Morality plays that teamed with allegorical characters started falling into disuse about 450 years ago and I think there was a reason why. They feel extremely unreal, unimmediate and irrelevant. Duffy’s Everyman didn’t work, and neither does this. (If you don’t know the concept behind Duffy and Rufus Norris’ latest hare-brained collaboration: Britannia calls a… Continue reading My Country, National Theatre
Hamlet, Almeida Theatre
Fuck. I feel like I’ve just seen the real Hamlet for the first time. Robert Icke has created a proper monster of a play and it’ll be a shame if it doesn’t transfer. It almost feels like I’ve only ever read or seen half of Hamlet before. Now the curtain has been drawn back and… Continue reading Hamlet, Almeida Theatre
The Glass Menagerie, Duke of York’s
*CONTAINS SPOILERS* Tiffany’s Glass Menagerie is a mixed bag. Some things work and some don’t. The set is beautiful – a tiny flat in the middle of a black expanse of nothingness. There’s a fire escape staircase stretching up into the nothingness that looks a bit like a scissor lift and a sofa with no… Continue reading The Glass Menagerie, Duke of York’s
Richard III, Schaubühne at the Barbican
*CONTAINS SPOILERS* There’s nothing more frustrating than a really good piece of theatre with zero diversity. I almost feel guilty for loving Ostermeier’s and van Hove’s ensembles. The acting standard is so high but the fact that this is some of the greatest theatre is so white shows us that diverse casting is a struggle… Continue reading Richard III, Schaubühne at the Barbican
The White Devil, Shakespeare’s Globe
*CONTAINS SPOILERS* The White Devil has one of the most complex plots I’ve ever seen in a play. A lot happens, and there’s so much going on it would be impossible to put it on without substantial edits. This production does just that, but it doesn’t entirely pull it off. The ideal amount of cutting… Continue reading The White Devil, Shakespeare’s Globe
This House, Garrick Theatre
*CONTAINS SPOILERS* This is a play about how history repeats itself: regardless of the political situation, this play will always be relevant. Coalition or majority, loss or win, EU or Brexit: there will be a line that rings true. I saw it on the day Tristram Hunt resigned. The party whips preventing Walsall North (characters… Continue reading This House, Garrick Theatre
Wild Honey, Hampstead Theatre
*CONTAINS SPOILERS* Chekhov and farce don’t mix. It’s not that we have to be stringent about obeying the circumstances Chekhov was writing in (I’m not a fan of period dress productions). But it’s worth remembering that farce as a genre is very closely linked to melodrama, which is what Chekhov later came to write against. There… Continue reading Wild Honey, Hampstead Theatre
