A 65 minute tour de force, The Apologists certainly deserves a longer life than the few performances at Omnibus.
‘Excellent precision delivery’: FAR AWAY – Donmar Warehouse
Churchill’s vision two decades ago in Far Away now seems even more prescient and accurate of planet Earth’s downhill spiral: endless wars and realignments, climate change, imminent environmental catastrophe.
Best of the Blogs: Leopoldstadt, Far Away, Nora, People Show 137 & more
In our continuing series, editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 16 February 2020) including Maryam Philpott’s thoughts on Tom Stoppard’s new play Leopoldstadt at the Wyndham’s Theatre.
‘Urgent, provocative & familiar all at the same time’: NORA: A DOLL’S HOUSE – Young Vic Theatre
Despite the challenges, and judging by the Young Vic’s typically youthful, mixed audience, Nora: A Doll’s House is a production to which they can relate and which, so far as I could see, kept them on the edge of their seats.
‘I came away eager for more’: PERSONA – Riverside Studios ★★★★
I loved precisely Persona’s sense of oddness, it’s sense of non-Englishness, Krige’s subtlety and wonder, Mngcwengi’s unspoken defiance and calmness.
‘Playlets of insistent intensity’: BECKETT TRIPLE BILL – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★★
Jermyn Street Theatre, London ****
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Review: of perf seen January 17, 2020:
© Robert Workman, James Hayes in Krapp’s Last Tape, recalling a moment of bliss on a tape thirty years ago…another haunting…
Krapp’s Last Tape…
Best of the Blogs: Snowflake, Swive, Curtains & more
In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 5 January 2020), including Aleks Sierz’s mixed feelings about Snowflake at the Kiln Theatre.
‘Simply delicious’: SWIVE – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Natalie Abrahami makes Ella Hickson’s text and Elizabeth’s story pulsate with the sound of a young woman for whom insecurity runs in every fibre of her being.
‘It is Shaw at his mischievous, provocative best’: CANDIDA – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★★
The intimacy of the Orange Tree gives Candida the perfect setting for a discussion of moral, spiritual and political ethics.
‘It takes some guts’: FAIRVIEW – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
In Jackie Sibblies Drury’s case, Fairview is very much tied up with the method, the form. She blows the traditional form sky high, introducing repetition, caricature and a final twist.
Best of the Blogs: Dear Evan Hansen, & Juliet, Land Without Dreams & more
In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre including Ben Dowell (for theatreCat) giving his verdict on the much-anticipated arrival of Dear Evan Hansen at the Noel Coward Theatre.
‘Unusual & exceptional’: LAND WITHOUT DREAMS – Gate Theatre ★★★★
Land Without Dreams may be difficult, irritating, sometimes alarmingly ‘obvious’ but they also manage to dig further into what it is to be human, coming at us as it were from left-field.
Best of the Blogs: Mary Poppins, Touching The Void, La Clique & more
In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 17 November 2019) including Ian Foster’s delight at the arrival of Mary Poppins to its original West End home.
‘Rhys Ifans is simply mesmeric’: ON BEAR RIDGE – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
In a mere 90 minutes On Bear Ridge creates a theatrical metaphor of unforgettable power and impact.
‘Driven by explosive characterisation & dialogue’: SHOOK – Touring ★★★★
Spectators will go away wiser and sadder from this encounter with Shook, but most of all they will go away remembering Samuel Bailey’s dialogue and Josh Finan’s barnstormer of a performance as Cain.
‘A triumph in so many ways’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Jemima Rooper, Kate O’Flynn, Zainab Hasan and Joanna Horton carry a lion’s share delivering the vitriol, pain and helplessness of struggling women in [Blank].
‘Delicious, clever & delectable confection’: THE WATSONS – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★
Like characters in a book who never die, Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Menier Chocolate Factory deserves to last forever.
‘A definitive production for many years to come’: BLOOD WEDDING – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
Now, in a daring and radical re-imagining, Marina Carr and Yaël Farber have transported Lorca’s Andalusian tragedy Blood Wedding to a deeply Celtic, Irish setting.
‘Measured, haunting production’: UNTIL THE FLOOD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
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.
Best of the Blogs: The Mates give their verdicts on Big, A Dolls’ House, Shida, The Eyes Of The Night & more
Best of the Blogs: The Mates give their verdicts on Big, A Dolls’s House, Shida & The Eyes Of The Night.