The Fantasticks is the simplest of stories, staged minimally to emphasise theatricality and dealing with universals. Archetypal characters and situations are presented with comedy and tragedy painted broadly. If you want to sound clever you can say it uses the oldest performance traditions, with a narrator as chorus and drawing on commedia dell’arte. It is … Continue reading “The Fantasticks” at the Duchess Theatre
Coming to the Menier Chocolate Factory’s new musical, Paradise Found, slightly later than the first-night critics, it was hard for this writer to avoid the early reviews. These began with an assault by the bloggers and were followed by the pros, who seemed to enjoy panning the show with only marginally less enthusiasm than their … Continue reading “Paradise Found” at the Menier Chocolate Factory
The young Ruby In the Dust Theatre company now have a semi-permanent home in the basement auditorium of the Leicester Square Theatre. Having done so well with their production of Dorian Gray they now present a fresh and bold version of Romeo and Juliet. The action is set in Fascist Italy, with the warring families … Continue reading “Romeo and Juliet” at the Leicester Square Theatre
Now is a good time to revive Arthur Miller’s 1947 masterpiece All My Sons. The story of a war profiteer whose faulty goods killed U.S. airmen, is so full of moral dilemmas that it is always entertaining and powerful. But currently, as corporate responsibility is in the news and questions of social justice become vital … Continue reading “All My Sons” at the Apollo Theatre
Ruined began with a trip author Lynn Nottage took to East Africa in 2004. Wanting to write about war through the eyes of the women involved, she interviewed refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The stories she heard form the core of her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, now given its European premiere at The Almeida … Continue reading “Ruined” at the Almeida Theatre
Penelope Skinner’s new play, Eigengrau, is set in a London with no sense of community. It’s a city we hope we don’t experience but we all know exists. A group of twenty year olds are all alone and searching for love and friendship. It could be depressing stuff but in this play it is very, … Continue reading “Eigengrau” at the Bush Theatre
When Polonius introduces the players to Hamlet, he describes their talents in a variety of genres – “tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical” and so on. Similarly when Zak, the street artist storyteller in Philip Ridley’s new play Moonfleece, is introduced it is as someone who can convey “Fantasy. Thriller. Thriller-fantasy. Comedy-weepie-fantasy”. Ridley knows all these … Continue reading “Moonfleece” at Rich Mix
By the final scene of Macbeth, the tyrant is dead, justice is served and the witches’ prophecy fulfilled. So what happens next? Leaping at the topicality of an occupying English army, David Greig’s sequal, Dunisane, asks questions that seem relevant to our time. There are some surprises, but the plot is deliberately familiar. The occupying … Continue reading “Dunsinane” at the Hampstead Theatre
Medicine makes good drama – a glance at the television schedules makes that clear. Director Carrie Cracknell knows this too, and has used genuine emergency services transcripts to devise Breathing Irregular. The result is a powerful and deeply moving 40-minute show that offers a fresh take on what happens when we dial 999. Choreographed by … Continue reading “Breathing Irregular” at the Gate Theatre
The London Magazine offices are right next to the Savoy Theatre and over recent months we have seen the preparations for London’s latest big musical Legally Blonde. The most exciting thing has been the dogs in the cast, six in all who take turns performing, accompanied by trainers and carers and looking every bit the … Continue reading “Legally Blonde” at the Savoy Theatre
