All stories by John Morrison on BroadwayStars

Monday, April 6, 2020

In the pandemic shut-down, Philly’s musicians find creative ways to keep playing by John Morrison

Philly's music scene has taken a hit as clubs and restaurants have shut down and gigs have been canceled. John Morrison speaks with a few local artists on how they are coping, how they are a…

SOURCE: Broad Street Review at 10:06AM
Monday, July 24, 2017

Michelle Terry to take over at Shakespeare's Globe by John Morrison

Three resounding cheers from me for today's announcement. Michelle Terry is an ideal choice and I predict she will have no difficulty in moving the theatre into a new era that blends traditi…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:06PM
Thursday, June 15, 2017

Woyzeck by John Morrison

Understudies don't get much recognition in the theatre unless the lead actor has to withdraw for an extended period. So I'm happy to blow the trumpet for Theo Solomon, who stepped in to play…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:24AM
Friday, May 26, 2017

Greg Hicks as Richard III by John Morrison

Greg Hicks mesmerises the audience for three hours with a performance that mingles sadism, misogyny, venom and flashes of humour, distilled and concentrated by the Arcola theatre's tiny stag…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 09:36AM
Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Othello by Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory by John Morrison

This Othello is among the very best I have seen. Without star names and with no public subsidy, Andrew Hilton's Bristol-based company has a glowing reputation for concentrating on the essent…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:24AM
Thursday, May 11, 2017

Salome by John Morrison

There aren't too many fixed rules for making theatre. Thank goodness for that. But in my experience, an alarm bell starts to tinkle when the writer of a show and the director are one and the…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:36PM
Thursday, March 16, 2017

An Enemy of the People writes to his MP by John Morrison

A lightly edited version of the letter I posted yesterday to my MP Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary. Like Theresa May and Philip Hammond, he was a Remain supporter who seamlessly sw…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:24AM
Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Mehmet Ergen's Cherry Orchard at the Arcola by John Morrison

In many ways this is one of the very best productions I have seen of Chekhov's greatest play, which I first encountered in Chichester half a century ago. Mehmet Ergen's casting is inspired, …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 06:48PM
Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Twelfth Night with Malvolia by John Morrison

When I've seen a Shakespeare play dozens of times, studied it at school and acted in a student production, there's always a risk of seeing it once too often. Will it really be funny when I s…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 12:36PM
Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932 by John Morrison

This survey of Russian art’s turbulent history between 1917 and 1930 opens an extraordinary range of material, much of it familiar, but it also contains some stunning surprises. I’m fair…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 02:54PM
Friday, February 3, 2017

Simon Russell Beale in the RSC Tempest by John Morrison

I finally caught up with a second cinema showing of the RSC's flagship production for 2016 of The Tempest, with our greatest Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale as Prospero. It's a trium…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:36AM
Friday, January 13, 2017

No Man's Land with Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart by John Morrison

A half-empty snowbound local cinema was the ideal place to catch a repeat NTlive showing of Pinter's masterpiece dealing with the icy wastes of dementia and the loss of memory. Of course, th…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:33AM
Sunday, December 11, 2016

Saint Joan at the Donmar by John Morrison

Josie Rourke's revival of Shaw's 1923 play could not be more different from the last major London production at the National Theatre in 2007. On that occasion director Marianne Elliott, with…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:42AM
Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Hedda Gabler by John Morrison

I'm not usually a fan of European-style 'director's theatre' but I'm prepared to stretch a point when the director is Ivo van Hove, whose version of A View From The Bridge at the Young Vic c…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:42AM
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Comus by John Morrison

I used to dismiss Lucy Bailey's theatrical dishes as indigestible, but she is fast turning into my Star Baker. Using an early 17th century recipe that has been out of fashion for more than a…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:54AM
Friday, November 4, 2016

A Man of Good Hope by John Morrison

Isango Ensemble of Cape Town is a trailblazing company that has taken opera by the hand and led it into areas it never dreamed of. From mediaeval mystery plays to Mozart's Magic Flute and Sh…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 09:42PM
Sunday, October 30, 2016

Amadeus at the National Theatre by John Morrison

This production is a triumphant success on every level, a revival of Peter Shaffer's classic play that subtly brings it into the modern era without violating its 18th century period context.…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 01:36PM
Sunday, October 2, 2016

Kenny Morgan by John Morrison

Back in June I was enthusiastic about the National Theatre's revival of Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, with Helen McCrory as Hester Collyer. Now I'm even more enthusiastic about the A…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:31AM
Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Tempest at the Donmar King's Cross by John Morrison

The Tempest completes director Phyllida Lloyd's impressive trilogy of all-female productions, which began with Julius Caesar in 2012 and continued with Henry IV . Harriet Walter (previously …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:51AM
Friday, September 23, 2016

Travesties by John Morrison

Tom Stoppard was in the audience for last night's preview of his 1974 play Travesties, and I thought he looked as delighted as the rest of us. Patrick Marber's revival at the Menier Chocolat…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:33AM
Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Imogen by John Morrison

Over-amplified and over-lit, this version of Shakespeare's Cymbeline at the Globe continues artistic director Emma Rice's demolition of the theatre's founding concept and the work of her two…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 12:52PM
Saturday, September 10, 2016

Our Baby by John Morrison

The empty crib, the absent baby. It's a powerful dramatic symbol which many writers have used, most famously Edward Albee in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. And it's at the centre of this sh…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:57AM
Friday, September 9, 2016

Diary of a Madman by John Morrison

Al Smith's play, now at the Gate Theatre, garnered a raft of good reviews at the Traverse in Edinburgh in August, and it's easy to see why. It's a very loose adaptation of a short story by N…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:39AM
Saturday, September 3, 2016

Burning Doors by John Morrison

Belarus Free Theatre has been established in exile in the UK for more than a decade, but their uncompromising work makes few easy concessions to charm a fickle British theatre audience. Some…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 12:49PM
Saturday, August 27, 2016

Antony Sher as Lear by John Morrison

Lear's cavalier division of his kingdom into three ranks with David Cameron's ill-thought referendum on EU membership as an example of catastrophic decision-making. Both moves are followed b…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:16PM
Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe by John Morrison

Director Iqbal Khan has delivered a Macbeth packed with good acting and exciting ideas, but one whose impact is for me fatally undermined by the Globe's new policy of heavy reliance on artif…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 01:42PM
Sunday, August 14, 2016

Russian city hosts a Martin McDonagh theatre festival by John Morrison

Playwright Martin McDonagh, winner of the 2015 Olivier best new play award for Hangmen, is being honoured with his own theatre festival, in which his plays will be performed non-stop for a w…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:10PM
Thursday, August 11, 2016

Yerma by John Morrison

Even when the actors are wringing their guts out on stage, my usual approach is to keep a stiff upper lip and maintain my critical distance. Occasionally that's not possible, and I have to c…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 12:09PM
Friday, July 15, 2016

The Kreutzer Sonata by John Morrison

Some of the very best evenings in the theatre happen when great acting and directing bring to life a great text, without the benefit of elaborate sets, costumes, lighting, smoke, video monit…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:37PM
Wednesday, June 8, 2016

The Deep Blue Sea by John Morrison

This play is often considered Terence Rattigan's best, and it provides a fantastic opportunity for any actress in the central role of Hester Collyer, the judge's wife who has embarked on a d…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 11:27AM
Sunday, June 5, 2016

The Threepenny Opera by John Morrison

Sometimes in the theatre I look at my watch and hope the play will end soon. Just occasionally -- it happened last night -- I enjoy myself so much that when the show ends I want to see it al…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:22PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards