All stories by Susannah Clapp on BroadwayStars

Sunday, April 10, 2016

X review – a jittery dystopia by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court, LondonJessica Raine proves herself a stage natural in Alistair McDowall’s ingenious but taxing tale of future humanity adrift in despairX is another of Alistair McDowall’s d…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:58AM
Sunday, April 3, 2016

Bug review – horror and despair at close quarters by Susannah Clapp

Found111, LondonKate Fleetwood’s magnetic performance in this paranoia play continues this tiny pop-up space’s run of terrific performancesEvery now and then a particular theatre turns i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM

Les Blancs review – revolution so real you can smell it by Susannah Clapp

National theatre, LondonA new version of Lorraine Hansberry’s play about unrest in colonial Africa is a compelling mix of atmosphere and argumentAudiences at the National don’t often app…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM

Long Day’s Journey Into Night review – volcanic excitement and breakneck pace by Susannah Clapp

Eugene O’Neill’s partly autobiographical play of family dysfunction careers towards its tragic outcome with terrific energyLong Day’s Journey Into Night? No. It is the speed of Richard…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM
Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Painkiller review – a farce without force by Susannah Clapp

Garrick, LondonKenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon labour for laughs as hotel guests thrown together by circumstanceGradually the stage is picking to pieces accepted ideas about the 1960s. Martin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:01AM

Hamlet review – a fresh prince makes his mark by Susannah Clapp

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Paapa Essiedu paints a young and striking Hamlet, torn by indecision in an African military state, in Simon Godwin’s stirring interpretationA…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03AM
Sunday, March 6, 2016

The Maids review – TV star power can’t revive Genet’s murderous romp by Susannah Clapp

Trafalgar Studios, LondonUzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael make a striking cast, but the declamatory dialogue is heavy-handedAt Trafalgar Studios, Uzo Aduba steams and storms: a ba…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:31AM

Welcome Home, Captain Fox! review – breezy cold war chortles by Susannah Clapp

Donmar Warehouse, LondonJean Anouilh’s slight tale of a amnesiac soldier claimed by a host of different families gets a colourful 1950s treatmentJean Anouilh’s 1937 comedy Le voyageur sa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:31AM

The Solid Life of Sugar Water review – in bed with a catastrophe by Susannah Clapp

National Theatre, LondonJack Thorne’s play about a couple struggling to come to terms with tragedy is unflinchingI can’t remember when I last saw a play that was at once so forthright an…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:31AM
Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Tempest review – Dromgoole bows out beautifully by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThe Globe director’s farewell production casts its spell in the candlelit space that crowns his time thereDominic Dromgoole says goodbye to the Globe with th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:38AM

Cyrano de Bergerac review – a nose without a point by Susannah Clapp

Southwark Playhouse, LondonKathryn Hunter plays the lovelorn French nobleman in this all-female production, but nothing is gained by the gender swapWhat is the point of an all-female Cyrano …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:38AM

Cleansed review – the first cut was the deepest by Susannah Clapp

Dorfman, LondonIt may be too gruesome much for some, but Sarah Kane’s 1998 horror show feels depleted in Katie Mitchell’s protracted revivalTheatres love people walking out. Sometimes it…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:38AM
Sunday, February 21, 2016

Uncle Vanya review – Chekhov rewired by Susannah Clapp

Almeida, LondonUncle Vanya is snapped into focus in a fine-tuned new version by the remarkable writer-director Robert IckeRobert Icke has been giving the British stage electric shocks for th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM

Mrs Henderson Presents review – flash in the pan by Susannah Clapp

Noël Coward, LondonAn adorable heroine played by Emma Williams and a fine score from George Fenton and Simon Chamberlain are the only saving graces hereThere are two reasons for seeing Mrs …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM

Nell Gwynn review – nudge-nudge feminism by Susannah Clapp

Apollo, LondonGemma Arterton’s megawatt charm lights up Jessica Swale’s brocaded romp-comArguments about the theatre are being put into period costume. Many of these arguments are accusa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM
Sunday, February 7, 2016

Red Velvet review – a definitive performance from Adrian Lester by Susannah Clapp

