In his award-winning play, which premiered in Boston in 2011, American playwright Stephen Karam examines the issues in a thoroughly original, brilliantly constructed and thematically compelling way. Now getting its belated European premiere at the Hampstead Theatre, Sons of the Prophet is an enthralling experience, both intellectually and emotionally.
‘Starting a lot of conversations that it doesn’t manage to finish’: SONS OF THE PROPHET – Hampstead Theatre
Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet at the Hampstead Theatre, first staged in 2011, makes its European debut here by starting a lot of conversations that it doesn’t manage to finish.
‘A vivid kaleidoscope of culture & thinking’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – National Theatre ★★★★★ (Online review)
You can’t beat the experience of sitting in a theatre watching a live performance, but one of the lockdown-positives is a chance to watch stuff I sadly missed and Barber Shop Chronicles is one of those.
‘A lovely energy & pace runs right through the production’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – National Theatre ★★★★★ (Online review)
This is a gloriously funny and heartfelt play that offers a fascinating insight into how the barbershop is a place of vital importance for African men.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: A Taste of Honey at Trafalgar Studios
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Bijan Sheibani’s production, A Taste Of Honey at the Trafalgar Studios
‘Feels as fresh & relevant as ever’: A TASTE OF HONEY – Trafalgar Studios
With its comment on the burden of expectation placed on women, class struggle, race and sexuality, more than six decades on A Taste Of Honey has lost none of its bite.
‘Great stuff excellently performed’: THE ARRIVAL – Bush Theatre
Director Bijan Sheibani turns playwright in a fine two-hander about family and the crisis of masculinity in The Arrival at the Bush Theatre.
‘It is with a heavy heart that you have to leave the characters behind’: A TASTE OF HONEY – Touring
Bijan Sheibani’s production of A Taste Of Honey is entertaining without being flashy, showcasing Shelagh Delaney’s text in all its humour, honesty and melancholia.
‘As finely-tuned a theatrical machine as you are likely to see’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – Touring ★★★★
There is a winning combination of the playful and the profound in Barber Shop Chronicles which allies serious stagecraft and knowledge to sheer enjoyability.
‘Remains a vital piece of theatre’: A TASTE OF HONEY – Touring ★★★
Some outstanding performances overcome a series of gimmicky directorial choices in the UK National Theatre’s touring production of A Taste of Honey at the King’s.
NEWS: Lynette Linton’s inaugural Bush Theatre season includes six UK debuts
Lynette Linton has announced her inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre. The 2019-2020 season includes UK debut plays from six playwrights alongside a new production of celebrated poet and playwright Jackie Kay’s first play Chiaroscuro directed by Linton.
‘A celebration of friendship, tradition & heritage’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – Touring
Barber Shop Chronicles is a celebration of friendship, tradition and heritage. Ellams skilfully toes the line between sentiment, gaucheness, sincerity and wit while exploring issues of racial, social and gender identity with a keen eye for human foibles.
NEWS: Jodie Prenger is cast in the National Theatre’s UK touring production of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey
The National Theatre has announced a UK tour of Bijan Sheibani’s production of A Taste of Honey, Shelagh Delaney’s taboo-breaking 1950s play which was first produced in the Lyttelton Theatre in 2014. Designed by Hildegard Bechtler, the piece has been reconceived in an exciting new production, featuring a live onstage band, and will star Jodie Prenger as Helen. Further casting is to be announced.
‘It’s an odd, short evening, but likeable – & dickless’: DANCE NATION – Almeida Theatre ★★★
It’s the banter that makes it in Clare Barron’s spirited play about a children’s dance troupe in a fierce American competition, directed by Bijan Sheibani.
‘When Barron focuses on character, she creates plenty of meaningful exchanges’: DANCE NATION – Almeida Theatre
With plenty of influences from across film, there’s still a lot to take from Clare Barron’s play, and as annual dance fever arrives in the UK once again and mingles with a year of female-led stories, Dance Nation is timely if not quite a ten from Len.
NEWS: Cast for UK premiere of Clare Barron’s new play Dance Nation at the Almeida includes Sarah Hadland & Manjinder Virk
The Almeida Theatre has announced the full cast for the UK premiere of Clare Barron’s new play Dance Nation, directed by Bijan Sheibani (running from 27 August to 6 October, with a press night on 4 September).
‘Wonderful, sensitive production’: CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION – Manchester ★★★★
Circle Mirror Transformation at HOME, Manchester, is, despite its flaws, a pleasant night at the theatre made all the more enjoyable by this wonderful, sensitive production.
BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – National Theatre
Black theatre used to be one of most creative aspects of contemporary British drama. But recently a lot of the impetus behind plays by black playwrights seems to have dried up. The great names of the past couple of decades are either silent, or, which is worse, merely repeating themselves.
Review: A Taste of Honey (Lyttleton Theatre)
Although it’s hailed as a landmark in gritty Northern kitchen sink drama, we’re claiming A Taste of Honey for London because 19-year-old Mancunian Shelagh Delaney chose to send her first ever script to the redoubtable Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal Stratford East. It was Littlewood’s visionary 1958 staging that ensured an immediate West End transfer, […]
The post Review: A Taste of Honey (Lyttleton Theatre) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: A Taste of Honey (Lyttleton Theatre)
Although it’s hailed as a landmark in gritty Northern kitchen sink drama, we’re claiming A Taste of Honey for London because 19-year-old Mancunian Shelagh Delaney chose to send her first ever script to the redoubtable Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal Stratford East. It was Littlewood’s visionary 1958 staging that ensured an immediate West End transfer, […]
The post Review: A Taste of Honey (Lyttleton Theatre) appeared first on JohnnyFox.