Award-winning comedian Adam Kay will be sharing entries from his diaries as a junior doctor in an “electrifying” evening of stand-up and music, Adam Kay – This is Going to Hurt (Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor), running at London’s Palace Theatre from 21-26 June 2021.
Rev Stan’s Lockdown London walks lead to the Old Red Lion Theatre
London has an abundance of pub theatres, and the Old Red Lion in Islington is one of my favourites. The space is tiny with pew-like seating on two sides of the tea-tray sized stage.
The best play I’ve seen for each of the past 10 years (aka the agony-to-choose list)
Not to let a decade of theatre bloggery go by without marking the occasion, to kick things off, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite play for each year I’ve been blogging. It has been fun revisiting my best-of lists but absolute agony narrowing each list down to just one.
10 plays from the past 10 years that stand out
Here is a snapshot of my favourite theatre from the past 10 years, the plays that stand out most in my memory, the ones I talk about if people ask.
Film Review: Mary Poppins Returns
Fifty-four years is quite the wait for a sequel but the sweetness and charm with which Mary Poppins Returns lands on our screens makes it pretty much worth it.
‘Thrilling & stimulating’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre
For Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, Hytner has taken out the stalls seats of the new Bridge Theatre and created a promenade performance which begins, like a Trump rally, with a warm-up. It’s one of the best pre-shows I’ve ever seen.
‘A bold, muscular production that will attract younger theatregoers’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★
From its rock fest opening to its fast and furious battle finale, Nicholas Hytner’s modern-dress Julius Caesar packs a powerful punch.
‘Unquestionably intense, experiential’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre
If Nicholas Hytner’s concept for Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre was applied with as much thought and skill as the staging, this would be a truly fantastic production.
‘Collapse is something of a theme’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★
Julius Caesar really isn’t Shakespeare’s best play, there’s very little poetry in the lines and after the assassination, the plot’s far from clear, but this production makes it accessible.
‘Exciting, welcoming & engaging: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★
So would I go to more Shakespeare after this experience seeing Julius Caesar,? Yes, I would. More importantly, could I see myself as a regular visitor to the Bridge Theatre? That has to be an emphatic yes.
‘Intensely exciting’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre
There is no option of falling asleep because if you aren’t being shoved around as if on a rush hour tube then gunfire is constantly going off. Being in the pit is an intensely exciting and quite emotional experience.
‘Blockbuster flair’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★
Surrounded by those with seated tickets and lorded over by scene after scene of masterclasses in the craft, the cheap seats in the pit for Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre are without doubt the best.
‘Mesmerising production’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ❤❤❤❤❤
This production of Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre captures the audience’s attention (no matter where you sit or stand) to such great effect that the (just over) two hours passes quickly and powerfully. Well worth a visit.
‘Got the heart pounding’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre
It is rarely a play that moves you and so it is here, even though Nicholas Hytner’s production of Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, London does provide moments of intellectual stimulus.
‘Without question a must-see’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★
Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre is a visceral and dynamic take on the classic Shakespearean political thriller with star performances and innovative staging.
‘Wow, the action!’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★
In Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre Nicholas Hytner has pointed up the current parallels – populism, fake news, regime changes – and gleefully refashioned his new theatre to allow some 200 of us, on foot in the pit, to represent the Roman mob.
‘The gender-blind casting is a production highlight’: JULIUS CAESAR – Bridge Theatre
Nicholas Hytner’s production of Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre is nothing short of a Roman triumph, capturing the wonderful lyricism of Shakespeare’s writing, in what are some of his most beautiful speeches, with an urgency of action that means two hours just races by.
AGAINST – Almeida Theatre
Whishaw is brilliant as the Jesus-like character of Luke, capturing his unrelenting devotion to his quest to understand violence. Without Whishaw, it is hard to imagine the production would have held together as well.
For & against AGAINST at the Almeida Theatre
Reviewing in list form: for and against Christopher Shinn’s new play AGAINST, starring Ben Whishaw and Amanda Hale, at the Almeida Theatre.
AGAINST – Almeida Theatre
New American drama about God and violence is a bit baggy, but it is also often brilliantly perceptive.
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