40 stories by "Rob Ellis"
You might want to make notes here – Matthew Bourne has been gestating The Red Shoes for the past twenty years, and to celebrate the 30th year of his company he's finally delivered. Bas…
We've had a bit of a Priestley renaissance this year haven't we? Stephen Daldry's An Inspector Calls is celebrating a 25th anniversary run, The Roundabout got its first revival courtesy of t…
Alistair Frederick bounds onstage. "What do we love?" he cries. "Big Dick" we roar. Thus we have Charming Dick, the latest collaboration between the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and The Cockpit, br…
It's not often that a show will tell you, within its script, that you'll be giving it a good review – but then Thebes Land is no ordinary play. Daniel Goldman's adaptation of Sergio Bl…
'To die will be an awfully big adventure!' roars Peter Pan (Paul Hilton), washed atop Marooner's Rock in Mermaid's Lagoon, his grim fate now all but sealed by the evil Captain Hook (Anna Fra…
With three productions in the last week asking me about national identity, we're now officially in the post-Brexit era of storytelling. Frankly it's a conversation worth having at any time, …
They say write what you know, so let's hope James Bridie was delving into some fiction when he wrote Dr Angelus. Bridie, a GP turned playwright, and without who we wouldn't have a little thi…
Ilé la WÃ translates to 'We Are Home.' Sometimes we all need some perspective – for all we'd like to complain about 2016, the unimaginable horrors of those suffering from displacem…
If you're planning on seeing Putting Words in Your Mouth, the new show from Scottee that's currently playing the Roundhouse, here's some advice – don't read this review. This productio…
In as pleasant words as I can put it, sometimes people aren't that great. Alice Marshall might say it in a slightly more 'lyrical' way. Her new show Vicious played at Kings Head Theatre, giv…
I must admit I chuckled when I read Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes were going to turn School of Rock into a stage musical. Richard Linklater's 2003 movie is the ultimate anti-establ…
It's not as though gender hasn't been explored in theatre. That doesn't mean we should stop – the problems haven't stopped – but it does mean finding a creative way to put your c…
So I'm guessing we could all do with a laugh around now? From Bowie to Brexit, to the complete and utter lunacy of the U.S. Election, 2016 has thrown little to chuckle about our way. You'll …
By my count, upon publication of this review you will have about two weeks left to see The Mountaintop. So stop reading, log onto The Young Vic's website and get booking. When it debuted in …
Every now and then a gem of a show appears that you hope and pray more people get the opportunity to see. Trident Moon, the new show from workshOPERA and the Finborough, proves you don't nee…
Reader, you find me slumped in front of my laptop, head in hands, struggling to think of something nice to say about Kissing The Shotgun Goodnight. It is so easy to criticise things we don't…
Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. Xerxes, an opera by Handel no less, has enjoyed some notable stagings in the past thirty years or so, not least Nick Hytner's 1985 ENO production, …
Bertolt Brecht: hated by students who don't understand him, loved by the rest of us who still don't really understand him. The Threepenny Opera is perhaps his most theatrical ‘play wit…
It's being touted as the linchpin of the Branagh Theatre season at the Garrick, but aren't we sick of Romeo and Juliet by now? There must be over 100 performances a year in London alone, so …
Sarah Kane's devastating account of real-life suicide is a notoriously difficult play to accomplish. Covering clinical depression in almost sociological detail and honesty, this is a script …
Whoever commissioned Blue/Orange's revival at The Young Vic is an evil genius. Has there ever been a more appropriate piece of theatre to represent today's political scene? Two waring partie…
Transportive is a great word in theatre. This is more than good set design – it's ensuring that every technical molecule of a production works in harmony to capture the spirit of a loc…
In lieu of recent political events, a play focusing on the aftermath of the 2014 Scottish referendum might feel slightly dated. Indeed Better Together, the new family drama from David Weir, …
They are back ladies and gentlemen. Exploding into the West End with The Play That Goes Wrong in 2014, Mischief Theatre have been the source of much mirth and merriment since then. Now they …
So, Katie Mitchell's new production of Lucia di Lammermoor is already causing a bit of a stir. It's not going as far as the general outcry towards her recent version of Cleansed at the Natio…
