I’ve been wrestling with what on earth this play is about. (PLOT: one woman drives her friend to her old house; she has left something there she needs to get back. They play games in the car, the thing is no longer in the house, we get lost in a nightmarish dream world where the […]
So. This show is really special and a lovely lovely break from all the really fucking depressing shows at the Fringe. It’s almost a kid’s show but not really: kind of like a kids show for adults. A kids show with murder. The whole aesthetic reminds me weirdly of Daisy Ashford’s The Young Visiters. But […]
It’s been aaaaaaaages since I posted anything I really felt proud of on my blog (the last thing was probs that parody of Simon Stephens’ book). I’m trying to get back into the ‘when you see something you really love and just HAVE to write about it’ mindset. Hopefully I’ll be back writing longform blogs […]
I’ve written about this before and now I’m writing about it again: I’m a firm believer in Rupert Goold’s statement that the director’s job is to cover up the bad bits in the text [links to paid content]. This is exactly what John Tiffany doesn’t do. If anything, his direction exacerbates the weaker parts of Jim […]
So. Rufus Norris needed a play for the Olivier. And DC Moore had an idea. Enclosure (privatisation of common land) and a charismatic, criminal, borderline Ricardian female lead. I made a resolution a couple of months ago that I’d only write about shows I liked. I’m now breaking that resolution. Reason why: this is one […]
A Working Diary. Simon Stephens. The condensed version. 1st January At [the Court/the National/the Royal Exchange]. I like it here. Saw [insert playwright]’s new play. It was ok. /profound line break/ I know so much about theatre. I know the ins and outs. I know what makes theatre function. I know audiences. I […]
Production images by Marc Brenner The angular set of Guards at the Taj stretches out into the unseen. The idea of the unseen should be an important idea in this play, but it quickly gets lost. We only get glimpses of ideas of the sensory through dramatic actions. Although that takes panache, it’s only sometimes […]
