and dance by Lyn Gardner and Judith Mackrell

From Stephen Daldry’s ground-breaking production to a visceral take on the welfare crisis. Plus: Worst Wedding Ever, Material Men Redux and more1 An Inspector CallsThat inspector keeps on …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39AM
Thursday, February 2, 2017

Why theatre should stay tuned in to radio plays by Lyn Gardner

Many a playwright owes a debt to a radio commission. Audio drama allows an ambition and scope that can’t always be achieved on stageEarlier this week, at the Critics’ Circle theatre awar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM
Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Theatre companies must rethink their relationship with Arts Council England by Lyn Gardner

Applications are in for the next round of the council’s funding for National Portfolio Organisations. Some have decided it’s better to opt outThe deadline has now passed for those applyi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

Relic review – Dame Edna meets Marge from The Simpsons in bizarre spectacle by Lyn Gardner

The Pit, LondonEuripides Laskaridis puts on high heels and a fat suit to explore gender in a striking show at the Barbican as part of London international mime festivalImagine Dame Edna Ever…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Murder for Two review – musical whodunnit is a shot in the arm by Lyn Gardner

Watermill, BagnorTwo actors play all 14 characters – and the piano – in a smart, jaunty show that transposes the English country-house mystery to small-town AmericaJoe Kinosian and Kelle…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM

Beyond Blasted: how the 90s changed theatre in the UK by Lyn Gardner

The decade is still associated with the ‘In-Yer-Face’ moniker but it brought us a thrilling variety of new writing and fresh, boundary-breaking styles of theatre There seems to be a bit …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Monday, January 30, 2017

Why David Hare is wrong about the state of British theatre by Lyn Gardner

The playwright’s concerns over European directors ‘infecting’ British theatre are misplaced – the two-way traffic between the UK and Europe has benefited us allWith a hard Brexit on …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM

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

Sandi Toksvig debuts a new comedy, Crew for Calais take over the Vault festival for a good cause and Bristol’s Tobacco Factory hosts a double bill from Manipulate about a doomed romance an…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM