In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre including Maryam Philpott’s thoughts about Conor McPherson’s emphasis on comedy scenarios and personalities in his adaptation of Chekhov’s timeless play Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre
CD REVIEW: Pretty Woman the Musical – Original Broadway Cast Recording
Overall the original Broadway cast recording of Pretty Woman the Musical retains the spirit of the original story but also makes it soar higher thanks to the high quality of the music and lyrics.
FIRST LOOK: Check out the new production images from Vault Festival’s Cara Vita: A Clown Concerto
Airborn babies, wine violins and an unusual linen basket – discover the world of Felicity Hesed’s Cara Vita: A Clown Concerto, which has its European premiere at VAULT Festival in February. Check out the production images, then book your tickets.
‘Uncomfortable viewers of an uncomfortable situation’: THE MORNING AFTER – Above The Stag Theatre ★★★
All the actors impress in The Morning After, a light-hearted comedy about love and disinhibited families, it’s just a shame the characters are so one-dimensional.
NEWS: Old Red Lion stages first revival of Simon Stephens’ Nuclear War as part of triptych
Simon Stephens’ 2017 one-act play Nuclear War gets its first revival in March as part of a new triple bill at London’s Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington under newly appointed artistic director Alexander Knott.
WATCH: First look at new trailer for Edinburgh Fringe hit It’s Beautiful, Over There
Discover more about Stephanie Greenwood’s one-woman show about grief and storytelling It’s Beautiful, Over There with its new trailer. Take a look then book your tickets!
NEWS: Drip Drip Drip, Pipeline Theatre’s taboo-busting play about the NHS, launches post-Brexit tour & London transfer
As the UK prepares to exit the EU this week, five-star Pipeline Theatre readies a new tour and London season for Drip Drip Drip, its taboo-busting play set in the NHS.
‘It’s hard to be sure exactly what the play is saying’: THE WELKIN – National Theatre
Maxine Peake struggles to make the voice of reason heard in the rather reactionary feminist history play The Welkin at the National Theatre.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre
There’s a new cast for the British musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and the reviews are in! Find out what critics thought with our review round up….
‘Playlets of insistent intensity’: BECKETT TRIPLE BILL – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★★
Jermyn Street Theatre, London ****
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Review: of perf seen January 17, 2020:
© Robert Workman, James Hayes in Krapp’s Last Tape, recalling a moment of bliss on a tape thirty years ago…another haunting…
Krapp’s Last Tape…
‘A triumphant tragicomedy’: UNCLE VANYA – West End
Conor McPherson’s adaptation of Uncle Vanya featuring Toby Jones and Richard Armitage at the Harold Pinter Theatre is so good you can forgive the “wanging on”.
‘Funny, haunting, moving & strangely uplifting’: YOU STUPID DARKNESS! – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
Given everything that is going on in the world politically and environmentally You Stupid Darkness! feels like it has captured the mood, the battle to stay cheerful and hopeful when everything feels like it is falling apart.
Andrew Finnigan, Lydia Larson, Andy Rush and Jenni Maitland in You Stupid Darkne…
‘A gob-smacking vitality & originality’: SCENES WITH GIRLS – Royal Court Theatre
Scenes with Girls at the Royal Court is like an exciting blast of fresh air blowing through the often stale world of contemporary new writing.
‘A historical epic that demands to be heard’: THE WELKIN – National Theatre
Lucy Kirkwood returns to the National Theatre with The Welkin, starring a brilliant ensemble led by Maxine Peake.
NEWS: Mischief’s Comedy About a Bank Robbery posts closing notices for 3 May
Mischief Theatre’s long-running heist hit The Comedy About a Bank Robbery has posted closing notices at the West End’s Criterion Theatre. It will finish on 3 May 2020, at the end of its current booking period, after a four-year run.
‘Heart-wrenchingly powerful narrative’: THE CANARY & THE CROW – Arcola Theatre ★★★★★
There is an urgency and an immediacy about The Canary and the Crow that will leave you thinking and questioning everything about British society long after you’ve left the theatre
NEWS: Ayenai explore inhabiting a foreign country in Living Here? at VAULT Festival
Where is our place? What happens when we have nothing left to hold on to? Do we remain? These are the questions asked by new dance work Living Here? which runs as part of the VAULT Festival later this spring. Book your tickets now!
WATCH Magic Goes Wrong post-show Q&A: What’s it like working with Penn & Teller… & JJ Abrams?
Abracadabra! As their weekly episodes of The Goes Wrong Show continue to delight television audiences, I was delighted to continue my series of Mischief Theatre post-show talks with a return to the Vaudeville Theatre to catch up with the company’s co-writers – Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis and Henry Shields – and their co-stars in the latest goes-wrong stage comedy.
‘A night of world class musical theatre’: LES MISÉRABLES – Sondheim Theatre ★★★★
Above all it is Kretzmer’s stunning lyrical treatment of those soaring French melodies (on press night, immaculately delivered under Steve Moss’ baton) woven around a story that is breathtaking in its scope that still define Les Misérables as a night of world class musical theatre.
‘Both difficult & comforting to watch’: FACES IN THE CROWD – Gate Theatre
Whilst the script for Faces In The Crowd demands unwavering focus and attention in order to not get lost, women’s individuality, voice and their suppression by patriarchal systems are profoundly resonant.