The National Theatre has announced that Clint Dyer has been appointed deputy artistic director. He will work closely with Rufus Norris, director and joint chief executive, and Emily McLaughlin, director of new work, to support and shape the NT’s creative output.
‘The cast really captures the brutality that emerges’: AMSTERDAM – Orange Tree Theatre (Online review)
First seen at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2019, Maya Arad Yasur’s play Amsterdam is a stark reminder that we should never forget the past and as much as possible try and prevent history repeating itself.
Catching up with the compelling landscape of political theatre both at home & in the US
Though I’ve spent most of the last nine months really missing the real theatre that has fuelled my life for the last 40 or so years since I started going compulsively from the age of around 16, I’ve spent more time than I’d have liked in a different kind of theatre — an operating one, when I had three spinal surgeries in the space of 15 days in September. And I’ve become particularly obsessed by another kind of theatre, too: political theatre.
‘Brings some cheer to dull January days’: PRESS PLAY HERE – Theatre Royal Stratford East (Online review)
Choose your own programme with some mini delights in and around the Theatre Royal Stratford East building thanks to Press Play Here.
‘I think Shook challenged a lot of preconceived ideas’: Andrea Hall talks about her role in the play Shook & its digital release
Actress Andrea Hall chatted to us about Samuel Bailey’s play Shook which is being released to watch digitally.
‘Warmly assured, instantly engaging & softly inspiring’: HEADS OR TAILS – Living Record Festival (Online review)
Yesterday I watched Skye Hallam’s excellent one-woman show, Heads or Tails, one of the headline acts at the new Living Record Festival. It’s a gently confessional monologue about the afterlife spoken by 25-year-old Steph, who has – as they say – been “taken too soon”.
Mark Shenton’s latest ShenTens podcast throws the spotlight on his top ten favourite movie musicals
Last week I launched a new podcast series ShenTens here, counting down my top ten favourite musicals, and today the second episode is released.
NEWS: Curve announces plans to stream its production of The Color Purple
Following the success of its recent five-star production of Sunset Boulevard – at Home, Curve has announced plans to also stream The Color Purple online between 16 February and 7 March 2021, in association with Birmingham Hippodrome.
‘Rich, multi-layered play that is clever in its storytelling’: OVERFLOW – Bush Theatre (Online review) ★★★★
Travis Alabanza’s play Overflow is set in the toilet of a club from where transgirl Rosie (Reece Lyons) has locked herself in.
NEWS: Felicity Kendal & Gary Wilmot join the cast of Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre
Award winning actress Felicity Kendal will make her West End musical debut starring as Evangeline Harcourt, alongside leading actor Gary Wilmot as Elisha Whitney, in Anything Goes at London’s Barbican Theatre, running for a strictly limited season from 5 June to 22 August 2021.
NEWS: Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre announces that 101 Dalmatians is no longer part of the 2021 season
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has confirmed that the venue will be unable to go ahead with its plans to present 101 Dalmatians as part of their 2021 season.
NEWS: Come From Away: The Concert is cancelled as ATG suspends performances at its UK venues until April 2021
A specially staged concert version of award-winning hit musical Come From Away, due to play at London’s Phoenix Theatre from 10-27 February 2021, has been cancelled following the Ambassador Theatre Group’s announcement that performances at the company’s UK venues have been suspended until 3 April 2021.
As commercial producers yearn for a return to normal, will subsidised theatre play it safe or break the mould?
Some commercial producers, it appears, wanted the old order to be restored and business to proceed as normal, hence the rush to re-open as quickly as it was legally possible to do so back in November after we emerged from the second lockdown.
‘Open, thought-provoking, funny & heartbreaking’: OVERFLOW – Bush Theatre (Online review)
New play Overflow by Travis Alabanza returns as a digital stream and proves to be an intriguing hour about the politics of women’s bathrooms and who is allowed in them.
‘Engaging insights into living with & exploring the nature of disability’: Unlimited Festival – Southbank Centre (Online review)
Festivals are a vital part of the theatre ecosystem, a place to try out new material, explore form and style while giving a valuable platform to all kinds of performance. These activities have been among the hardest hit during the period of closur…
NEWS: Lockdown measures force West End production of Disney’s Frozen to be postponed
The West End production of Disney’s Frozen, planned to open at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 14 April 2021, with previews from 2 April, has been postponed due to the current national lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions.
‘Fun, witty & incredibly creative’: PUBLIC DOMAIN – Southwark Playhouse (Online review) ★★★★
The cast and creative team involved in Public Domain, streamed from Southwark Playhouse, succeeded in creating a brilliant show which is timely and incredibly thought-provoking.
‘A delight to watch from start to finish’: NUTCRACKER DELIGHTS – English National Ballet (Online review) ★★★★★
Having had its run of live performances cut short, thank goodness the English National Ballet recorded Nutcracker Delights, this gorgeous scaled back treat for audiences to enjoy at home.
From stage to screen (small & big): The adaptations keep on coming
In the last 30 years or more, roughly half of every new musical that arrives on Broadway or in the West End seems to be based on a film.
‘It’s still enormously relatable even in the modern day’: Charlotte Wakefield stars in the online revival of Gatsby A Musical
Actress Charlotte Wakefield chatted to us about the upcoming revival of Gatsby A Musical, being filmed at the Cadogan Hall and streamed from 12-14 February 2021.