Antigone review: Sophocles is dragged into modern London greek tragedy While Sophocles may have written his great Athenian tragedy Antigone way back in 441BC, its core themes are enduring, something playwright Inua Ellams makes abundantly clear in this sharp and moving adaptation. Transposed to modern-day London, Ellams’ eponymous heroine is a young British-Pakistani Muslim. We meet her, along with her three siblings, at their local [...]
Off with its head: Globe’s Henry VIII is a raunchy mess theatre review It was during a performance of the Bard’s Henry VIII in the original Globe theatre in 1613 that a stage cannon misfired, setting alight its thatched roof and burning it down. While the new Globe’s 2022 production of this play may not feature cannon fire, plenty of surprises await, many of which would have made [...]
Marys Seacole at the Donmar Warehouse review: Dazed and confused theatre review Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican nurse who, among other endeavours, cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War, has only recently been given the recognition she deserves. With her new play, Sibblies Drury transcends the single history of Mary Seacole, and presents us with a number of Marys, across various time periods and settings. Mary [...]
To Kill A Mockingbird review: Aaron Sorkin breathes new life into Harper Lee’s novel April 9, 2022 Following its critically acclaimed run on Broadway, Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s retelling of this classic of modern American literature hits the West End, and it is not to be missed. Sorkin takes a fresh look at the illustrious tale of defence lawyer Atticus Finch, his children, the mysterious Boo Radley and the falsely accused black [...]
Animal Kingdom at Hampstead Theatre is theatre as therapy March 8, 2022 The intimate Hampstead Downstairs is just the setting for the emerging playwright to display their wares – all the more so when the work in question introduces its audience to the very private, innermost space of a family therapy session. From the other side of an imaginary two-way mirror, the audience observes an exposed, unadorned [...]
Frozen the Musical review: A crowd-pleaser that plays the hits February 4, 2022 When Disney’s Frozen hit screens back in 2013, only those hiding under rocks escaped round-the-clock renditions of Let It Go by children across the land. The announcement of an adaptation for theatre, initially on Broadway and then the West End, was hardly a surprise. With an extravagant set featuring icicle-laden bridges, mountain cabins and luxurious [...]
The Book of Dust at Bridge Theatre: Philip Pullman prequel is enchanting December 9, 2021 Set twelve years before the epic His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage is the origin story, if you like, of the trilogy’s much-loved heroine, Lyra. A crisp adaptation by Bryony Lavery and wondrous direction by Nicholas Hytner make for a truly magical reimagining for stage. The Bridge’s metaphorical curtains [...]
My Dark Vanessa book review: Lolita for the #MeToo generation is a brave debut March 27, 2020 Kate Elizabeth Russell’s much-hyped debut novel, hailed as Lolita for the #MeToo generation, is narrated entirely by the titular Vanessa and captivatingly crafted in two parallel timelines. In 2000, Vanessa is a 15-year-old student at a Maine boarding school, when she begins a relationship with her English literature teacher, Jacob Strane, thirty years her senior. [...]
Shoe Lady at Royal Court review: Surreal, strange story fails to sweep us off our feet March 16, 2020 The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson stars as Viv, or Shoe Lady, in E.V. Crowe’s latest piece at the Royal Court. The premise is simple but effective; lady has two shoes; lady loses one shoe; lady realises how much lost shoe stands for; lady tries to live without lost shoe but cannot. Shoes, of course, come [...]
The Visit at the National Theatre review: Lesley Manville shines in this overly-long drama February 21, 2020 Dürrenmatt’s revenge tragicomedy arrives at the National’s Olivier Theatre in an adaptation by Tony Kushner, transporting the drama to post-war America. In the state of New York, in a poverty-ridden town appropriately named Slurry, the town’s residents are desperate for a break. They pin all their hopes on the return (or rather, the visit) of [...]
