Originally written in 1941 by Bertolt Brecht, The Good Person of Szechwan was first performed in 1943 – and this year celebrates its 80th birthday with an update by Nina Segal.
News, Reviews and Features
These are all of our in-house news and features as well as syndicated article excerpts from our 45+ theatre bloggers. You can also access All Our Mates' Posts in comprehensive list form and view individual author pages.
‘It’s definitely nostalgic & energetic’: Eugenius! – Turbine Theatre
After a London Palladium concert and subsequent runs at The Other Palace, the comic book tale of Eugenius! has been on the radar of many theatre lovers, and fans were thrilled to hear of the show’s reworked return at the Turbine Theatre. The sweet characters and over the top tale are back like before, but somewhere along the way, the musical has lost some of the sparkle and infectious joy that previously made it such a charming production.
‘A haunting story told in a magical way’: FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING – Young Vic Theatre
Empathetic revival of Zinnie Harris’s 2000 play about a lost world and small island longings
The post Further Than the Furthest Thing, Young Vic appeared first on Aleks Sierz.
‘Sets a crisp pace & witty tone’: BLACK SUPERHERO – Royal Court Theatre
“I’m holding out for a hero” is Bonnie Tyler’s famous song, and it could be the theme tune for David (Danny Lee Wynter) in Black Superhero. He’s long held a torch for friend King (Dyllón Burnside), who is playing superhero Craw in a low-brow movie franchise.
‘A celebration of hard won opportunity that must never be torn away’: WALDO’S CIRCUS OF MAGIC & TERROR – Touring
Waldo’s Circus of Magic and Terror is advertised as a new musical, and it does have songs in, but it also has much more. To me, it feels like a play with music, dance, creative access design, and circus acrobatics mixed together. And the combination is very effective. The show is powerful, with funny moments, beautiful moments, and devastatingly sad moments as it reminds us of terrible things that have happened to people who are considered ‘different’ through history.
‘An often thrilling production’: DANCE OF DEATH – Coronet Theatre
Usually, European productions find a home at the Barbican but The National Theatre of Norway has gone west to Notting Hill for the UK transfer of Dance of Death performed in the original Norwegian with English surtitles. This often thrilling production that explores the melodrama and violence in a 25-year marriage is compelling stuff, demonstrating how to make 120-year-old material feel brand new.
FROM DOWN UNDER – & Juliet in Melbourne
A breathless, rollicking rush of a feel good musical comedy, & Juliet makes its Australian premiere in killer form, with a peak Australian cast of fantabulous powerhouse artists.
‘A dazzling, excoriating new version’: ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST – Lyric Hammersmith ★★★★★
Daniel Rigby won a BAFTA for his portrayal of the beloved comedian Eric Morecambe in a 2011 TV film. The spirit of Morecambe – endearing, absurd, inspired, with a slight edge of danger – permeates Rigby’s performance in this savagely brilliant reinvention of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s police corruption satire Accidental Death Of An Anarchist at the Lyric Hammersmith.
New post-show Q&A: Terri Paddock digs out her platforms for a chat with The Way Old Friends Do cast & creatives at the Park Theatre
Calling all ABBA and new writing fans! I’m delighted to return to the Park Theatre for the premiere of The Way Old Friends Do, written by and starring Ian Hallard and directed by Mark Gatiss.
‘Visceral, animalistic & strange’: MACBETH – Southwark Playhouse
It is an unusual Macbeth that comes to life with the Porter’s scene, the play’s disconcerting post-murder comic interlude – even more so when it is performed without words. Dale Wylde’s mimed scene is a weird and captivating interlude. It encapsulates the strengths and weaknesses of Flabbergast Theatre’s version at Southwark Playhouse.
NEWS: Test your nerve in the thrilling site-responsive experience Facts not Opinions’: Stretched to the Limit
Step back in time and enter the world’s first Victorian Testing and Experimenting Works on London’s Bankside for an evocative and surreal new site-responsive performance. Expect to be tested to your limits during Illuminate Productions’ ‘Facts not Opinions’: Stretched to the Limit.
‘Captivated from beginning to end’: AFTER THE ACT: A SECTION 28 MUSICAL – New Diorama Theatre ★★★★
After The Act, produced by Breach and commissioned by New Diorama, dares to go where not many shows do these days. Billed as a “documentary musical” and based around the controversial Section 28 law that was passed in 1988 under Thatcher’s Conservative government, we hear the voices of real people who lived their lives during this time, seeing the effects and impact this law had on the country’s people and society.
‘Powerful & thought-provoking’: FOX – Touring
Following a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, and a Covid-induced hiatus, Katie Guicciardi’s FOX is finally out on tour. Inspired by real-life events, this witty one-hander offers a candid insight into the isolation of new motherhood. Mummy joined a room full of tiny humans and their grown-ups for a baby-friendly performance of FOX at Greenwich Theatre.
‘Tip your hat & get down there’: GUYS & DOLLS – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★
Daniel Mays has played a lot of tough-guy roles but has by nature a rather innocent and worried-looking face. It is this quality that Nicholas Hytner spotted as perfect for his Nathan Detroit in Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre: lowlife but hapless, indecisive about the faff and cost of marrying his tolerant fiancee of 14 years standing, Miss Adelaide (an irresistible Marisha Wallace).
REVIEW ROUND-Up: Marjorie Prime at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon rounds up the reviews for the revival of Jordan Harrison’s Pulitzer Prize nominated play Marjorie Prime at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory.
‘Captivating writing & strong acting’: THE MESSIAH COMPLEX – VAULT Festival
A blend of Orwell’s 1984 and the American Horror Story TV series, The Messiah Complex is a dystopian thriller that explores the extremes of conflicting belief systems. It takes place in a society where religion is banned and treated as a mental illness, and those who oppose scientific dogma are prosecuted without scruples. Sethian, a prophet who grapples with inner conflict, is held captive in a complex where a scientist – someone really between a nurse and a political propagandist – attempts to correct his behaviour.
‘The changing tone is very engaging’: FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING – Young Vic Theatre
Malevolent forces shaping small communities is a strong premise for all kinds of drama, from the arrival of outsiders that tend to be the focus of horror to the power shifts of Pinter plays that upset the status quo with new authorities forming that overshadow the existing order. Zinnie Harris’ 2000 play Further Than the Furthest Thing combines these ideas with broader notions of industrialisation and the religious management of a community relatively untroubled by the outside world until one if its returning sons brings change.
‘Feels depressingly timely’: RUSH – Chickenshed Theatre
In a week when the UK government doubled down on its harmful and divisive rhetoric with regard to refugees and immigrants, Chickenshed’s new spring show Rush feels depressingly timely. At its core the story of three women from different generations of the same family, the show also tells a much wider tale that both celebrates black culture and laments its erosion across the centuries.
‘When it fully works, it’s wonderful’: GUYS & DOLLS – Bridge Theatre ★★★★
For any theatre enthusiast who has been living under a rock, Nicholas Hytner’s new production of Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre is unique because it is immersive, in the manner of this venue’s previous acclaimed versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Julius Caesar.
VIDEOS & PHOTOS: From Feydeau & farce to internationalism and inclusivity, there’s lots to discuss in the A Tailor for Ladies post-show Q&A
This new production of Georges Feydeau’s early 1886 farce A Tailor for Ladies, which Penny Tomai has translated and co-adapted with director Lee James Broadwood, marks Medley Theatre Company’s debut, with a two-week season at London’s Cockpit Theatre where an international ensemble switches up halfway to allow actors to take on different roles.