Once, Phoenix Theatre by David Benedict

People sneer at musicals for endless reasons: they hate Broadway brashness, non-naturalistic lurches in and out of song, the sentimentality. One of the least acknowledged reasons, however, i…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 7:54pm on April 10, 2013[SHARE]

Before the Party, Almeida Theatre by David Benedict

Faced with an unfamiliar play, it's usually hard to spot exactly where the writer stopped and the director started. Not here. This is one of those occasions where a director's voice is consi…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:10am on March 29, 2013[SHARE]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Apollo Theatre by David Benedict

Without wishing to get all Kirstie and Phil about this, theatre, more often than you'd imagine, is about location, location, location. One of the reasons why the National Theatre's knockout&…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:50am on March 13, 2013[SHARE]

Can 'Merrily' get on a roll? by David Benedict

Legit News: London theater takes on Sondheim flop

SOURCE: Variety at 11:00pm on November 16, 2012[SHARE]

Daddy Long Legs, St James Theatre by David Benedict

Confession time: I'm a sucker for a romantic reunion. When lost-presumed-dead twins Sebastian and Viola finally rediscover one another alive and well at the end of Twelfth Night, you'll find…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 7:00pm on November 7, 2012[SHARE]

Private Lives, Chichester Festival Theatre by David Benedict

"Has it ever occurred to you that flippancy might cover a very real embarrassment?" Elyot's response to fulminating Victor is a line of defence " and since he has run off with Victor's wife …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 5:16am on September 29, 2012[SHARE]

With Grandage out, who gets National by David Benedict

Legit News: Field opens up for Hytner's eventual successor

SOURCE: Variety at 12:00am on June 23, 2012[SHARE]

Detroit, National Theatre by David Benedict

The competition for best dramatic use of a coffee table is won hands down by the wagon-wheel one that prompts a major argument in When Harry Met Sally. Runner-up is the one that appears in D…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 3:07am on May 16, 2012[SHARE]

South Downs/The Browning Version, Harold Pinter Theatre by David Benedict

It's amazing what working on a masterpiece can do. Commissioned to write a companion piece to Terence Rattigan's magnificent one-act drama The Browning Version, David Hare has abandoned his …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 3:06am on April 25, 2012[SHARE]

Abigail's Party, Menier Chocolate Factory by David Benedict

Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party: comedy classic or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with added sneering? Ever since its first appearance on stage in 1977 and its subsequent record-breaking broad…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 9:05pm on March 8, 2012[SHARE]

Master Class, Vaudeville Theatre by David Benedict

A fired-up Maria Callas (Tyne Daly) is hectoring a student. "I don't want it done like me, I want it done like Verdi!" "With music?" enquires the nervy pianist. "Yes," she snaps, "With music…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 5:00pm on February 7, 2012[SHARE]

Saved, Lyric Hammersmith by David Benedict

Given that Edward Bond, that most austere of playwrights, has refused to allow a London production of his most notorious play Saved for over a quarter of a century, it's neither surprising n…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 3:03am on October 14, 2011[SHARE]

Driving Miss Daisy, Wyndham's Theatre by David Benedict

You can accuse Alfred Uhry's 1987 play Driving Miss Daisy of many things " being overtly sentimental is top of the charge sheet " but you certainly cannot claim that it's a case of false adv…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:06am on October 6, 2011[SHARE]