Monday, May 25, 2015
'Keep off the stage when you're on duty'"Imprisoned in every fat man,"
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:58PMThe Victorian theatre of spectacle is alive and well, and residing at the London Palladium. But although this adaptation of the Frank Baum book and the 1939 movie, with additional songs by A…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:58PMAllam stole the best actor crown and Smith was queen of musicals, but new plays were thin on the ground. And funding cuts were the ghost at the feast
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:58PMOpen Air theatre, Regent’s Park, LondonTimothy Sheader and Liam Steel’s clever new production, set in a military hospital, soars with ingenuity but doesn’t reach the magic height of JM…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:29AMWith its mix of sensuality and intelligence, her portrayal of Hester Collyer at London’s Almeida in 1993 towers above all othersWhy is Penelope Wilton not more acclaimed? She did, admitted…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMSunday, May 24, 2015
Nuffield, Southampton Far from simply retreading familiar ground, this brilliantly designed adaptation highlights the Coens’ debt to 1920s American theatre Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:47AMFriday, May 22, 2015
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonNothing much adds up in Polly Findlay’s production, which fails to anchor Shakespeare’s play in a specific location Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:35AMWednesday, May 20, 2015
St James theatre, LondonAn excellent lead performance by Stephen Wight cannot save this woozy, over-reverential reimagining of a creative iconoclast Related: Alexander McQueen's Savage Beaut…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:58PMTuesday, May 19, 2015
Druid theatre, GalwayGarry Hynes’s long-haul, gender-blind production of Richard II, Henry IV parts one and two and Henry V offers a staggering study of the instability of power Continue r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:35AMMonday, May 18, 2015
King’s Head, LondonThe romantic optimism of 60s pop suffuses Richard Cameron’s painfully honest record of fractured lives in a ravaged village Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMSporting floppy hair and a cravat, Redgrave captured the key fact about many Chekhov characters: that it is possible to be comic outside and tragic insideLaurence Olivier wasn’t exactly fa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMFriday, May 15, 2015
In a BBC World Service broadcast in 1979, Dennis Potter – who would have turned 80 this weekend – talked to Michael Billington about the relationship between good and evil in his play Br…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AMThursday, May 14, 2015
The Old Vic, LondonMaria Friedman directs with style, and Kate Fleetwood is among the lively cast, but Cole Porter’s musical mish-mash has a patronising attitudeI can’t imagine this Cole…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30PMAfter 10 years, Spacey is stepping down from the London theatre he called home. There have been some resounding flops but he delivered the goods – and was a delight to watch on stageWhen i…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:00AMWednesday, May 13, 2015
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonIt’s Back to the Future, with sex and violence. Wronged women get the upper hand on destiny in a hotel suite that hides a tycoon’s lethal secret“Let’s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:29PMTuesday, May 12, 2015
London PalladiumOffering endless exhortations to follow your heart, swirling movement and a chorus of blokes in skimpy shorts, this lavish spectacle is in search of a story Continue reading.…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:10AMMonday, May 11, 2015
Atkins’s turn as Mrs Rooney in the 2012 revival of Samuel Beckett’s play showed off all her skills, subtlely and emotional directnessI was recently sent a DVD of the BBC’s 1960s Shakes…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMThursday, May 7, 2015
Hampstead theatre, LondonTheatre’s quaint rituals are satirised in this set of 23 short scenes that prove the playwright is an acute observer of absurdities Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMWednesday, May 6, 2015
Donmar Warehouse, LondonJudi Dench, a wonderfully twitchy Mark Gatiss, Catherine Tate and other famous faces make appearances at the polling station in Graham’s entertaining ballet-box dra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:01PMTuesday, May 5, 2015
Apollo theatre, LondonPeter Morgan’s play about the monarch and her prime ministers is essentially a series of sketches – and has less to say than King Charles IIIWith Helen Mirren enthr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36PMPrint Room at the Coronet, LondonThis play for voices offers a compassionate portrait of mothers, wives and daughters in the capital city Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:38AMMonday, May 4, 2015
Brighton Dome Corn ExchangeRichard Nelson’s extraordinary quartet of plays precisely charts the shifting moods within one family – and the national psyche Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:08AMIn Alan Ayckbourn’s 1987 National Theatre revival, Gambon demonstrated his massive physical presence, and Brando-like gift for suggesting the sensitivity withinMichael Gambon has talked op…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:59AMFriday, May 1, 2015
Dominic Dromgoole’s successor is known for her inventive and irreverent Kneehigh shows – her key challenge is maintaining the audience balance of active engagement and silent appreciatio…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:00AMShakespeare’s Globe, LondonIn Pryce’s deeply considered performance, which dominates Jonathan Mumby’s moving production, the moneylender is both tyrant and victim. Jonathan Pryce, maki…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:50AMThursday, April 30, 2015
Chichester Festival theatreAlan Ayckbourn’s 1981 cabin-cruiser play remains a problematic moral allegory, but this is a well-acted, technically brilliant revivalThere is an obvious reason …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMOlivier theatre, LondonDirector Rufus Norris gets off to a striking start at the National with Carol Ann Duffy’s stunning update of the medieval morality playIt may, at first, seem strange…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:41AMTuesday, April 28, 2015
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonThe young cast strut, smoulder and hoof their hearts out, but this adaptation of Alan Parker’s 1975 film has nothing new to say about the gangster-movie traditionT…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30PMMonday, April 27, 2015
Wyndham’s, LondonDaniel Evans’s production is meticulous is its psychological and physical detail, and there are fine performances from Lewis, John Goodman and Tom SturridgeA sign in the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30PMAt Stratford in 1961 the star set a gold standard for the role of Rosalind. Her whole interpretation was about the poleaxing effect of passionVanessa Redgrave is one of the most thrillingly …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMSunday, April 26, 2015
Finborough, LondonNeil McPherson’s documentary drama is a powerful reminder of the 1915 massacre of Armenian civilians and the tragedies that ensued Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:25AM 
