Following Melly Still’s moving and visually stunning production of The Lovely Bones last year, I had high hopes for her latest literary adaptation, Louis de Bernières’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (1994).
‘A celebration of friendship, tradition & heritage’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – Touring
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Barber Shop Chronicles is a celebration of friendship, tradition and heritage. Ellams skilfully toes the line between sentiment, gaucheness, sincerity and wit while exploring issues of racial, social and gender identity with a keen eye for human foibles.
#ReadaPlayaWeek: Texts from Lisa Evans, Marie Laberge, Owen Sheers & Adam Barnard
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Not Exactly Billington have set themselves a challenge to read a new (to them) playtext every week. In March, their #ReadaPlayaWeek titles included Lisa Evans’ Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home, Marie Laberge’s Night, Owen Sheers’ Unicorns, Almost and Adam Barnard’s buckets.
‘It’s all first rate stuff’: THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY – Touring
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And, as with all their previous productions, Mischief Theatre’s The Comedy About A Bank Robbery proves exactly why their triumph is so deserved.
‘Light-hearted & giddily enjoyable’: EDMOND DE BERGERAC – Birmingham
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Alexis Michalik’s play (translated by Jeremy Sams) detailing the fictionalised writing process behind Cyrano, impishly titled Edmond de Bergerac, receives its English premiere in Roxana Silbert’s light-hearted and giddily enjoyable production.
‘Pretty perfect family entertainment’: THE WORST WITCH – Touring
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I’m delighted to say that Emma Reeves’ new stage adaptation loses none of The Worst Witch’s gleeful mayhem and enchantment.
‘The joy is in meeting the characters’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic Theatre
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The joy of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train is in meeting his characters: watching them perform to each other; hearing their patois and verbal brio; exude a charisma which they know gives them power.
‘A sure-fire hit’: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN – Touring
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The Girl on the Train is contemporary, both in its subject and staging. There is a strong balance between a suspenseful whodunit that drives the play and a psychological element about memory and control, and abusive relationships.
#ReadaPlayaWeek: Laura Wade’s Breathing Corpses, Superhoe by Nicôle Lecky & more
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It’s a #ReadaPlayaWeek: featuring Laura Wade’s Breathing Corpses; Adult Child/Dead Child (1987) by Claire Dowie; Thatcher’s Women by Kay Adshead; and Superhoe by Nicôle Lecky.
‘Only marginally entertaining’: SHIPWRECK – Almeida Theatre
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Anne Washburn’s latest offering, Shipwreck, is a marathon play at the Almeida Theatre that takes direct aim at the Trump Administration.