Sunset at the Villa Thalia tackles 1960s Greek politics from a deckchair June 3, 2016 Dorfman Theatre | ★★★★☆ Alexi Kaye Campbell’s new play is a deeply personal effort. Born and raised in Greece, he was a baby at the time of the 1967 military coup, which is his play’s organising event; the two acts are set during its occurrence and aftermath, formulated around two holidays at the eponymous villa. Theo [...]
Race review: A moving and uplifting biopic that sadly fails to fully address America’s own historic hurdles June 2, 2016 Dir. Stephen Hopkins | ★★★☆☆ It’s disappointing but not surprising, given Hollywood's unfortunate record with diversity, that it's taken 80 years for the fascinating story of Jesse Owens to get a biopic. After all, it's only a couple of years since both Martin Luther King (Selma) and Jackie Robinson (42) were given the big screen treatment. [...]
Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre review: An explosively raucous show June 2, 2016 Olivier Theatre | ★★★★★ The National Theatre’s production of The Threepenny Opera is stagy, artificial, vulgar, nihilistic, hilarious, and brilliant. This is opera for people who don’t like opera. Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill’s Weimar Republic-era adaptation of John Gay’s 18th century ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera, is returned to its London roots in [...]
Obsidian Tear/An Invitation/Within the Golden Hour at the Royal Ballet review: A joyous, moving and brilliantly danced production June 2, 2016 Royal Opera House | ★★★★☆ It’s a brave man who opens an eagerly anticipated night at the Royal Ballet in silence, and an even braver one who picks a fight with a ballet dancer. In Wayne McGregor’s latest contemporary piece, Obsidian Tear, the stage is practically bare save for two men, eyeing each other up menacingly, [...]
Cuttin’ It at the Young Vic review: A powerful 21st century take on an age-old tragedy June 2, 2016 Young Vic | ★★★☆☆ At just over an hour long, Cuttin’ It is a compact yet ambitious play that takes on the complex issue of female genital mutilation. Our guides through this painful subject are two 15-year-old girls, Muna (Adelayo Adedayo) and Iqra (played by newcomer Tsion Habte), Somali-British schoolgirls who seem to hail from different [...]
Superforecasting: How seemingly ordinary people can predict everything from world events to election results May 27, 2016 The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was having a stressful time in 2013. A rebel militia had just taken control of Goma, a large province with a population of about a million people, and regional powers were putting pressure on him to wrest it back by force. Little did he know that [...]
Jekyll and Hyde at the Old Vic review: Toe-tappin’ fun, if a little shallow May 26, 2016 The Old Vic | ★★★☆☆ Much is unfamiliar in this dance adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde – the lurid suits, the jazzy score, the fact that Jekyll is reimagined as a doctor of botany. That there’s little tying the production to RL Stevenson’s source material is testament to the enduring power of Dr Jekyll, a character [...]
Romeo and Juliet at The Garrick Review: Richard Madden and Lily James love it up in this Mafioso-themed production May 26, 2016 Perennial favourite Romeo and Juliet is undoubtedly a great play, but it’s not always a good production. We all know the story – dumb rich kids making stupid choices – but for jaded modern audiences, it can be a struggle to care. Cynicism has encouraged a gimmicky approach in recent productions, with increasingly elaborate re-imaginings [...]
Blue/Orange at the Young Vic review: This 16 year old snapshot of a malfunctioning NHS still feels all too relevant May 26, 2016 Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange was first performed at the National Theatre way back in 2000, roughly four hundred years ago now, but its depiction of an inter-bickering and resource-deprived NHS remains painfully relevant. Today it’s about pay. Back then it was all about beds. How many we’ve got, how many we need, and how many sick [...]
Blood, guts and dead foxes abound in bio-disaster horror Human Animals May 26, 2016 Who doesn’t love foxes? Those pointy orange chaperones of the night. Those bushy tailed wardens of the bins. Not quite a dog, but not quite a cat either, so-called scientists have yet to explain away their alluring vulpine mysteries. In dystopian horror Human Animals, the foxes (along with the pigeons and the mice and every [...]