Chichester Festival Theatre’s premiere of Andrea Levy’s moving saga, The Long Song, doesn’t hit a wrong note both as a telling reminder of this country’s involvement in the slave trade and timely contribution to Black History Month.
Mates blogger: Anne Cox
Anne Cox is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Anne's posts on MyTheatreMates. Take a look at our full list of theatre bloggers and our aggregated feed of all our Mates' posts. We’re always looking for new theatre bloggers. Could that be you? Learn about how to join us.
Anne Cox is a journalist and blogger with more than 35 years’ experience and a passion for the theatre. Over the years, she has covered am-dram, regional and national theatre. As a critic for her own site Stage Review, she now reviews professional productions within about a two-hour drive of her home patch of Bedfordshire - from the RSC in Stratford, through the Home Counties and London to Chichester. She now runs her independent theatre website Stage Review and tweets @stage_review.
The latest from Anne on MyTheatreMates
‘Shocking, foul-mouthed, ferociously brutal & brilliantly played’: SING YER HEART OUT FOR THE LADS – Chichester ★★★★★
Roy Williams’ incendiary 2002 play, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads, which attacks grass roots racism with all the finesse of a vintage Vinnie Jones tackle, is back and spewing vitriol in Chichester Festival Theatre’s pop-up space, The Spiegeltent.
‘Out of step & time’: BIG THE MUSICAL – West End
Big, the film, holds a special place in everyone’s hearts but this musical version is out of step and time.
‘Well-plotted & tense political noir’: THE STRANGE CASE OF JEKYLL & HYDE – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre & Touring ★★★★★
Ross McGregor, artistic director and powerhouse behind Arrows & Traps Theatre Company, has captured the zeitgeist with his modern, political adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde.
‘It’s very easy to see all sorts of contemporary parallels’: Director Paul Miller on Macbeth at Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, led by John Simm and Dervla Kirwan as the corrupted couple, marks a homecoming for director Paul Miller.
‘Deeply unsettling’: THE WEATHERMAN – Park Theatre ★★★
The Weatherman, Eugene O’Hare’s full-length debut play opens with brief sunny spells but it’s clear that the forecast is for a stormy and changeable production.
‘An enthralling glimpse into America’s tawdry past’: 8 HOTELS – Chichester
There are probably not many people left alive who remember the controversial coast to coast US tour of Othello from 1944. It was remarkable for two reasons. Singer and political firebrand, Paul ‘Ol’ Man River’ Robeson was playing the lead and, as a black man, he was sharing the stage with a white, Desdemona.
‘A lot going for it if you’re in the loop’: THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE – Park Theatre ★★★
While it would probably go down well at, say the Edinburgh Fringe, The Actor’s Nightmare’s maverick style and piecemeal production, not to mention a reliance on a clued-up audience, makes it a bit rough and ready for the London mainstream stage.
‘Worth the price of a ticket simply to watch Lia Williams’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End ★★★
The Night of the Iguana takes three hours to tell a fairly simple story which could be done in 30 minutes, but it is worth the price of a ticket simply to watch Lia Williams deliver an outstanding performance as one of Tennessee Williams’ great, but unsung, female characters.
‘Electrifying revival’: EQUUS – Trafalgar Studios
Peter Shaffer’s shocking, disturbing and provocative thriller Equus has galloped back into the West End this week with an electrifying revival from Ned Bennett.
‘Lacks emotional power’: CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN – Harold Pinter Theatre
The stage adaptation of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis De Bernières’ award-winning book about love in the war-torn Island of Cephalonia, has come to London’s West End after a successful regional tour.
‘Timely & riveting adaptation’: MEASURE FOR MEASURE – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★
Gregory Doran’s timely and riveting adaptation of Measure for Measure is filled with laugh-out-loud humour, but there is also a bleaker side to it that makes it very much a play for today.
‘Has stood the test of time with remarkable ease’: NOISES OFF – Lyric Hammersmith ★★★★
The ‘technical difficulties’ that unexpectedly halted the opening night of Noises Off at the Lyric Hammersmith brought the house down. They couldn’t have been funnier than if they’d been planned.
‘A revitalised & hysterically funny comedy’: PRESENT LAUGHTER – The Old Vic ★★★★
Noël Coward would have thoroughly approved of Andrew Scott’s gloriously outrageous turn as ageing matinée idol, Garry Essendine, in The Old Vic’s reinvention of Present Laughter.
‘Saunders is outrageously good but then so are the rest of the cast’: BLITHE SPIRIT – Bath ★★★★
If I could look into Madame Arcati’s crystal ball I think I would see a West End transfer on the cards for Richard Eyre’s playful production of Blithe Spirit.
‘Jaded view of a Britain that has lost its way’: PLENTY – Chichester ★★★
Ultimately, all eyes are on Rachael Stirling in Plenty and she stylishly carries this story of disillusionment to its inevitable, if uncertain, conclusion.
‘Riveting piece of theatre’: THE POPE – Northampton ★★★★
Anthony McCarten has put together a top-notch drama in The Pope which is brought to life by the outstanding performances of gifted character actors, Anton Lesser and Nicholas Woodeson.
‘Playing her is like an actors’ playground’: Craig Revel Horwood takes Miss Hannigan on tour in Annie
Strictly ’s meanest judge, Craig Revel Horwood, sashays into Milton Keynes Theatre next month with a perfect score of terrific reviews for his performance as the gin-sozzled, tyrannical Miss Hannigan in the smash-hit revival of the endearing Annie The Musical.
‘Nails the seething resentment of today’s elderly’: BENEATH THE BLUE RINSE – Park Theatre ★★★★
Beneath the Blue Rinse, running at London’s Park Theatre – along with a Glover short called The Answer – is a morality tale where the elderly get their own back on a society that would rather forget they existed.
‘Beautifully well-observed character study of a dynasty under threat’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre ★★★★
Githa Sowerby used her own upbringing as the daughter of a Tyneside glass-making family for her breakthrough play, Rutherford and Son, but whether her father was as cold, insensitive and bullying as patriarch John Rutherford is open to speculation.