Nicholas Wright’s sharp play imagines the US touring production of the first black Othello and its aftermath in the uneasy years of the McCarthyite search for Communist sympathisers.
Mates blogger: Libby Purves
Libby Purves is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Libby'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.
Libby Purves was theatre critic for The Times from 2010 to 2013. Determined to continue her theatre commentary after losing that job, she set up her own site www.theatrecat.com in October 2013. She personally reviews all major London openings, usually with on-the-night publication, and also gives voice to a new generation of critics with occasional guest 'theatrekittens'. In addition to her theatre writing and myriad other credits, Libby has been a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek for over 30 years. She is also the author of a dozen novels, and numerous non-fiction titles. In 1999, Libby was appointed an OBE for services to journalism.
The latest from Libby on MyTheatreMates
‘An updating perfect for our times’: THE DOCTOR – Almeida Theatre ★★★★
Arthur Schnitzler was, like Chekhov, a doctor; he was an Austrian Jew at a time when mistrust was rising. The Doctor belongs passionately to that time: but director Robert Icke’s very free adaptation belongs – urgently and exhilaratingly – to our own.
‘It draws you in all the way: what more do you want?’: GO BANG YOUR TAMBOURINE – Finborough Theatre ★★★★
It is always a pleasure to see a professional debut which not only shines in itself but reminds us that belonging to a 21st-century, loose-limbed-liberal post-Christian generation doesn’t stop a new actor from empathising and utterly containing a character from another age.
‘Never think community-based theatre is just socially useful’: ROMEO & JULIET – Wherstead Suffolk ★★★★★
Deep under the trees, beyond Jimmy’s meerkat and camel enclosures lies a 1960’s beach: shelter, deckchairs and lounging teens, Mods and Rockers, Montague and Capulet.
‘Swap your immortal apple-growing sister for a ticket’: DAS RHEINGOLD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★★
The Ring Cycle is opera’s biggest box set: a sixteen-hour binge of dwarves, nymphs, dragons, gods, heroes and monsters, all suspended inside one of the greatest philosophical conundrums expressed by the human mind – and set to glorious, extraordinary music.
‘If you catch it, you won’t forget it’: SHACKLETON’S CARPENTER – Touring ★★★★
Gail Louw’s play Shackleton’s Carpenter and Malcolm Rennie’s tremendous, unforgettable performance, were directed by Tony Milner of the New Vic before his death. This production – which tours single nights through autumn and winter, is in his memory. If you catch it, you won’t forget it.
‘Feels remarkably outdated’: VIOLETTA – Arcola Theatre
Violetta is a reduction of Verdi’s La traviata, using only three characters: the doomed courtesan Violetta, her idealistic yet immature lover Alfredo, and – surprise! Alfredo’s mother.
‘Edgy & interesting’: OKLAHOMA! – Chichester ★★★★
If the overall effect of Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre is more of a puzzle-play than a lollipop romp, so much the better.
‘Thrilled to have been there’: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA – West End ★★★★
Clive Owen and Lia Williams do justice to the wild lush text of The Night Of The Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre, rich in wonder and filth, corruption and beauty.
‘Pure pleasure, in energy and design’: JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT – West End ★★★★
We love a starry debut, especially on opening night in a huge theatre: a 21-year-old not yet through drama school making a stonking, belting first professional appearance in a title role. So Laurence Connor knew what he was doing when he cast young Jac Yarrow in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
‘Bonkers in a wonderful way’: PETER GYNT – National Theatre ★★★★
David Hare has made as much sense of Ibsen’s sprawling masterpiece Peer Gynt as seems possible.
‘It’s all done superbly’: MEASURE FOR MEASURE – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★★
What Gregory Doran frames most brilliantly in Measure For Measure at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon is the is the central confusion of morality.
‘We believe in the individual reality of this family’: THE END OF HISTORY – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany are the Harry Potter team. They know how not to bore. But they’ve been here before too in a Royal Court state-of-the-nation mood, and they can make pieces like The End of History just as gripping.
‘Several people were actually rendered helpless’: NOISES OFF – Lyric Hammersmith ★★★★★
It felt like a pilgrimage, homage to pay. Thirty-seven years ago Michael Frayn’s greatest of comedies, Noises Off, a wicked love-song to the great age of touring rep, premiered in this very theatre.
‘Good fun, irresistible really’: The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ The Musical – West End ★★★★
The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ The Musical is the result of Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary badgering the late Sue Townsend to be allowed to do it, and with poppy tunes and a high-spirited cast under Luke Sheppard, it works surprisingly well.
‘Superb production of Coward’s self-revealing comedy’: PRESENT LAUGHTER – The Old Vic ★★★★
First of all let’s say that Andrew Scott is a marvel in Present Laughter, a 21st century Ur-Coward hero, who manages to do it without either the matey crassness lately inflicted on the part by Rufus Hound, or that retro, clipped Cowardspeak which echoes the Master too much.
‘A roisteringly absurd tale of London life’: AFTER DARK – Finborough Theatre ★★★★
What the hell more do you want of a night out over a pub? Hurry to After Dark at the Finborough Theatre. It’ll take your mind off Boris…
‘If only the text had such dramatic grammar as the juicy lighting’: EUROPE – Donmar Warehouse
This 25th anniversary revival of David Greig’s play Europe is, for the most part, a long chin scratch about home, belonging and division.
‘A troubled play for our troubled times’: THE HUNT – Almeida Theatre ★★★★
Rupert Goold gives his production of The Hunt enough thriller-like pacing and intensity to keep us hooked.
‘Handsomely staged production’: PICTURES OF DORIAN GRAY – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★
This production of Pictures of Dorian Gray at Jermyn Street Theatre is intriguing, and offers chances to see the parts played differently, but there are inevitable losses.