Posts tagged "review"
Rent - a musical by Jonathan Larson presented by LAMDA’s BA (HONS) Professional Acting and Foundation Degree Stage Management & Technical Theatre students It was my first experience of a LAMDA production which is the creation of the West London drama school’s final year acting and stage management students to showcase the school’s talent which has been nurtured over three years. Pulitzer prize winning Rent is a tough ask from...
Henry IV - a play by William Shakespeare Until 29th November 2014 www.donmarwarehouse.com Director, Phyllida Lloyd has a very different take on Shakespeare’s history play which focusses on the themes of kingship, coming of age and honour. For one, in a play that is highly masculine, there is an all female cast and that the cast is housed in the setting of a jail appears to highlight gender inequality and...
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams Live broadcast of the Young Vic’s production at the Curzon Cinema, 16th September 2014 This is perhaps Tennessee Williams’ greatest play and certainly his most famous. This time the director, Benedict Andrews, mixes the original 1947 play with a more contemporary setting, including a revolving stage which serves as a harsh symbol of the lead character’s downward spiral to insanity. Gillian Anderson’s portrayal...
Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe Almeida Theatre until 4th October 2014 www.almeida.co.uk During the summer of 2011, Hackney witnessed riots and looting, or in one character’s words “a little revolution”. Alecky Blythe’s verbatim play focuses more on the onlookers rather than the instigators and perhaps asks more questions than providing answers. It is thought provoking and well executed but quite disjointed and runs more like a documentary rather than...
To Kill a Mockingbird – based on the novel by Harper Lee Regent’s Park Open Air – until 13th September 2014 Actors, each clutching a different edition of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, emerge from the audience and walk up the steps to the open air stage. The actors turn out to be narrators as they take it in turn to read passages from the powerful story of racial...
My Night with Reg a play by Kevin Elyot The Donmar Warehouse – until 27th September 2014 www.donmarwarehouse.com Alcohol flows and fags are chain smoked while David Bowie’s Starman belts out, hitting everyone in the audience. The scene is set for the revival of Kevin Elyot’s award-winning 1994 comedy, My Night with Reg, which charts the lives and loves of six gay men and what a night it turns...
Looking to show your teenagers a totally different cultural experience? A holiday in Tokyo and Kyoto will prove very rewarding. I have 14 and 12 year old girls and, despite panicking about their imminent year end exams, they loved the trip over May half-term. A 12 hour flight sounds like a deterrent for a week’s trip but it’s just two hours longer than going to Florida. Also, British Airways has...
Privacy by James Graham The Donmar Warehouse - until 31st May 2014 Are you really who you think you are? The power of technology and its ultimately sinister and intrusive consequences are revealed in James Graham’s new play. The story is both engaging and alarming as the inventive cast take on multiple roles and interact with the audience. Please ensure your mobile devices are switched on in order to...
The Imperial - 577 King's Road, Fulham SW6 Previously a traditional pub, The Imperial has undergone a modern makeover and the result is a welcome offering of essentially British food with some Australian twists. The restaurant, at the back of the bar, is spacious and airy but the real find is their garden with several tables. Smokers rejoice! I thoroughly enjoyed the halloumi, tomato and avocado on sourdough followed by...
Velocity by Daniel Macdonald Finborough Theatre until 13th May 2014 Dot is 15 and indulging in sex and drugs but her parents don't care. She craves their attention. Dot conducts her school science project on velocity by interviewing her parents. Yet this is no ordinary interview - her father is to be blown up and sent crashing down from his office on the 72nd Floor. According to Dot’s...
King Charles III by Mike Bartlett Almeida Theatre – until 31st May 2014 – West End transfer to Wyndham’s Theatre until 31st January 2015 – The Queen is dead. Charles is pronounced King. Labour, apparently without Ed Miliband, is in power. The Duchess of Cambridge morphs into Lady Macbeth while Prince Harry discovers scotch eggs […]
The complete ski package – Val Gardena. An overlooked gem in South Tyrol, Italy. Had enough of over priced ski holidays dishing up mediocre food? Take a trip to the vast ski area of the Dolomites and experience the real charm of family run hotels together with amazing cuisine. We have skied all […]
I’d rather Goya robbed me of my sleep than some other arsehole By Rodrigo Garcia Gate Theatre, Notting Hill – until 29th March 2014 I’d rather Goya is a 50-minute monologue; but don’t be put off – this is an unconventional, hard hitting piece with live piglets. Rodrigo Garcia aims to challenge traditional theatre norms […]
The Hotel Plays by Tennessee Williams Presented by Defibrillator The Hotel Plays comprises The Pink Bedroom, Green Eyes and Sunburst – three one act plays by Tennessee Williams performed in a series of rooms in the Langham Hotel, London. All three plays take place in the confined spaces of relatively small hotel rooms, which renders […]
Theatre – 1984 Headlong’s stage version of the novel by George Orwell The Almeida Theatre The question that everybody has is how to translate George Orwell’s masterpiece of a frightening dystopian vision to the theatre. Enter the creative team of Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan with their chilling stage adaptation and, as if […]
The Mistress Contract by Abi Morgan The audience sits straight through for 85 minutes witnessing a series of conversations, spanning 30 years, between two nameless characters. This may not sound like a play that you should be rushing to but writer, Abi Morgan, who wrote the screenplays for Shame and The Iron Lady, has […]
Mojo by Jez Butterworth Harold Pinter Theatre The revival of Jez Butterworth’s first play, Mojo, was anticipated as a must see for London theatregoers. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Ben Whislaw and Rupert Grint, combined with a script from the writer of Jerusalem fame, this had all the ingredients for a strong piece […]