Garrick, LondonLolita Chakrabarti’s powerful play about the 19th-century African American actor Ira Aldridge is now where it should be…In 1833 the African American actor Ira Aldridge too…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:19AM

The Master Builder review – knotty intensity from Ralph Fiennes by Susannah Clapp

Old Vic, LondonFiennes gives lustre to Ibsen’s preposterous autobiographical tale of an ageing architect battling irrelevanceYou may catch Ralph Fiennes in an obscure play; never in an ins…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:19AM

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom review – a terrific August Wilson revival by Susannah Clapp

Lyttelton, LondonSharon D Clarke as the ‘mother of the blues’ leads a superb cast in Dominic Cooke’s knockout productionWhat are the great American plays of the late 20th and early 21s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:19AM
Sunday, January 31, 2016

Herons review – a feral smash and grab by Susannah Clapp

Lyric Hammersmith, London Young Max Gill is terrific in a new production of Simon Stephens’s meditation on bullyingSean Holmes has pulled off a terrific smash and grab on Herons. His produ…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:39AM

Yen review – zinging dialogue, unforgettable staging by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court, LondonThe hit team behind Pomona turn Anna Jordan’s gritty play into something specialTwo years ago Ned Bennett (director), Georgia Lowe (designer) and Polly Bennett (movement…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:39AM

Escaped Alone review – small talk and everyday terror from Caryl Churchill by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court, LondonChurchill’s magnificent new play unleashes an intricate, elliptical, acutely female view of the apocalypseSo which is the best moment in Caryl Churchill’s sizzling new…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:39AM
Sunday, January 24, 2016

The week in theatre: Susannah Clapp reviews new work by the makers of the Sultan's Elephant by Susannah Clapp

The company whose huge mechanical elephant triumphed last year is using puppets in the shopfronts of Nantes to tell more tall talesLa Révolte des Mannequins Shop windows, Nantes, Fran…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:43AM

Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins review – bewitching, nonstop Shakespeare by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThe border between Ellen and Eileen is permeable in Atkins’s extraordinary one-woman show“Sixty-three and on one-night stands.” Ellen Terry, the loved Vi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM
Sunday, January 17, 2016

Give Me Your Love review – the ecstasy and agony by Susannah Clapp

Battersea Arts Centre, LondonA traumatised war veteran gets out of his box – and into it – in a vivid new play by two-man company RidiculusmusIt is one of the best of phoenix stories. La…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:39AM

The Brain Show review – tartan trousers, agile wit by Susannah Clapp

Soho theatre, LondonA genial Rob Newman rubbishes theories about the brain in his mindful new showSometimes I wish the word “comedy” were abolished. I can’t be the only person who tens…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:39AM
Sunday, January 10, 2016

Grey Gardens review – splendidly odd couple of the Kennedy circle by Susannah Clapp

Southwark Playhouse, LondonJackie K’s aunt and cousin are joyfully on song in a tale of Long Island squalor and co-dependency, while a fine new Pericles rules the wavesIt is the theatrical…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me review – low-tech and enticing by Susannah Clapp

Little Angel, LondonThree puppet animals excel as window cleaners in this visually ingenious production of Roald Dahl’s paean to sweetsSurely the obesity police will soon be summoned to th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM

Pericles review – moments of intense psychological insight by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonShakespeare’s tale of incest and hazardous sea crossings resonates powerfully in Dominic Dromgoole’s intimate stagingIt is unnerving to see Pericles these …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM
Sunday, December 27, 2015

wonder.land review – less of a show than a project by Susannah Clapp

Olivier, LondonDamon Albarn’s didactic musical has an interesting premise but fails to translate online curiosities into stage magicHard to believe but true. The most surprising moment in …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49AM

The Dazzle review – some of the best acting in London by Susannah Clapp

Found111, LondonAndrew Scott, Joanna Vanderham and David Dawson excel in a riveting true-life play about obsessive sibling hoardersFound111 is proving to be an inspiring dramatic place. Firs…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49AM

Cinderella review – saucy and sweet by Susannah Clapp

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonA tight script, beguiling design and Converse trainers instead of glass slippers make this Cinders a winnerThe Lyric’s Cinderella is its own mixture of saucy and s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49AM