Tuesday, April 19, 2016
This past Sunday, I went on my first run for ages – and managed all of 5k. I have run a few half-marathons in fitter periods, after each of which I vowed that I would never – nev…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 09:42AMSaturday, April 16, 2016
In this theatre diary catch-up, I want to concentrate on five top plays – four of them which also make Mark Shenton’s Top Ten list and three of them led from the front by stunning female…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 12:57PMThursday, April 7, 2016
As the second-annual Also Recognised Awards conclude, here are a few words, and many thanks, from the awards organisers - and an invitation to you to help us decide what else should be recog…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:47AMTuesday, April 5, 2016
All the overnight reviews for Sunset Boulevard at English National Opera, starring Hollywood's Glenn Close as Norma Desmond. Plus, #StageFaves social media directory for the production and f…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:19AMMonday, April 4, 2016
Mates co-founder Terri Paddock was in Twitter duty for @MyTheatreMates as well as her mad-about-musicals site @StageFaves and her own @TerriPaddock. How'd she do?
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:22AMWednesday, March 30, 2016
Post-show Q&A: What’s the essence of good comedy? And what marks out an Alan Ayckbourn comedy in particular? What does the UK’s most prolific, produced playwright (80 plays and coun…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:56AMSaturday, March 26, 2016
I recently wrote about super-hot French playwright Florian Zeller’s London hat trick – with The Father, The Mother and, still running at the Menier Chocolate Factory, The Truth. As I sat…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 04:17PMThursday, March 17, 2016
This time last week I was coming down from the buzz of BEAM:2016. Today, as was re-reading my notes and other people’s write-ups for this blog, I got news on casting for The Toxic Avenger,…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 02:06PMMonday, March 14, 2016
My partner Peter and I spent most of this weekend in a frenzy of DIY-ing and de-cluttering, with an emphasis on the latter. We live in a small two-bedroom flat near Waterloo and, in a matter…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 08:11AMI have all sorts of bias when it comes to Bar Mitzvah Boy: my friend Lara Stubbs stars (as the somewhat spoilt, Jewish princess older sister of bar-mitzvahed boy in question); the show is di…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:06AMTuesday, March 8, 2016
Yes, I am posting this #PressPass at gone 4am – blame those incessant Motown hits that keep spinning round and round and round my head after attending tonight’s (technically, now…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 11:25PMSunday, February 28, 2016
What’s the difference between political theatre and theatre about politics? Can theatre be a catalyst for real change? Do right-wing political perspectives get a fair hearing onstage or is…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 03:51PMSaturday, February 27, 2016
The speeches at this year's Susan Smith Blackburn Prize ceremony were inspiring - in particular, the speech made by actor and judge Tanya Moodie, whose many credits (coincidentally) include …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 03:58PMFriday, February 19, 2016
The Donmar Warehouse announces that Ron Cook will complete full casting in Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, joining previously announced cast Stephen Dillane and Gina McKee. Faith Healer is dir…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:48AMWednesday, February 17, 2016
I gave Mrs Henderson Presents a very enthusiastic response at the curtain call of last night’s West End premiere – so enthusiastic that, as I tweeted at the time, I dented my rin…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:41AMSaturday, February 13, 2016
The poster of Nell Gwynn shows a saucy, bare-shouldered Gemma Arterton and promises “fun, funny and joyous… a cast of 20! and a band… naughty songs… merry dances. And…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 10:39AMFriday, February 12, 2016
I wrote last night about my personal response (including misgivings) to Matthew Perry's playwriting debut, and return to the West End stage, in The End of Longing which I saw last week. And …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:36PMThursday, February 11, 2016
Near the end of an interview Matthew Perry gave with The Times last weekend, the interviewer Sarfraz Manzoor commented “having made so many people so happy it feels only right to wish some…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 08:18PMIs Florian Zeller the new Yasmina Reza? Certainly, he’s the most successful French playwright to hit English shores since Reza, whose 1990s hits – Life x 3, The Unexpected Man an…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:56AMHere are a few more plays that I’ve seen recently and can happily recommend. As usual, I’ve listed them in closing order – and two of them finish their London runs this wee…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 06:43AMTuesday, February 9, 2016
When commissioned by the Finborough, the young director Jake Daniel (one to watch) suggested dusting off Andy Capp The Musical, not least because he hails from near Hartlepool himself and, h…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:36AMMonday, February 8, 2016
The Perfect Pitch Award, co-presented by Theatre Royal Stratford East, is a sort of Dragons Den for new musical writing … with a twist. In this, long before the aspirants get to the pitch …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:10AMThursday, February 4, 2016
The audience at yesterday’s National Theatre press conference gave the biggest cheer to news that hasn’t generated headlines anywhere: artistic director Rufus Norris invited jour…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:39AMWednesday, January 27, 2016
My partner and I saw, and were deeply moved by, The Pianist of Willesden Lane when it had its London premiere at the St James Theatre last Friday. The play is based on the book The Children…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 05:23PMTuesday, January 26, 2016
Hangmen, Judi Dench, Bend It Like Beckham, Oresteia are among the winners... The annual best of lists are always a good indication of who’s likely to triumph at the Critics’ Circle Award…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 08:30AMSunday, January 24, 2016
I’m well overdue for a theatre diary, aren’t I? So here goes with another one on more new plays I’ve seen in recent (and not-so recent) weeks that I’d recommend catch…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 12:28PMMonday, January 18, 2016
You don’t need me to tell you that Alan Rickman passed away last week, or how shocking and unexpected his death from cancer was at the age of 69, just days after his contemporary David…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 08:48PMMonday, January 11, 2016
The American writers of Grey Gardens are clearly delighted with the European premiere production of their musical (See Also my #PressPass round-up), now being staged at London’s South…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 04:00AMSunday, January 10, 2016
Producer Danielle Tarento and director Thom Southerland have created another Off-West End mega-hit musical. In fact, Grey Gardens has broken all box office records at Southwark Playhouse whe…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 03:21PMFriday, January 8, 2016
For years Guys and Dolls has been all but ruined for me: that’s what happens when you are lucky enough to see a definitive production and performance. I speak, of course, of Richard Ey…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 12:46PMThe 2016 West End season got off to a rollicking start this week with Wednesday’s opening of Guys and Dolls, the latest Chichester Festival transfer to the Savoy Theatre, which follows…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 11:56AM 
