A great memorial, an unforgettable, nuanced testimony, we have to pay attention to what Until the Flood tells us. Listen, feel, and learn. Do see.
‘Bizarre & beautifully poetic’: ANNA BELLA EEMA – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
As the cast take on different characters in each other’s dreams and memories, their versatility shines and all three excel in their hauntingly comic performances. Anna Bella Eema is bizarre and beautifully poetic – a must-see show.
‘Eerily compelling soundscape’: ANNA BELLA EEMA – Arcola Theatre
The strange but spellbinding Anna Bella Eema makes for an intriguing trip to the Arcola Theatre.
‘Swap your immortal apple-growing sister for a ticket’: DAS RHEINGOLD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★★
The Ring Cycle is opera’s biggest box set: a sixteen-hour binge of dwarves, nymphs, dragons, gods, heroes and monsters, all suspended inside one of the greatest philosophical conundrums expressed by the human mind – and set to glorious, extraordinary music.
‘A charm to keep you engaged from start to finish’: RADIO – Arcola Theatre ★★★
Overall, Al Smith’s play feels as though it is too meandering to be completely effective, but this production has a charm about it to keep you engaged from start to finish.
Best of the Blogs: Education, Education, Education to Custody to Country Music
Carrying on a new series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out seven of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (2-9 June 2019). Amidst her top choices are Maryam Philpott’s journey back to a time of political optimism in The Wardrobe Ensemble’s Education, Education, Education at Trafalgar Studios.
‘A distracting concept but well performed’: THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Arcola Theatre
Conflicts between this updated production and the original script are a distraction, but despite this and because of such a talented cast performing Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, I was still able to appreciate how well the piece was performed.
‘Puts a human face on an age-old problem’: HOARD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
Written by Bim Adewunmi and directed by Femi Elufowoju Jr, Hoard takes the familiar scenario of the introduction of ‘the boyfriend’ to kin, but bringing the focus firmly on family dynamics.
‘Dreams & aspirations are devastatingly unreachable’: THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Arcola Theatre
This revival of American classic The Glass Menagerie is given new, unfamiliar, and achingly resonant life with its kitchen-sink drama set in the home of a black family.
‘Sets Williams’ seminal drama in an entirely new context without changing a word’: THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Arcola Theatre
Femi Elufowoju Jr’s production of The Glass Menagerie is fascinating with the tense and vibrant second half in particular proving both gripping and illuminating
‘The respective character arcs are satisfying in their own right’: SITTING – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
There have been a number of plays that have dealt with the importance of ‘art’ and what the viewer brings to its ‘meaning’. Sitting – which is written by Katherine Parkinson and directed by Sarah Bedi – takes a different tact, focusing on the relationship the ‘sitter’ has with the person painting them.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Little Miss Sunshine at Arcola Theatre
This musical adaptation of the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine is playing at the Arcola Theatre before embarking on a UK tour.
‘To an extent, it works’: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Arcola Theatre ★★
Every time I see a new musical made from a recent-ish film, I wonder if this could be ‘the one’, the one that jumps the shark and enters the canon of the regularly performed.
‘There is an epic reach to its ambition’: A HUNDRED WORDS FOR SNOW – Trafalgar Studios
Tatty Hennessy’s debut play A Hundred Words for Snow is a female monologue about loss and polar exploration that retains its attractive brightness and sass.
‘An ambitious effort’: KEITH? – Arcola Theatre ★★★
Journalist, theatre critic, university lecturer and playwright Patrick Marmion plunders Moliere’s Tartuffe and borrows a smidge from Shakespeare and Euripides for his latest offering, a comedy called Keith? at London’s Arcola Theatre.
NEWS: Laura Pitt-Pulford & Gary Wilmot join the cast of Little Miss Sunshine European premiere
The European premiere of Little Miss Sunshine at Arcola Theatre will star Laura Pitt-Pulford as Sheryl, the matriarch of the eccentric Hoover family and Gary Wilmot as Grandpa. The Off-Broadway hit musical opens at the Arcola Theatre, London on 21 March 2019 running until 11 May (press night is 1 April) before embarking on a UK tour.
‘It’s definitely a play you want to watch’: Munashe Chirisa on his role in Stop & Search at the Arcola Theatre
Actor Munashe Chirisa chatted to Emma Clarendon about his role in Stop & Search at the Arcola Theatre.
Text of the Day: Stop & Search
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘The beauty of the play is the way it gets at the truth’: THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW – Arcola Theatre
Known for classic novels about human relationships such as Sons and Lovers, Women In Love and The Rainbow, DH Lawrence also tried his hand at writing plays. The Daughter-In-Law – which was performed and received critical acclaim posthumously – takes place in the familiar region of Nottinghamshire where most of his novels are set.
‘A jumble of thoughts and ideas thrown up in the air’: STOP & SEARCH – Arcola Theatre
What I watched in Stop & Search has less to do with stop and search and more a jumble of thoughts and ideas thrown up in the air and left to sort themselves out into some semblance of a play.