All stories by John Morrison on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Country Life by John Morrison

Once more to the Camden Fringe and RADA's George Bernard Shaw theatre for the first night of an intriguing two-act play by my Player-Playwrights friend and colleague Peter Briffa. It's a sop…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:44AM
Tuesday, August 9, 2011

the fan and THE STAR and the star and THE FAN by John Morrison

Another gem of a play at the Camden Fringe, written by my fellow member of Player-Playwrights, Jan Harris. It's a classic 'odd couple' one-acter involving a faded and sozzled Hollywood star …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:23AM

Pandora's Boxes by John Morrison

Why travel all the way to Edinburgh for fringe theatre when it's happening in London? This is a highly original play by Denise O'Leary which is a moral fable about the dangers of consumerism…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:46AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011

My six plays in a day by John Morrison

Summertime brings not only copious supplies of fruit and vegetables but a rich choice of theatre treats at a modest cost. The month-long Camden Fringe opened yesterday -- a brilliant alterna…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 06:16AM
Thursday, July 28, 2011

Four Dogs and a Bone by John Morrison

'Nobody Knows Anything' is the much-quoted verdict on the screen trade by one of the most successful scriptwriters ever, William Goldman. John Patrick Shanley's 1993 play is written from the…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 06:00PM
Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Belarus Free Theatre's Eurepica.Challenge by John Morrison

I would love to be positive about this show at the Almeida by a company which has become a symbol of resistance to the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, a place that mak…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:38AM
Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Beauty Queen of Leenane by John Morrison

Some people are never satisfied. The Young Vic, having rebuilt its leaky old building a few years ago, is now recreating the drizzly Connemara weather inside the theatre at vast expense. Tho…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:46AM
Friday, July 15, 2011

Joe Orton's Crimes of Passion by John Morrison

If Joe Orton were still alive, he'd be 78. As his biographer John Lahr wrote, he expected to die young, but he wrote his plays to last. Battered to death by his lover Kenneth Halliwell when …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 06:52AM
Thursday, July 14, 2011

Luise Miller at the Donmar by John Morrison

'Take a letter, Miss Jones.' And so she does. Sixteen-year-old musician's daughter Luise Miller (Felicity Jones) is forced to take up a quill pen and take dictation from the aptly named Wurm…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:55AM
Monday, July 11, 2011

The new captain of school pays a call on Murdoch by John Morrison

Time, I think, for a bit of light relief from theatre reviewing. Here is an oh-so-topical extract from the Edwardian classic novel ANTHONY BLAIR CAPTAIN OF SCHOOL. In chapter eight, the new …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:25PM
Saturday, July 2, 2011

Mr Happiness and The Water Engine by John Morrison

Willy Russell's Rita was dead right about the radio being the best place for Peer Gynt, but sometimes radio plays can succeed brilliantly when they're done on stage. This show -- which runs …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:35AM
Friday, July 1, 2011

Kevin Spacey's back by John Morrison

I'm a bit worried about Kevin Spacey. His performance as Richard III at the Old Vic deserves all the superlatives which the critics have showered on it, but I hope his back muscles will stan…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 04:45AM
Monday, June 27, 2011

Never mind the Olympics, what about the Donmar? by John Morrison

Vanishing Olympic tickets are one thing, but can someone explain to me why every single performance at the Donmar Warehouse between now and next February is allegedly sold out? I went to the…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 07:33PM
Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Merchant of Venice at Stratford by John Morrison

As the bard put it so memorably, Don't You Step On My Blue Suede Shoes. This is the production where Shakespeare meets Elvis, courtesy of that master of theatrical time travel Rupert Goold. …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 11:41AM

Dunsinane at Stratford by John Morrison

'We will leave when we win,' says Siward the English general defiantly as the occupation of Scotland, designed to bring the lawless country quickly to peace, stretches on with no end in sigh…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:09AM
Friday, June 17, 2011

Emperor and Galilean by John Morrison

"Do it on the radio" is Rita's memorable response to an exam question about how to stage Ibsen's Peer Gynt. "If they had had the radio in his day, that is where he would have …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 08:29AM
Monday, June 6, 2011

Government Inspector by John Morrison

Richard Jones is an opera and theatre director for whom the written word is less important than visual and musical impact. I first came across his work in a phantasmagoric Midsummer Night's …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 06:53AM
Saturday, June 4, 2011

Chicken Soup With Barley by John Morrison

Arnold Wesker is the skeleton in the cupboard of British post-war theatre; still going strong and writing in his late 70s, he has been largely ignored for the last 30 years, rather like the …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 10:25AM
Thursday, June 2, 2011

One Man, Two Guvnors by John Morrison

I've always been fascinated by 1963, so imagine my delight at finding myself surrounded by a grey-haired National Theatre matinee audience stomping, clapping and shouting their appreciation …

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:58PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe by John Morrison

When does getting the audience to laugh turn into self-indulgent playing to the gallery? In the Guardian, Michael Billington, always lukewarm about the kind of theatre he finds at Shakespear…

SOURCE: John Morrison at 05:57AM

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
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic