Appropriate isn’t my favourite Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play but it has enough in it of what I love about his writing to enjoy.
Mates blogger: Rev Stan
Rev Stan is one of over 45 theatre bloggers who are part of the MyTheatreMates collective. This page features RevStan'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.
Revstan really is a reverend (it's amazing what you can buy on the internet) but not a man (the Stan bit is a long story). By day, she is a freelance editor and copywriter; at night, she escapes into the world of theatre and has been blogging about it at theatre.revstan.com since 2007. She says: “I'll watch pretty much anything, from something performed on a stage the size of a tea tray to the West End and beyond. The only exception is musicals. Tried 'em and they just don't do anything positive for me.”
The latest from RevStan on MyTheatreMates
‘Delving beneath the surface of labels & stereotypes’: THE DOCTOR – Almeida Theatre
The performances are superb in The Doctor at the Almeida Theatre, Juliet Stevenson is as formidable as her character and Ria Zmitrowicz’s dry one-liners are a refreshing light relief particularly as the persistent tension can become a bit numbing.
‘Tense & gripping’: ACTUALLY – West End ★★★★
Actually is a complex play that explores more than consent, it raises questions about attitudes towards sex and relationships, race, religion, upbringing and family.
‘A lesson in embracing the simple pleasures’: THE COLOURS – Soho Theatre ★★★★
Harriet Madeley’s The Colours is a verbatim play based on interviews with people with life-limiting illnesses and those working in palliative care.
‘The start of something really powerful’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre
There is much to applaud in Tree but it feels like a play that is more about the spectacle and experience than a substantial exploration of meaty issues which is fine to a point.
‘More satire, please’: THE ACTOR’S NIGHTMARE – Park Theatre
The Actor’s Nightmare is six short plays, linked by themes of acting, theatre and performance and brought together for the first time at the Park Theatre.
‘Expertly draws out the growing anticipation’: EQUUS – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Equus is an intriguing play, part psychological thriller, part mirror to the human condition and this is an almost thoroughbred production.
‘There isn’t time to get bored’: THE ILLUSIONISTS – West End ★★★★
The Illusionists are back in London for the summer season with their mix of illusion, thrilling feats, humour and family fun.
‘Fiercely intelligent & keenly observed’: Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★★
London’s theatre scene is awash with productions which offer a ‘fresh’ take on classics but Jasmine Lee-Jones’ play Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner demonstrates exactly what really ‘fresh’ theatre is – and should be.
‘Gets off to a punchy start’: DARK SUBLIME – Trafalgar Studios ★★★
Dark Sublime is a long play and while it contains some really good material it would benefit from being trimmed back to make it slicker and more focused.
‘Touching moments & humour too’: SUMMER ROLLS – Park Theatre
Actress and writer Tuyen Do’s first full length play Summer Rolls brings a story about a British Vietnamese family to a UK stage for the first time.
‘The play has been so beautifully brought to life by a genius team’: Actor & writer Tuyen Do has her first play staged at the Park Theatre
Tuyen Do is no stranger to the London stage having appeared most recently in The Great Wave at the National Theatre and Pah-Na at the Royal Court, but next week she’ll be sitting in the audience watching her first full length play Summer Rolls performed at the Park Theatre.
‘An exposing & painful play’: STRANGE FRUIT – Bush Theatre
Strange Fruit is an exposing and painful play but it feels like it distracts itself from its otherwise powerful key theme.
‘The eccentric inventiveness is thoroughly entertaining’: THE FUTURE – Battersea Arts Centre
The eccentric inventiveness of what Little Bulb has done is thoroughly entertaining.
Little Bulb Theatre: The Future, Battersea Arts Centre 2019. Photo: Adam Trigg
I loved Little Bulb Theatre’s last production Orpheus so much I saw it twice, so I was really excited to see their new work The Future.
It projects us into the world of three scientists who, with the help of a compere/conductor/presenter (Clare Beresford), explore super intelligence – AI – and the impact it will have on humanity.
This being Little Bulb their take is executed with quirkiness, music and song.
The scientists wear tinfoil on their heads and have an idiosyncratic way of talking that manages to be nerdy, dry and humorous all at the same time. Shamira Turner is particularly brilliant in her style of delivery.
Living with super intelligence
AI is represented by a box on a stand – the genie contained – and the play (and it’s rock-inflected songs) explore the good and bad of living with super intelligence.
Scenarios and presentations are played out by the scientists in their own quirky style of fun and you find yourself laughing at them just as much as with.
Little Bulb Theatre: The Future, Battersea Arts Centre 2019. Photo: Adam Trigg
Sometimes points are embellished with songs which, hand on heart, I didn’t like much. It’s a personal thing, I find it hard to engage with narrative delivered in this way and musical theatre does have a tendency to make me cringe. Sorry.
It did temper my enjoyment, but there was a lot I did like, the eccentric inventiveness of what Little Bulb has done is thoroughly entertaining.
Artificial intelligence is a meaty topic and not one that is going to be properly explored and challenged in 60 minutes but The Future touches on some interesting aspects of the debate, creating a platform for further discussion.
Little Bulb Theatre: The Future, Battersea Arts Centre 2019. Photo: Adam Trigg
All the characters in the play are based on real scientists with some dramatic license and we are left with a selection of their written works,which inspired the piece, to peruse.
See The Future at Battersea Arts Centre until June 29th.
It’s 60 minutes without an interval and it gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for inventiveness and fun but ⭐️⭐️ for the songs.
You might also like to read:
My review of Little Bulb’s Orpheus
Fringe review: Woke, Battersea Arts Centre, a powerful look at American civil rights activism now and in the 70s.
From the archives: Remembering the travellator in the Young Vic’s production of Joseph K with Rory Kinnear.
And more about Little Bulb Theatre.
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‘The writing is vivid & alive’: WOKE – Battersea Arts Centre ★★★★
Apphia Campbell gives a powerful and engaging performance in Woke at Battersea Arts Centre and the play’s message about how much hasn’t changed is firmly nailed to the mast.
‘A delicious modern twist to the play’: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Bridge Theatre ★★★★
Don’t leave it to the last minute to get into the auditorium for the Bridge Theatre immersive, promenade production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream because there is stuff going on before the play officially starts.
‘It isn’t just nostalgia’: EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Riotous in tone, occasionally chaotic but with an inventive playfulness Education, Education, Education successfully captures the optimism of the time but it isn’t just nostalgia.
‘Breathtaking in its beauty’: BalletBoyz’s Them/Us – West End ★★★★★
From fluid, floaty, tender, strong, angular and jovial to grace, strength and seamless instinctive precision, that’s BalletBoyz’s Them/Us at the Vaudeville Theatre.
‘An intricate & quietly revealing play’: COUNTRY MUSIC – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★
There is much to be gleaned from the subtlety of Country Music but it requires work and attention to seek it out.
‘Funny & dark but occasionally underpowered’: THE STARRY MESSENGER – West End ★★★
In The Starry Messenger writer Kenneth Lonergan has gifted Mark with a dry humour delivered by Matthew Broderick in such a deliciously understated way you can’t but admire his comic timing.