37 stories by "Simon Holton"
With VesperTime Stacy (or is it Tracy?) Makishi continues in her inimical style. She continues to be outrageous, to blend film, music, story and truth in what is often a mind-bending mass of…
I'm thinking about disabled theatre. I'm thinking about disabled theatre criticism. I'm thinking about it in context of a show I saw recently, to which my first responses were directly relat…
Live art. Collision. Hyperlocal. Supernow. Whilst a part of me always wants to rebel against the possible inaccessibility and self-conscious coolness of Fierce Festival's tagline, I cannot d…
The opening image of Théâtre National de Nice's production of Peer Gynt belies the uniqueness and downright bizarre nature of what is to follow. Downstage centre, in the middle of an exp…
In a beautiful railway-arch space in Hoxton Gallery, Rattleback, a new theatre company, has taken over. Rattleback is made up of international artists who are transforming the space, hold…
It's extremely difficult not to like a show that culminates in a two-course meal that includes freshly baked bread, hearty soup and homemade rhubarb schnapps. Add to that the wonderful locat…
The Shroud begins with a heavily symbolic sequence: a rectangle of light becomes sacred space – a coffin, a bed. Siddharta Bose approaches his co-performer and co-deviser Avaes Mohamma…
If the title is a mouthful, the show itself is a mindful. Commissioned by SICK! Festival Brighton, The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland somewhat playfully engages with the rat…
“Rice” may seem an unusual title, and indeed topic, for a work of dance theatre. Yet even without the most perfunctory of research, it becomes clear that rice serves as an eno…
Rape is always a tricky subject to tackle, to put it mildly " particularly with comedy. The treatment of the subject must be done with the utmost sensitivity and clarity to ensure that…
The closely guarded secret is out: the hotly anticipated biennial programme for LIFT 2014 has been announced, and it's no disappointment. The launch evening took place in an appropriate loca…
Despite the familiarly ostentatious surroundings, ENO's Peter Grimes is aesthetically different to any opera I have ever seen. On almost every level it has elements of coarseness and complex…
The Weir already feels like a modern classic, as it is welcomed into its much anticipated West End transfer to Wyndham's Theatre. Â With an all-star cast and its successful run at the Donm…
Solo performances can be like Marmite; but whether you love it or hate it a night of four solo performances is going to be full of variety. The opening night of One Festival 2014, The Spa…
Kagami Theatre certainly knows how to create an atmosphere. The space of Theatre503's intimate above-pub auditorium is used well by the design team of this production, a new adaptation Abe K…
There can be few works of literature more daunting or more resistant to interpretation than Cervantes' two-volume Old Castilian epic, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. The id…
Elizabeth I once famously said of Shakespeare's play, “I am Richard II, know ye not that?” I doubt that even Shakespeare would have dared deliver as unflattering a portrait of a …
Mental, by “art and activism collective of one” the vacuum cleaner, is no ordinary piece of theatre. Taking place in the bedroom of the artist's flat in east London, it is an int…
From the moment the house lights go down on the Almeida theatre's new production of Ibsen's Ghosts, one knows one is in the hands of masters of their craft. Adapted and directed by theatrica…
The versatility of the National Theatre's new temporary venue, The Shed, is astounding, as is the quality and variety of its productions. Previously home to such diverse shows as the frantic…
“Cabaret has exploded”, proclaims Georgeois Bourgeois, of Bourgeois & Maurice fame, during their new show Sugartits, now playing downstairs at Soho theatre. Certainly, during…
Literary adaptations for the stage can be tough. The audience comes with dual expectations: for the production to remain faithful to and do justice to the original text, but also for the tex…
A woman walks onto a stage, sits down on a chair and starts telling a story. Fleabag, written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, has at its heart a wonderful simplicity. With a powerful …
Anti-theatre. Meta-theatre. Absurdism. Surrealism. Dada. Call it what you like, attempting to subvert and destroy the conventions, structure and narrative of traditional theatre is nothing n…
In this surprisingly seasonal heatwave we are currently enjoying, what better time for a visit from Spanish dance troupe Los Vivancos to the London Coliseum, complete with Sangria Happy Hour…
