880 stories by "Marianka Swain"
André is losing time. It's not just his perennially mislaid watch, but whole hours, weeks, years. Is he still living in his Paris flat, or did he move in with his daughter Anne? Is she marr…
It seems almost redundant to critique a show that so ably " if unconsciously " critiques itself. "The power of Bollywood is it's unique!" cries one character, before squandering that uniquen…
As The Queen gains an audience with the latest royal addition, her theatrical alter ego returns to the West End, with Kristin Scott Thomas inheriting Tony-nominated Helen Mirren's role in Pe…
As we stagger towards electoral chaos, isn't it comforting to think there might be a master plan at work? That Russell Brand's meddling is preordained, or Cameron's 'brain fade' an act of di…
"Fury Over Sharia Law For Toddlers!" No, not a prime example of spoof headline generator Daily Mail-o-matic, but the latest piece of fantastical scaremongering from the Clarion, a 125-year-o…
Coming-of-age comedy, moonlit romance and a gentle folk soul: can this really be Eugene O'Neill? The master of darkness makes a surprising departure with semi-autobiographical 1933 work Ah, …
The 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's seminal novel has inspired a raft of commemorative work, from Damon Albarn and Moira Buffini's musical Wonder.land to Holland Park opera and Glastonb…
Hollywood has never met a cliché it didn't love; unfortunately, neither has Dylan Costello. His peek behind the curtain of Tinseltown's Golden Age employs every stock type imaginable, from …
The Young Vic's victory parade came as no surprise after a bumper year, but, in an impressive night for studio and publicly funded theatre, the egalitarian 2015 Oliviers also showered affect…
From Singin' in the Rain and Anything Goes to Hello, Dolly! and Mary Poppins, Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear has done more than any other British choreographer to usher classic musicals i…
While seven-way debate rages, broadcaster and debuting playwright Jonathan Maitland takes us back 25 years to a radically different political landscape: a time of regents, and of regicide. I…
Joshua Harmon's provocative 2012 piece is the Rocky of comedies. His evenly matched sparring partners, a pair of viscerally antagonistic cousins confined in close quarters after a familial l…
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, repeatedly unfunny Harvey isn't just a study of madness, but a punishing example of it. Mary Chase's dusty&…
This is, stresses our guide, a work of pure (read: non-libellous) fiction, except that its "preposterous" premise is rooted in even more preposterous truth. In 2010, diva extraordinaire Barb…
Writing about writers: exploring what you know, or the very definition of stifling egoism? Either way, it can be a terrible trap for the playwright, with craft becoming not just the subject …
The Langham has marked its 150th anniversary in theatrical fashion by commissioning an original drama spanning several decades " and floors " from emerging company Defibrillator, whose Tenne…
The quest for liberation is popular dramatic terrain, but the Gate Theatre's 'Freedom Burning' season shifts focus to the aftermath. What do you do when the fight is over, and how can you be…
How do we respond to a tragedy of infinite mystery? We investigate, we speculate, and we seek to impose meaning, to produce a story that safely contains unfathomable horror. However, those h…
Has there ever been a successful dinner party on stage? It seems no sooner has the table been set than domestic disharmony erupts: opposing personalities obligingly clash, the veil of marita…
Casting existing partners is no guarantee of artistic success " for every Burton/Taylor, there is a Bennifer. Hannah Price has taken a risk, too, by pairing the revered Dame Harriet Walter w…
The Orange Tree's renaissance continues with this searing piece from playwright of the moment Alice Birch, who follows up last year's subversive Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again with an interr…
Even the most begrudging acquaintanceship with thematic foghorn Downton Abbey will have affirmed that the Edwardian era heralded momentous social change. Provocatively embedding this revolut…
Is there any bond more powerful than shared history? If life is the sum total of our experiences, then those who experienced with us will always hold a piece of us " and none more intimate t…
If the London property boom continues post-election, the fight for living space may well develop into all-out war. But what begins as skirmish in Peter Souter's 2013 play, promoted from the …
Dating in the internet age is rife with complications, and yet Dave Simpson's amiable romcom manages to eschew nearly all of them. Bar its online matchmaking set-up, this is a chaste, big-he…
