Jermyn Street Theatre, London ****
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Review: of perf seen January 17, 2020:
© Robert Workman, James Hayes in Krapp’s Last Tape, recalling a moment of bliss on a tape thirty years ago…another haunting…
Krapp’s Last Tape…
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
‘Simply delicious’: SWIVE – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Natalie Abrahami makes Ella Hickson’s text and Elizabeth’s story pulsate with the sound of a young woman for whom insecurity runs in every fibre of her being.
‘It is Shaw at his mischievous, provocative best’: CANDIDA – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★★
The intimacy of the Orange Tree gives Candida the perfect setting for a discussion of moral, spiritual and political ethics.
‘It takes some guts’: FAIRVIEW – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
In Jackie Sibblies Drury’s case, Fairview is very much tied up with the method, the form. She blows the traditional form sky high, introducing repetition, caricature and a final twist.
‘Unusual & exceptional’: LAND WITHOUT DREAMS – Gate Theatre ★★★★
Land Without Dreams may be difficult, irritating, sometimes alarmingly ‘obvious’ but they also manage to dig further into what it is to be human, coming at us as it were from left-field.
‘Rhys Ifans is simply mesmeric’: ON BEAR RIDGE – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
In a mere 90 minutes On Bear Ridge creates a theatrical metaphor of unforgettable power and impact.
‘Driven by explosive characterisation & dialogue’: SHOOK – Touring ★★★★
Spectators will go away wiser and sadder from this encounter with Shook, but most of all they will go away remembering Samuel Bailey’s dialogue and Josh Finan’s barnstormer of a performance as Cain.
‘A triumph in so many ways’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Jemima Rooper, Kate O’Flynn, Zainab Hasan and Joanna Horton carry a lion’s share delivering the vitriol, pain and helplessness of struggling women in [Blank].
‘Delicious, clever & delectable confection’: THE WATSONS – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★
Like characters in a book who never die, Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Menier Chocolate Factory deserves to last forever.
‘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.