All stories by Mark Fisher on BroadwayStars

Monday, August 9, 2021

Double Drop review – a blast of youthful revolt by Mark Fisher

MultiStory, EdinburghA young singer loves clubbing, which clashes with her hopes of success at the Eisteddfod in Lisa Jên Brown’s exuberant two-hander Globalisation leaves us in a quanda…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Sunday, August 8, 2021

Sex Education Xplorers (SEX) review – a biology lesson for the 21st century by Mark Fisher

Summerhall, EdinburghMamoru Iriguchi and Afton Moran raid their dressing-up box to give us a cheery guide to the evolutionary history of reproduction, and what it says about gender fluidity …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24PM

Medicine review – Domhnall Gleeson despairs in absurdist institutional limbo by Mark Fisher

Traverse theatre, EdinburghThe Edinburgh festival’s theatre programme begins with Enda Walsh’s flamboyant and funny new play about a man receiving an inappropriate form of drama therapy …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Thursday, July 29, 2021

Masks and Faces review – A comedy of infidelity … starring Michael Billington by Mark Fisher

Available onlineThe former Guardian critic, along with Evening Standard scribe Fiona Mountford, take to the limelight in this fruity vintage marital drama Victor Kiam liked his shavers so mu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM
Friday, July 23, 2021

Pride and Prejudice review – bonnets at dawn in a breezy show full of songs and fun by Mark Fisher

Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre, ChesterSuzanne Ahmet turns on the charm as Elizabeth in this outdoor production of Austen’s great love story and wry comedy of manners “If life is not al…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Thursday, July 22, 2021

Coppelia: A Mystery review – superb adventure veers from sweet to sinister by Mark Fisher

New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeThis delightful promenade show uses pretty-as-a-picture design, undercut with creepy asides, to bring ETA Hoffmann’s famous tale alive Who knew there w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil review – love, loss and lower-league footie by Mark Fisher

Available onlineIn Gary McNair’s jovial audio play, a woman rediscovers a connection with her home town and her dead father by following a Scottish football team for a season Who doesn’t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32PM
Friday, July 16, 2021

Home, I’m Darling review – a retro rebrand reveals ruffles not frills by Mark Fisher

Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough In Laura Wade’s clever play, her heroine becomes a 50s housewife but 21st-century gender politics lurk under the Formica surface In the row behind me, a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AM
Monday, July 12, 2021

Enda Walsh: ‘All my plays are about people who haven’t been loved or looked after’ by Mark Fisher

The Irish playwright is known both for feverishly claustrophobic plays – including his latest, Medicine – and big commercial hits. If a project doesn’t feel right, he fires himself Loc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Sunday, July 11, 2021

Twelfth Night review – love’s a costume change away in backstage-set version by Mark Fisher

Bard in the Botanics, GlasgowShakespeare’s play on the unreliability of appearances works well in the wings of a theatre, but this 90-minute streamlining perhaps cuts too much You can see …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42PM
Friday, July 9, 2021

The Wind in the Willows review – Grahame classic restaged as fable for our times by Mark Fisher

Pitlochry Festival theatreLockdown loneliness, eco-crisis and land ownership are explored with varying degrees of subtlety in an uplifting show The National Trust should see about hiring Col…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM

White Nights review – masterly staging of Dostoevsky’s unrequited love story by Mark Fisher

Pitlochry Festival theatreBrian Ferguson performs with mesmerising verve in this poignant, desperately funny portrait of existential misery ‘I am alone,” says the narrator of Dostoevsky�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM
Sunday, July 4, 2021

Talent review – Victoria Wood drama tackles the squalid side of celebrity by Mark Fisher

Crucible, SheffieldWood’s 1978 play about a young woman’s quest to win a local talent show handles weighty issues, including sexual exploitation, breezily It is a world of mirror balls …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM
Monday, June 28, 2021

Beyond These Walls review – Tennessee Williams cools down in Boston Spa by Mark Fisher

Crucible, SheffieldDrifters and deadbeats populate four lesser-known Williams shorts in this un-sultry Northern Broadsides anthology Northern Broadsides has a history of putting a northern E…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Friday, June 25, 2021

Outlier review – the spirit of Kerouac reaches the West Country in superb drama by Mark Fisher

Bristol Old Vic and onlineMalaika Kegode embraces audiences with her warm, honest poetry, backed by musicians Jakabol – but her true-life tale quickly takes a dark turn A sense of homeline…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36AM
Friday, June 18, 2021

Y’MAM: Young Man’s Angry Movements review – one-man show gets a grip on toxic masculinity by Mark Fisher

