Four of the nine Festival Highlights shows I worked on in August were solo pieces. And over the years of visiting the Edinburgh Fringe, I estimate that at least 60% of all those shows I’ve seen there have been solos – and that’s not including any stand-up. Personally, I love a good solo piece. If […]
My theatre diary: Streetcar, My Night with Reg, Muswell Hill, The Lion and Dogfight
Edinburgh aside, my August theatregoing has been sporadic, but here are a few shows I’ve seen recently that are worth catching if you can, especially now that the late summer sunshine seems to have abandoned us. As usual, I list them below in closing date order. If you follow me on Twitter (@TerriPaddock) – please […]
A day in the life of Edinburgh’s busiest TSM (do you know what a TSM is?!)
As part of my recent Festival Highlights Challenge, I had the pleasure of meeting – and, for 24 hours, effectively stalking – Sarah Quinney at the Edinburgh Fringe. Sarah is a Technical Stage Manager for Festival Highlights, one of the Fringe’s most prolific and consistent theatre producers. Every day from 30 July to 25 August […]
My 2014 Edinburgh Fringe firsts
This year, I’m returning from Edinburgh just at the time I would normally be heading up… And that’s not the only difference in my festival going. 2014 has been a year of many Fringe firsts for me: 1. The first time I’ve reported on the Fringe from the shows’ rather than the media perspective. I’ve […]
Embarking on my Edinburgh Festival Highlights adventure
In London, five shows a week is a serious haul. In Edinburgh, that’s small fry. When I was reviewing in Edinburgh, I could easily do twice that in a day. This year, this week, I’m experiencing the festival from a different perspective. I’ve been working with producer James Seabright and Festival Highlights, guest-editing content on […]
My theatre diary: From tears to laughter with The Crucible, The Events, Invincible and Shakespeare in Love
I’m really doing well for play choices in July. Don’t let the warm weather put you off catching these compelling productions, which scale great heights and depths of emotion. (Apart from the entertainment, most of these theatres were lovely and cool on the hot summer evenings I attended. So you’ll get a respite from the […]
Mobile switch-off: My role in the Theatre Charter movement
Have you lost count how many times a mobile has gone off when you’re at the theatre? I have. And I marvel at the timing. Doesn’t it always seem to be at a quiet, crucial moment of performance? In truth, what’s started to annoy me even more than mobiles ringing – it is possible accidentally […]
Why is Jamie Lloyd and Martin Freeman’s Richard III set in a 1970s open-plan office?
When the production shots for Richard III were first released earlier this week, showing that director Jamie Lloyd had located the Bard’s bloody history play in a 1970s office block, my interest was piqued. After seeing the show at Tuesday’s opening night, my first reaction was to describe the resulting effect as “Get Carter meets […]
Photos and podcast: The Frida Kahlo of Penge West post-show Q&A
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 […]