“It could be worse” observes Baby, one of the pair of Irish sisters who open and close Margaret Perry’s richly enjoyable new play Paradise Now! at the Bush Theatre, as she contemplates their less-than-ideal lives; that statement applies equally to the existences of the other four women whose frustrations, tragedies and eccentricities inform this delightful, unruly tragicomedy.
‘One of the more original plays of 2022’: PARADISE NOW! – Bush Theatre
How many plays pass the Bechdel Test? Originally featured in a comic strip, and popularised in film criticism, it simply states that to pass this test your story has to have: 1) at least two women in it; 2) who talk to each other; 3) about something other than a man. Well, one of the brilliant things about Irish writer Margaret Perry’s new dark comedy, Paradise Now! is that it passes this test with an A Plus grade.
‘A brave effort to modernise the eponymous Greek tragedy’: ANTIGONE – New Diorama Theatre
Presented by company Holy What, playwright Lulu Raczka’s reimagining of Sophocles Greek tragedy Antigone, uses an all-female cast.
‘Toys interestingly with ideas of representation’: ANTIGONE – New Diorama Theatre
Holy What’s Antigone at the New Diorama shifts the focus of Sophocles’ play onto two young sisters to powerful effect.
‘Perhaps a first in terms of girls, sport & how they’re portrayed on stage’: THE WOLVES – Theatre Royal, Stratford East ★★★★
There’s much to delight in Sarah DeLappe’s punchy debut play, an American account of a group of teenage girl soccer players.