Liverpool EverymanMajid Mehdizadeh (AKA Luke Jerdy from Hollyoaks) explores modern-day manhood and the contagion of everyday violence Male violence is like a virus. That is how it comes acro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Sunday, June 13, 2021

Adventures With the Painted People review – romantic revenge on a roamin’ Roman by Mark Fisher

Pitlochry Festival theatreA Caledonian witch holds a Roman officer captive in David Greig’s drama of attraction and philosophical opposites Pitlochry Festival theatre already has a claim …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18PM
Friday, June 11, 2021

The Girl Next Door review – Ayckbourn casts history’s lens on lockdown Britain by Mark Fisher

Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe prolific playwright is on fine form with an uncanny story that smartly contrasts national crises past and present Domestic life was quiet during lockdo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AM
Monday, May 31, 2021

Edinburgh international children’s festival review – a riot of colour and emotion by Mark Fisher

Available onlineAnimation and street dancing power Mixed Up, a film about validating feelings, while The Super Special Disability Roadshow gives voice to a young audience There’s a video f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06AM
Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Hindu Times review – a divine night out in Dundee by Mark Fisher

Available onlineGods Vishnu, Lakshmi and Brahma become street-smart hedonists in Jaimini Jethwa’s ribald and swaggering audio play Body-swap comedies are big in the cinema. From the mother…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PM
Monday, May 24, 2021

Take Me Somewhere review – the wondrous trans tale of Pinocchio by Mark Fisher

Available onlineIvor MacAskill and Rosana Cade’s clever show about identity was the highlight of the Glasgow festival’s opening weekend The animating force behind The Adventures of Pino…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Thursday, May 13, 2021

Édouard Louis: ‘Truth is a revenge because we live in a world of lies’ by Mark Fisher

The author, who became a literary sensation at the age of 21 with The End of Eddy, is appearing in a show exploring acting in theatre and in everyday life Some people give their bodies to me…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Friday, April 23, 2021

Ghosts review – writing the enslaved back into Glasgow’s past by Mark Fisher

Merchant City, GlasgowAdura Onashile’s app-based walking tour, created with the National Theatre of Scotland, explores the city’s historical ties to the slave trade Glasgow’s Merchant …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM
Thursday, April 22, 2021

TM review – will you be approved to join an international cult? by Mark Fisher

Available onlineYou are put through a cryptic interview in this ingenious show that tears up theatre’s rulebook to make the spectator the star It’s 2007, I’ve been lured into an Edinbu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03PM
Wednesday, April 21, 2021

John Byrne: ‘If I don’t laugh when I’m writing, it gets tossed out’ by Mark Fisher

The playwright’s Tennis Elbow is a gender-swapped version of Writer’s Cramp, his uproarious 70s hit about a failed literary figure If you were in Edinburgh during the 1977 festival there…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36PM
Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Distance Remaining review – pandemic drama takes an uplifting turn by Mark Fisher

Available online A volunteer driver, a dog walker and an injured elderly woman fight personal lockdown battles – with playwright Stewart Melton’s welcome addition of the determination to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Sunday, April 11, 2021

Miss Julie review – Strindberg spiked with the politics of empire by Mark Fisher

Available onlinePlaywright Amy Ng adds issues of imperial exploitation and race by moving drama of wealthy woman and servant to Hong Kong in 1948 Miss Julie is standing on top of the kitchen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06PM
Friday, April 2, 2021

Meet Jan Black review – touching tribute to theatre's lost year by Mark Fisher

Available onlineJohnny McKnight’s warm-hearted play, live-streamed from the Gaiety theatre in Ayr, reflects on what we’ve missed most about performance What will audiences want after the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM
Monday, March 29, 2021

The New Gospel review – a thrilling and unsettling Easter story by Mark Fisher

Available onlineMilo Rau’s film mixes a dramatisation of the crucifixion story with a real-life portrait of exploited migrant workers Milo Rau keeps you on your toes. On stage, the Belgiu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24PM
Friday, March 19, 2021

The Kindling Hour review – Arthurian legend meets Hitchcockian thrills by Mark Fisher

Available onlineAudiences try to stop an ancient artefact from falling into the wrong hands in this interactive production What would a time traveller make of it? Someone arriving from 2019 …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36PM
Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The Band Plays On review – a celebration of songs forged in Sheffield by Mark Fisher

Available onlineChris Bush’s community play uses local music and family histories to explore the city’s resilience, hope and determination It begins, as a show about Sheffield only could…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06PM

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
TBA: Ragtime