I had a great time last night (3 July 2014) hosting the post-show Q&A at the hilarious new “two-woman comedy about putting on a one-woman show”, The Frida Kahlo of Penge West. I was joined by writer/director Chris Larner and the show’s two stars, Cecily Nash and Laura Kirman. Amongst the topics discussed were: comedy […]
My theatre diary: Five plays worth seeing, from Adler to Bakersfield
Despite the considerable distractions of the World Cup, Wimbledon and my own much-talked about (!) triathlon debut in Wales – I’m a sucker for a sporting spectacle – I have been lucky enough to squeeze in some top theatregoing in recent weeks. Here are five plays I can heartily recommend, listed in closing date order. […]
Hacked off: Bean and Hytner put the Great back into Britain with political satire
The News of the World phone hacking trial may have ended yesterday, but the drama continues at the National Theatre where, less than 24 hours after the end of the eight-month trial at the Old Bailey, outgoing artistic director Nicholas Hytner this morning finally confirmed rumours that Richard Bean has indeed been working on a […]
Mr Burns, Marmite and memory
I haven’t read them all but a glance at the headlines as they whizzed by in my Twitter feed alerted me that the UK premiere of Anne Washburn’s “post-electric play” Mr Burns had received some bad reviews from critics last week. Undeterred, I showed up at the Almeida for Saturday’s matinee. Look, there’s no denying that […]
Hey, Ms Producer! Sonia Friedman leads the growing ranks of female producers
Maybe it’s because I’m considering trying my own hand at producing and the universe is sending me encouragement, but everywhere I look at the moment, I see female producers. On Sunday night, the powerhouse that is Sonia Friedman takes another shot at Tony Awards glory in New York, where her transfers of the Shakespeare’s Globe […]
Never mind Titus: The West End is awash with blood
There’s been a lot of media attention around the Globe’s Titus Andronicus. Once again, Lucy Bailey’s production – which starred Douglas Hodge in its first 2006 outing and now has William Houston in the title role – has got audiences fainting on Bankside. Titus, with the strapline “brutality of the highest order”, is an extreme example […]
From famine to feast: My ever-growing theatre to-see list
Between my father’s illness, coursework and a month in Mallorca (sigh), I was out of show-going circulation for six weeks. Social media monitoring is fine for staying in the openings, closings and castings loop, but I was missing ACTUAL theatre. So, when I arrived back in London, I had a very very long wish list. I hit […]
Noel Coward in three events: Blithe Spirit, Relative Values and Tonight at 8.30
You only have three more weeks to catch Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre. Michael Blakemore’s production – and, more specifically, Angela Lansbury’s performance in it as dotty clairvoyant Madame Arcati – is undoubtedly one of the theatre events of the year. The “eventfulness” of the occasion has little to do with the play. The […]
Tony trivia: Twelfth Night is officially a history play
Twelfth Night is generally classified as one of Shakespeare’s comedies, but last week it officially became a history play as well, after its phenomenal haul in this year’s Tony Awards nominations. Mark Rylance is already something of a Tony legend. He has won Best Actor twice for two other London transfers –1960s farce Boeing-Boeing in […]
What I learned today: Help! SOS doesn’t mean anything
With all the blood and gore – and fantastically poetic staging care of director John Tiffany and choreographer Steven Hoggett – Morse code may not be the first thing you associate with the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of vampire Let the Right One, now playing at the West End’s Apollo Theatre. But it nevertheless […]
I confess: I am not and never will be a critic
I hate reviewing. There, I said it. Years ago, I reviewed very regularly, and became a member of the Critics’ Circle as a result. But the truth is I’ve always hated doing it. And, the more years I’ve racked up in the theatre industry, the more I’ve grown to hate it. It’s not that I […]
What did I miss? Part One: Tons of transfers
What an odd feeling not to be able to write or shout about theatre – or indeed see much theatre – for more than a month, which was the unfortunate situation I found myself in over the past month and a bit. It’s something I haven’t experienced since I first stumbled into Theatreland professionally and […]
The horrors of Headlong’s 1984 strike close to home
I came home from the opening night of Headlong’s 1984 at the Almeida Theatre in a foul mood. It’s a brilliant production and a slick adaptation by Robert Icke (@robertwicke) and Duncan Macmillan (@SleeveNotes) – though slightly over-reliant on the gimmick of performing key scenes backstage and then projecting them onto Orwell’s ever-present telescreens, hung […]
Saskia Reeves’ two contrasting roles: The Mistress Contract and A Disappearing Number
Two things kept coming to mind as I watched The Mistress Contract at the Royal Court. The two-hander, starring Saskia Reeves and Danny Webb, is based on a memoir, authored by the anonymous She and He and published last year. The book, and subsequent play by Abi Morgan, details the couple’s three-decade consensual and contractual […]
Catching the theatre bug young: more are, according to Ticketmaster
I’m a sucker for a good infographic so, in writing about old vs young audiences in my blog about Home Sweet Home, I couldn’t resist dusting off this Ticketmaster infographic from the State of Play report the world’s leading ticket agency published in September 2013. Amongst other factoids, according to the Ticketmaster data and research, […]
Roger Lloyd Pack won’t be resting in peace – he’ll be singing
When a loved actor dies, those of us in the business mourn the person as well as the future performances that we’ll now never see. And we reflect on past performances and, if you’re a journalist, what they were like in past interviews. It is received wisdom that actors and journalists – interviewees and interviewers […]