All stories by Susannah Clapp on BroadwayStars

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Tiger Bay the Musical review – all-singing, all-dancing hard times by Susannah Clapp

Wales Millennium Centre, CardiffCardiff’s fabled docks are given the Les Mis treatment in a hulking, lacklustre new musical graced by some exceptional voicesIt is my favourite place name. …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM

Quiz review – James Graham has all the right answers by Susannah Clapp

Minerva, ChichesterThis acute take on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? cheating case looks set to be another West End transfer for the playwrightJames Graham’s Quiz is an oblique look at…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM

Network review – Bryan Cranston creates studio mayhem by Susannah Clapp

Lyttelton, LondonCranston is compelling as the TV anchorman-gone-rogue in Ivo Van Hove and Lee Hall’s dazzling stage version of the 1976 filmFlesh and gizmo. Substance and reflections. Wat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM
Sunday, November 12, 2017

Big Fish review – lifeless male bonding musical by Susannah Clapp

The Other Palace, LondonKelsey Grammer plays a father recovering from a stroke in this soppy, short-lived Broadway showJohn August and Andrew Lippa’s musical Big Fish, adapted from Daniel …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM

Jubilee review – Anarchy in the UK, 2017 style by Susannah Clapp

Royal Exchange, ManchesterWith its ‘no future’ message, Chris Goode’s riotous update of Derek Jarman’s punk film Jubilee rings trueOf course it is meant to be a mess. A coherent, rat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM

This Beautiful Future review – delicate, ambiguous and forceful by Susannah Clapp

The Yard, London E9Jay Miller directs an exemplary production of Rita Kalnejais’s bittersweet love story set in occupied FranceWhen people grumble about theatre being middle-aged they aren…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Sunday, November 5, 2017

The Slaves of Solitude review – a woman on the verge of several brinks by Susannah Clapp

Hampstead theatre, LondonFenella Woolgar excels in an adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s wartime tale that doesn’t quite capture the novel’s subtletiesEmbarrassment and anxiety shiver th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM

Romantics Anonymous review – Emma Rice’s bittersweet farewell by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonRice bows out as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe in bravura style with a touching musical about two painfully shy chocolate-makersEmma Rice ends at …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, October 29, 2017

Young Marx at the Bridge theatre review – the right play for a bold new venture by Susannah Clapp

Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr’s intimate new South Bank theatre, where the focus will be on new writing, opens in riotous, melancholy style at home with Karl MarxLondon’s newest theatre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AM
Sunday, October 22, 2017

Albion; A Woman of No Importance; The Lady from the Sea review – gardeners question the times by Susannah Clapp

Almeida; Vaudeville; Donmar, all LondonMike Bartlett conjures a potent state of the nation address while Wilde and Ibsen’s wronged heroines still resonateRarely has so baggy a play burned …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM
Sunday, October 15, 2017

The Seagull review – Chekhov gets new wings by Susannah Clapp

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonLesley Sharp’s Irina moves from delight to despair in Simon Stephens’s incisive 21st-century versionSo Masha has become Marcia. She is not subjected to the most …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM

The Tin Drum review – a banging hit by Susannah Clapp

Everyman, LiverpoolKneehigh are on top form in Carl Grose’s audacious Günter Grass adaptationA grand old place has been ransacked. In the background, faded ochre walls and windows precari…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM

Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle review – romance with a scientific sheen by Susannah Clapp

Wyndhams, LondonSimon Stephens’s May-to-September love story is beautifully played by Anne-Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham in Marianne Elliott’s inspired productionSimon Stephens’s new …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, October 8, 2017

The Lie review – an elegant look at truth and deceit by Susannah Clapp

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonFlorian Zeller’s tricksy, philosophical new play finds two couples debating the ethics of falsehoodFlorian Zeller and his translator Christopher Hampton bro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM

Labour of Love review – the left does the splits, gracefully by Susannah Clapp

Noël Coward theatre, LondonJames Graham’s new play, starring Martin Freeman as a Blairite MP and Tamsin Greig as his old-school constituency agent, cleverly illuminates party divisionsFiv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM

King Lear review – Ian McKellen is full of surprises by Susannah Clapp

Miverva, ChichesterAlongside Sinéad Cusack, Dervla Kirwan and Phil Daniels, McKellen is deftly authoritative as Lear in a production full of fine performances and clever touchesSome of the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, October 1, 2017

