All stories by Susannah Clapp on BroadwayStars

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Burning Doors review – dark stories from eastern Europe by Susannah Clapp

Soho theatre, LondonDespite some magnetic moments – and a Pussy Rioter – Belarus Free Theatre fails to catch fireIn their home country, the founder members of Belarus Free Theatre face d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:07AM

King Lear review – more engaging than raging by Susannah Clapp

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonAntony Sher is a shade too controlled as the maddened king in Gregory Doran’s fluent productionThe play that Dr Johnson thought too painful to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:16AM
Sunday, September 4, 2016

Unfaithful review – fourway pleasure through pain by Susannah Clapp

Found 111, LondonOwen McCafferty’s sharp drama of sexual entanglement features a crackling performance from Niamh Cusack“We are still ourselves when we lie.” Unfaithful is made up of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:30AM

The Entertainer review – an off-key swan song by Susannah Clapp

Garrick, LondonJohn Osborne’s venomous 1957 play lends itself well to the Brexit era, but Kenneth Branagh’s farewell Garrick production fails to igniteIt seemed, John Osborne said, “as…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:30AM
Sunday, August 21, 2016

Groundhog Day review – less harmony and more anarchy please by Susannah Clapp

Old Vic, LondonMatilda maestro Tim Minchin and team have ingenious fun with his new musical adaptation of the movie classic – but would you want to see it more than once?Groundhog Day has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:07AM

946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips review – carnival and tragedy by Susannah Clapp

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonThere’s method in the puppet mayhem of Emma Rice’s Kneehigh musical adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s D-day taleAt the Globe, artistic director Emma Rice an…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:07AM
Sunday, August 7, 2016

Yerma five-star review – Billie Piper is earth-quaking as Lorca's heroine by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic, LondonPiper makes a shattering Yerma in Simon Stone’s inspired present-day reworking of Lorca’s tragic study of childlessnessIn one fell – but felicitous – swoop, Simon St…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:20AM

The Plough and the Stars review – women rise highest in O’Casey’s Easter Rising drama by Susannah Clapp

Lyttelton, LondonHis powerful female characters redeem this handsome but hackneyed revival of Seán O’Casey’s great 1926 playThe Plough and the Stars is now most famous for causing a rio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:13AM

Extravaganza Macabre review – how to light up an audience by Susannah Clapp

Battersea Arts Centre, London A spoof on Victorian melodrama from the Little Bulb troupe makes a perfect debut for BAC’s new outdoor arenaBattersea Arts Centre is the only theatre in Londo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:13AM
Sunday, July 31, 2016

Pigs and Dogs review – a quick shot at homophobia by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court, LondonCaryl Churchill takes just 15 minutes to skewer intolerance in Africa with a challenge to both prejudice and the conventions of political theatreOnce again Caryl Churchill…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:01AM

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child review – this spell-binding play is utterly theatrical by Susannah Clapp

Palace theatre, LondonEmotional punch, rich suspense and dazzling effects make for all-round magic in the latest twist in Harry Potter’s taleOK, I’ll keep the secrets. After all, I’m w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54AM
Sunday, July 24, 2016

Wot? No Fish!! review – a beautiful hour and a half of memory and speculation by Susannah Clapp

Battersea Arts Centre, LondonDanny Braverman conjures magic from a shoebox in his affectionate, unsparing portrait of a Jewish family in 20th-century east LondonIn Wot? No Fish!! at Batterse…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49AM

Fracked! review – Alistair Beaton’s nimble eco-comedy hits home, up to a point by Susannah Clapp

Minerva, ChichesterAnne Reid stars as a reluctant activist, but the plum role goes to the fracking company’s ‘horribly recognisable’ PR manOutside the Minerva, a woman from the Chiches…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49AM
Sunday, July 10, 2016

Boys Will Be Boys review – cross-dressed scoffing by Susannah Clapp

Bush Hall, LondonDespite a lovely lead performance, this all-female satire of women’s struggle to survive in a man’s world is feebleThere is a neglected theatrical treasure in Boys Will …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM

Queens of Syria review – the most urgent work on the London stage by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic, LondonThirteen Syrian women bring Euripides up to date with unforgettable personal testimoniesIt is not only irrelevant but impudent to give a star rating to Queens of Syria. This…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk review – a breathless soaring by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonKneehigh’s captivating production is both playful and sombre as it conjures up the Chagalls’ intense relationshipMandolin, accordion, trumpet. Washes of ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM
Sunday, July 3, 2016

