With The Burnt City, Punchdrunk’s biggest show to date, they take on Greek myth, although the aesthetic is anachronistic: boho chic meets old school Hollywood glamour meets monochrome starkness: there’s not a floaty tunic in sight, although there is a fair bit of blood and gore.
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.
’An interesting addition to the audio theatre scene’: FIZZY SHERBERT (Online Show)
All three of the short plays that feature in Fizzy Sherbet’s audio series centre on writer/performers who, not unnaturally, bring a depth of emotion to their own work.
‘Something that disconcerts more than entertains’: OKLAHOMA! – Young Vic Theatre
The Young Vic presents a rather sexy version of Oklahoma! that replaces twee interpretations of cowboy country with a throbbing desire that inflicts the inhabitants of this rural town, and becomes a fascinating technical exercise in deconstructing a musical.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Macbeth at the Longacre Theatre, New York
Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon take a look at what critics have been saying about Sam Gold’s production starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.
‘The chemistry of the cast is electric’: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – Touring ★★★★★
With a title like Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, it’s unsurprising that the first night King’s audience for this touring production was mainly female.
‘Entertaining in its populist stress on feelgood comedy’: THE CORN IS GREEN – National Theatre
Even 20th century drama is under threat. So can the National Theatre buck this trend with this rediscovery of The Corn Is Green, and some help from its star, Nicola Walker?
‘Absolutely worth investing your time in’: HENRY VI: WARS OF THE ROSES – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon ★★★★
Running in rep alongside Henry VI: Rebellion (a.k.a. Henry VI, part two), the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre is also currently home to Henry VI, part three. As with the previous part, this third play in Shakespeare’s first Henriad has been renamed – going under the title Henry VI: Wars of the Roses.
‘It feels as if she has been pulling houses to their feet for decades’: PRIMA FACIE – Harold Pinter Theatre
Jodie Comer’s extraordinary West End stage debut in Suzie Miller’s play Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre reveals not only strong vocal skill but an absolutely dazzling physical expressiveness and high-voltage emotional power.
‘Returns with all the vitality & urgency it had first time round’: JERUSALEM – Apollo Theatre
Ian Rickson’s production of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem now returns to the Apollo Theatre with all the vitality and urgency it had first time round.
‘A tough watch with an abstract style & disjointed scenes’: MARYS SEACOLE – Donmar Warehouse
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s new play is an entirely female affair, no male characters are present, implied or even speak, only the time-travelling idea of Mary, her ghostly mother, Mary’s daughter and another tri-generational white family.
‘A kaleidoscope of colour & dance’: Matthew Bourne’s NUTCRACKER – Touring ★★★★★
The Nutcracker Suite is an old and much-beloved family Christmas favourite. Matthew Bourne’s version, however, is a somewhat different take on the classic.
‘A disappointingly toothless & rather dreary non-satire’: SCANDALTOWN – Lyric Hammersmith
Mike Bartlett is very prolific, but this Restoration-style satire on society at London’s Lyric Hammersmith is sadly timid and predictable.
Do we still love Rooster? Reflections on the return of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem
Twelve years on from Jez Butterworth’s glorious shock-troop assault on metropolitan sensibilities, we welcome back Ultz’s woodland glade and knackered caravan, and surf along with Ian Rickson’s bravura direction.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Zorro the Musical at the Charing Cross Theatre
On LoveLondonLoveCulture, Emma Clarendon rounds up the reviews for the first major London revival of The Gypsy Kings musical Zorro, now running at London’s Charing Cross Theatre until 28 May 2022.
‘Both a parody & a warning about that future’: THE 47th – Old Vic Theatre
Mike Bartlett has made a bit of an art out of notions of the counter-factual future. In The 47th, he grounds his flights of fancy in the knowledge of institutions, people and political tides.
‘A frothy concoction of corny jokes & power ballads’: THE CHER SHOW – Touring
The premise sees Cher (Debbie Kurup) about to go onstage for her farewell tour. Facing a crisis of confidence the singer addresses her younger selves (Danielle Steers and Millie O’Connell), delving into her past (or, ahem, wanting to ‘Turn Back Time’).
‘Flawed but mainly fabulous & deeply endearing’: SCANDALTOWN – Lyric Hammersmith ★★★★
We knew Mike Bartlett was brilliant, but with this third piece to come to a major London venue in 2022, he displays yet another facet to his virtuosity while staking a claim to be as prolific as Alan Ayckbourn.
‘An intriguing piece of historical drama set in the wilds of Scotland’: THE STRAW CHAIR – Finborough Theatre
Sue Glover’s play is set on Hirta, the largest island on St Kilda, and takes inspiration from the story of Rachel Erskine, Lady Grange, in the eighteenth century.
‘Utterly soul-nourishing’: For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy – Royal Court Theatre
Frank Ocean fills the air, and audience members tap their feet and nod their heads in time. I jokingly ask my mum if she recognises the song as I recall how I wailed and begged about 10 years ago for her to download his album onto her iPod.
‘The story of the pioneering Jamaican nurse seems to get lost’: MARYS SEACOLE – Donmar Warehouse ★★
What I was expecting from Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play highlighting the story of pioneering Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole was a straightforward biopic with her story being recounted maybe from the present day.