Like characters in a book who never die, Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Menier Chocolate Factory deserves to last forever.
Mates blogger: Carole Woddis
Carole Woddis is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Carole'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.
Carole Woddis has been a theatre journalist and critic for over 30 years. She was London reviewer and feature writer for Glasgow’s The Herald for 12 years and for many other newspapers and magazines. She now review for websites including The Arts Desk, Reviews Gate and London Grip and blogs independently at woddisreviews.org.uk. Carole is also the author of: The Bloomsbury Theatre Guide with Trevor T Griffiths; a collection of interviews with actresses, Sheer Bloody Magic (Virago), and Faber & Faber’s Pocket Guide to 20th Century Drama with Stephen Unwin. For ten years, she was a Visiting Tutor in Journalism at Goldsmiths College and for three years with City University. Earlier in her career, she worked with the RSC, National Theatre, Round House and Royal Ballet as a publicist and as an administrator for other theatre and dance organisations.
The latest from Carole on MyTheatreMates
‘A definitive production for many years to come’: BLOOD WEDDING – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
Now, in a daring and radical re-imagining, Marina Carr and Yaël Farber have transported Lorca’s Andalusian tragedy Blood Wedding to a deeply Celtic, Irish setting.
‘Measured, haunting production’: UNTIL THE FLOOD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
A great memorial, an unforgettable, nuanced testimony, we have to pay attention to what Until the Flood tells us. Listen, feel, and learn. Do see.
‘Challenging to say the least’: AMSTERDAM – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★
Maya Arad Yasur’s Amsterdam had already had an illustrious reception before it hit Paul Miller’s pocket dynamo Orange Tree, Richmond.
‘Master craftsman at work’: Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
Total immediate collective imminent terrestrial salvation. Quite a handful of a title to get hold of. But unlike much printed on the front of the bottle these days, it is what it says. It is a total immediate collective imminent terrestrial salvation – of sorts.
‘A thoroughly plausible, engrossing update’: HEDDA TESMAN – Chichester ★★★★
Cordelia Lynn’s Hedda Tesman renews Ibsen’s play in the light of today without in any way losing sight of the original. In this age of radical reinterpretations, that’s quite some achievement.
‘Fascinating stuff’: APPROPRIATE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★
Donmar Warehouse, London ***
Box office: 020 3282 3808 (No booking fees, £1 postage fee may apply) Telephone Mon-Sat 10am-6pm …
‘Once again Icke has pulled off a brilliant reframing’: THE DOCTOR – Almeida Theatre ★★★★
Problematic, troubling, with a cast who give of themselves with unstinting commitment, once again Icke has pulled off a brilliant reframing in The Doctor.
‘A spectacle that only the most hard-nosed sceptic would be unable to completely resist’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
To the credit of Kwame Kwei-Armah and Idris Elba – and maybe Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley – you can feel the urge to find a healing of all sides in a conflict between black and white South Africans that persists to this day.
‘A battle cry against those who govern the USA’: The Time Of Our Lies – Park Theatre ★★★★
In Ché Walker’s dynamic, scarlet splashed, viscerally staged production, The Time of Our Lies is nothing if not a battle cry against those who govern the USA and its militaristic and foreign policies.
‘Packs a fierce climactic punch’: EUROPE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Michael Longhurst’s terrific, visceral debut production of David Greig’s Europe at the Donmar Warehouse packs a fierce climactic punch.
‘An impressive debut’: SUMMER ROLLS – Park Theatre ★★★★
In Kristine Landon-Smith’s accomplished production, Tuyen Do’s Summer Rolls emerges as not just a saga of one individual family and effects of War on individuals but one that carries a broader, critical political comment.
‘You can’t help feeling Mamet’s real joy is in the gags’: BITTER WHEAT – West End ★★★
It could be said that Bitter Wheat lifts the lid on the exploitation of power in the film industry, but it eaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Perhaps that was also part of David Mamet’s intention.
‘A truly remarkable, rather wonderful small gem retrieved’: COUNTRY MUSIC – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★
Marie McCarthy’s Clapham Omnibus venue never ceases to surprise. Dedicated, as befits its previous life as a library, to storytelling in all its various forms, Scott Le Crass’ revival of Simon Stephens’ Country Music is itself a revelation.
‘A production of highs & lows’: PICTURES OF DORIAN GRAY – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★
It was a bold idea on Tom Littler’s part to think of adapting Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray into a multi gender-swapping stage production.
‘One of the most joyous experiences you’ll encounter in the theatre’: COME FROM AWAY – West End ★★★★★
Come From Away, the story of how one small town, Gander in Newfoundland, responded to events of 9/11 when 7,000 passengers from 38 diverted aircraft landed in their midst, is one of the most joyous experiences you’ll encounter in the theatre.
‘Tense, beautifully calibrated revival’: VINCENT RIVER – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Philip Ridley and Robert Chevara’s production of Vincent River emerges as a masterful depiction of oppositional but mutual need unexpectedly producing a healing catharsis.
‘Impressive, even dynamic evening’: DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Young Vic ★★★★
For Death of a Salesman, one of Arthur Miller’s greatest plays about the hollowness of the American Dream, Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell and their cast make it an impressive, even dynamic evening that lacks some subtleties but is never less than gripping.
‘A sobering, haunting journey’: AVALANCHE – Barbican Theatre ★★★★
Avalanche is a sobering, haunting journey that carries as much warning as it does perhaps solace to those thinking of having IVF or have had it as well as a kind of delight in the sheer beauty and bravura of Maxine Peake’s performance.
‘A cracker of an evening’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End ★★★★
It could all go horribly wrong but Ian Rickson’s production of Rosmersholm in Duncan Macmillan’s new adaptation brings Ibsen’s dense moral and political tragedy safely into port.