I know I say ‘you should see this’ about quite a lot of shows. But honestly, you need to see The Jungle. You just need to. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry and it will make you so angry you want to scream.
Mates blogger: Rachel Williams
Rachel Williams is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features Rachel'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.
Rachel Williams stumbled into blogging entirely by accident and mostly as a way of amusing herself and a couple of theatre-loving friends. Several years and a permanent move to South East England later and blogging at viewfromthecircle.blogspot.com has become a real passion (balanced increasingly precariously with a day job in the charity sector). Theatrical passions include Shakespeare, musicals, new writing, new theatres, James Graham and anything Bertie Carvel happens to be doing.
The latest from Rachel on MyTheatreMates
‘Great writing, clever production, brilliantly acted’: IMPERIUM – West End
I thoroughly enjoyed the RSC’s Imperium. Great writing, clever production, brilliantly acted. Overall, a great day out in Ancient Rome.
‘Funny, engaging & unexpectedly tense’: PRESSURE – West End
However implausible its set up may be, I really enjoyed Pressure. It’s so much more engaging and fun and gripping than it has any right to be and is a case study in just really superb acting.
‘Weirdly unfunny for something billed as a comedy’: EXIT THE KING – National Theatre
Adapted from Eugene Ionesco’s French absurdist comedy by Patrick Marber (who also directs), Exit the King, in a nutshell, tells the story of the death of the titular King, who’s told he must die and then does, in real time. It’s no more interesting than I’ve made it sound.
‘I’ve not had such a viscerally angry reaction to a play for a very long time’: ALLELUJAH! – Bridge Theatre
I don’t use the word ‘hate’ often in this blog, because let’s be real I never truly hate being in a theatre, but I came very close to hating Allelujah! I’ve not had such a viscerally angry reaction to a play for a very long time.
‘I would happily have sat through it twice’: FUN HOME – Young Vic Theatre
Fun Home is a great show: touching, unique and deeply humane in a way that feels so needed at the moment. I just wish it had been longer.
‘I was in no way emotionally prepared for what was to come’: A MONSTER CALLS – Old Vic Theatre
You know those ‘if you’ve been affected by the issues in this programme…’ messages you get sometimes after particularly traumatic documentaries and/or episodes of Hollyoaks? Have you ever seen one in a theatre before?
‘Gripping, funny, tender, superbly well observed, immaculately researched’: THE LEHMAN TRILOGY – National Theatre
The financial crash of 2008 has much to answer for, I think. Top of the list? Brexit and President Trump. One thing it has yet to really produce though, for my money (pun intended), is any really great theatre. Or perhaps I should qualify that statement: no really great theatre in English.