Ruth Wilson is strong casting in the central role with a, for once, restrained Ivo van Hove directing.
Mates blogger: John Chapman
John Chapman is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features John'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.
John Chapman works as a freelance education consultant, writer and copy editor. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Headteacher specialising in English and Drama. John first took to the stage as a schoolboy pretending to be a Latin frog. Decades later, he has been involved with 150+ productions, usually as an actor or director. He is currently a member of Tower Theatre in Stoke Newington, London. In 2016, he was in their “mechanicals” team that worked as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Play For The Nation, appearing both at the Barbican and in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2004, he served as a panellist on the Olivier Awards; he is currently an Offies assessor. He reviews for a variety of websites, writes his own independent blog 2ndFromBottom about his theatrical life.
The latest from John on MyTheatreMates
‘Relentlessly upbeat & cheerful to watch’: ANYTHING GOES (Online review)
Light as a souffle but such a delight. It’s doubtful whether there has ever been a classier bit of froth than this Cole Porter show.
‘A modern fairy tale with attitude’: SHREK THE MUSICAL (Online review)
The Shrek franchise opts for a modern-day spin on the traditional form, undermining expectations and undercutting some of the more winsome aspects with one-liners and witty put-downs.
‘I would like to see how this audio drama would play out onstage: WINTER SOLSTICE – BBC Sounds (Online review)
The holidays have always been a time of rich pickings for dramatists, bringing together people (pre-Covid at least) who probably avoid each other for the rest of the year.
‘What is unquestionably fabulous is the whole area of design’: DOCTOR WHO: Time Fracture – Unit Headquarters
A full-on immersive event – part play, part museum exhibit, part theme park ride and part party.
‘Enhanced by crisp editing & two towering performances’: DEATH OF ENGLAND: FACE TO FACE – National Theatre (Online review)
The Death Of England sequence by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams has had an interesting history. Starting life as a ten-minute microplay film courtesy of the Royal Court.
‘After The Hairy Ape, I approached this with a degree of trepidation’: ANNA CHRISTIE (Online review)
Anna Christie, which predates The Hairy Ape, won the 1922 Pulitzer prize for drama and therefore had to have something going for it.
‘Absolutely outstanding in just about every single aspect’: LIFE OF PI – West End
It’s only happened a handful of times in my theatregoing life, but at Wyndham’s Theatre, I had the urge to leap to my feet and instigate a standing ovation. In fact, I felt that way as the interval arrived, the show was that good.
‘Great writing can be interpreted & reinterpreted in any number of ways’: CONSTELLATIONS – Donmar Warehouse (Online review)
There’s a world (indeed, a universe) of possibilities in this intriguing play about decisions and repercussions.
‘A fine octet of actors work well as an ensemble’: INTO BATTLE (Online review)
Remembrance Day seemed a perfect moment to review a production set just before and during the First World War, Hugh Salmon’s finely rendered Into Battle.
‘It’s a joyful piece of theatre to take us out of the misery of lockdown’: DOING SHAKESPEARE – Bridewell Theatre
The live version of Northern Comedy Theatre’s lockdown Zoom hit sees Shakespeare diced, sliced and put through the mincer at the Bridewell Theatre.
Doing the interview with Doing Shakespeare’s comedy duo creatives
After becoming a fan of their online comedies during lockdown, I chat with Northern Comedy Theatre artistic director Shaun Chambers and writer David Spicer as they transfer their Zoom hit Doing Shakespeare to the stage at the Bridewell Theatre.
‘Edgar Allan Poe’s original texts are honoured in a solo tour de force’: ONE MAN POE – Online & touring
Stephen Smith of Threedumb Theatre is something of a Gothic horror aficionado, especially when it comes to the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
‘The power to make memories is fundamental to being human’: TIMELESS (Online review)
Following a brief run at London’s The Space and ahead of a tour, Brian Coyle’s 2018 one-man play Timeless was made available as an on-demand stream.
‘Ensemble comedy in the British up-against-the-odds tradition’: GOING THE DISTANCE (Online review)
This latest star-studded digital offering from Henry Filloux-Bennett and the Lawrence Batley Theatre is a pleasing comedy about the tribulations of putting on a post-pandemic production.
‘Sombre mood, visual distortions, intense emotions’: THE HAIRY APE — Online
I remember a student I was once trying to get to read more saying “What’s the point, there are just too many books”. Perhaps I’m beginning to have the same reaction to digital theatre – there’s so much more of it out there than I had ever anticipated and although I think I can claim I’ve covered a fair amount of ground there is still plenty to get to grips with.
‘Deals with some important issues’: MY BOY DANNY (Online review)
New online theatre material keeps popping up all the time – or at least it eventually comes to my attention which amounts to much the same thing; this latest one did so by a somewhat circuitous route. My Boy Danny played at this year’s recent Camden Fringe as an online stream, but I managed to muddle the dates and therefore missed it.
‘Far from the traditional’: SLEEPING BEAUTY ‘DREAM ON’ – Chickenshed Theatre (Online review)
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed one of the many shows which youth theatre Chickenshed put out during the pandemic. In fact, their last released piece came out in May so apologies to them for getting to this so late on. As with some of their previously released pieces it’s one of their boldly reinvented Christmas shows, this time from 2012.
‘The monk playing an electric guitar is a more recent invention’: THE YORK MYSTERY PLAYS – BBC Sounds (Online Review)
It is not with a little sense of surprise that I found myself yesterday experiencing my 800th online production which is the subject of this review. Back in April 2020 I, probably along with the vast majority of people, was only expecting the virus problem to last a matter of weeks and yet here we are and here I am still reviewing daily after 535 days.
‘I didn’t find that this production ever really took off’: MY NIGHT WITH REG — Online / Turbine
One of the huge advantages of online theatre over the last eighteen months or so has been being able to catch up with plays that any self-respecting reviewer should have seen but for whatever reason hasn’t. My Night With Reg was first produced in 1994 (missed it), has been revived since (missed them) and even turned into a TV film (guess what?)