The Unknown Island; After the Rehearsal/Persona review – a voyage of discovery by Susannah Clapp

Gate; Barbican, LondonAn exciting rising star and imaginative production make for an enthralling trip to The Unknown Island, and a take on Bergman is stylish but slow-movingIf I were a casti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM
Sunday, September 24, 2017

Wings review – Juliet Stevenson soars above a spectacle by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic, LondonThe actor gives an extraordinary performance, but even she cannot quite convey the turmoil of a woman who has suffered a strokeSometimes Juliet Stevenson looks like a parach…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM

Prism review – life through the lens of a celebrated cameraman by Susannah Clapp

Hampstead theatre, LondonRobert Lindsay plays the role of the late cinematographer Jack Cardiff with astonishing skill, but the play lacks focusTerry Johnson has given himself a hard task wi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM

Oslo review – high drama in the back channels by Susannah Clapp

National Theatre, LondonA riveting reimagining of the secret talks that set up the historic Oslo peace accordsI went into Oslo expecting to be informed, and fairly confident of being interes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Sunday, September 17, 2017

The March on Russia review – subtle drama of hope and regret by Susannah Clapp

Orange Tree, RichmondSue Wallace and Ian Gelder are outstanding as a bickering elderly couple in David Storey’s play about a family reunionIt is a long time since I have seen a tasselled l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM

Boudica review – action spurs debate by Susannah Clapp

Globe, LondonGina McKee is a brave, bloody-minded queen of the Iceni in Tristan Bernays’s vigorous and earthy playOutside the House of Commons stands one of the few London statues of a wom…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Sunday, August 20, 2017

Edinburgh theatre review: The Divide; Flight; Adam; Meet Me at Dawn by Susannah Clapp

King’s theatre; Church Hill theatre; Traverse, EdinburghA six-hour Alan Ayckbourn epic is outdone by some tiny model figures, a true-life transgender tale and two marooned women with a sec…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:04AM
Sunday, August 13, 2017

Apologia review – Stockard Channing’s withering heights by Susannah Clapp

Trafalgar Studios, LondonA caustic Channing battles gamely to save Alexi Kaye Campbell’s cliched family bust-upStockard Channing gives a good withering. It’s hard to tell whether her phy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, August 6, 2017

Just to Get Married; Road review – fire and anxiety by Susannah Clapp

Finborough; Royal Court, London Cicely Hamilton’s forgotten feminist drama hits home, while John Tiffany delivers rage and vaudeville in a bravura revival of Jim Cartwright’s RoadHistory…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM
Sunday, July 30, 2017

Girl from the North Country; Mosquitoes; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof review – bringing it all back home by Susannah Clapp

Old Vic; Dorfman; Apollo, LondonConor McPherson weaves magic with Bob Dylan’s songs, Olivias Colman and Williams ignite Lucy Kirkwood’s new play, and Sienna Miller’s Cat fails to sizzl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, July 23, 2017

A Tale of Two Cities review – roll on the revolution… by Susannah Clapp

Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, LondonA Tale of Two Cities mashup nearly does for Dickens in a rare flop at Regent’s ParkEvery couple of years someone writes a column saying how she has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM

Bodies review – the high price of a rented womb by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court, LondonVivienne Franzmann examines the economics and human cost of surrogacy in this thought-provoking dramaVivienne Franzmann has made her name with dramas – Mogadishu, The Wi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, July 16, 2017

Manchester international festival theatre roundup – emotion socks you in the face by Susannah Clapp

Museum of Science and Technology; Royal Exchange; Home; Mayfield, Manchester A captive audience is ruffled in immersive refugee drama The Welcoming Party. Elsewhere, powerful tales of sons a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AM
Sunday, July 9, 2017

Party Skills for the End of the World review – short on fear, long on balloons by Susannah Clapp

Centenary Building, Salford A doomed attempt to mix disaster survival and party games gets the otherwise promising Manchester international festival off to a shaky startJohn McGrath, foundin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AM

The Wind in the Willows review – if only the computer could conk out every night by Susannah Clapp

London Palladium A technical hitch gave rise to a welcome burst of spontaneity from Rufus Hound as Mr Toad in this otherwise tame tale of wildlife“Poop, poop”, as Toad so aptly puts it. …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AM