Henry V review – if Shakespeare had done Brexit by Susannah Clapp

Open Air theatre, Regent’s Park, LondonMichelle Terry shines in Rob Hastie’s muted productionThe important thing in cross-gender casting is not just the tremendous leads but the default …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:28AM

Faith Healer review – Brian Friel’s masterly test of faith by Susannah Clapp

Donmar Warehouse, London Stephen Dillane, Gina McKee and Ron Cook excel in Lyndsey Turner’s tremendous revival of Brian Friel’s 1979 playBrian Friel makes it look like the most natural t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:28AM

King Lear review – newly and bitingly prophetic by Susannah Clapp

Bristol Old Vic‘Albion comes to great confusion’ as Timothy West’s thoughtful Lear presides over a nation dividedA map of the British Isles cracks into pieces. In front of it two tribe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:28AM
Sunday, June 26, 2016

Wild review – the erosion of identity by Susannah Clapp

Hampstead theatre, London NW3This edgy tale of a Snowden-type whistleblower is over-reliant on its stagey finaleMike Bartlett is one of our most protean playwrights. On telly: Doctor Foster;…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:16AM

Quills review – De Sade the surrealist by Susannah Clapp

Les Nuits de Fourvière, LyonRobert Lepage pulls no punches as he revisits the notorious marquis in the asylumRobert Lepage is the Marquis de Sade. In pigtailed perruque and high heels, turn…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:16AM
Sunday, June 19, 2016

Phaedra(s) review – three into one don’t go by Susannah Clapp

Barbican, LondonIsabelle Huppert sparkles intermittently in an incoherent attempt to yoke together different versions of the Greek mythAs a showcase for the translucent talent of Isabelle Hu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM

Richard III review – king of the car park by Susannah Clapp

Almeida theatre, London N1Ralph Fiennes is a masterly, transfixing Richard, while Vanessa Redgrave curses with quiet convictionHe seduces like a basilisk. Sheer force of self-belief concentr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM

Ross review – Terence on Arabia by Susannah Clapp

Chichester festival theatreA first-rate Joseph Fiennes saves the day in Terence Rattigan’s timid drama based on TE LawrenceThese days a theatre critic measures out her life in the Fiennes …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM
Sunday, June 12, 2016

The Spoils review – a superior, sneering soap by Susannah Clapp

Trafalgar Studios, LondonActor/playwright Jesse Eisenberg is terrific as the rich narcissist in a witty and constantly surprising pieceJesse Eisenberg’s The Spoils has some of the ingredie…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:51AM

The Deep Blue Sea review – an explosive revival by Susannah Clapp

Lyttelton, LondonHelen McCrory brings steel and gusto to the role of Terence Rattigan’s scorned 1950s loverAfter the whirling excitement of her production of A Doll’s House, I half-expec…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:51AM
Sunday, June 5, 2016

Sunset at the Villa Thalia review – overstuffed and underheated by Susannah Clapp

Dorfman, LondonAlexi Kaye Campbell’s new work has plenty of political comment but little to say on the state of present-day GreeceThe theatre, one character proclaims in Alexi Kaye Campbel…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:52AM

Blue/Orange review – an argument still worth hearing by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic, LondonJoe Penhall’s dissection of racism and mental health in modern Britain is still compelling, thanks in part to an outstanding central performanceBlue/Orange does not startl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:52AM

The Threepenny Opera review – cartoon counterfeit runs out of juice by Susannah Clapp

Olivier, LondonA new translation of Brecht and Weill’s dark comedy fails to hit its satirical targets but still makes for a good musical“Fake it to seem real,” a would-be beggar is adv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:52AM

The Forbidden Zone review – poisoned by a ‘higher form of killing’ by Susannah Clapp

Barbican, LondonA mesmerising production from Katie Mitchell recounts the harrowing legacy of German chemist Fritz Haber as seen by his wife and granddaughterOne of the best things the theat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:52AM
Monday, May 30, 2016

Sunset Boulevard review – sandblasting panache from Glenn Close by Susannah Clapp

Coliseum, LondonA glittering Glenn Close is ready once again for her close-up as Norma DesmondIt is more than 20 years since Glenn Close first starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boule…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime