Marie McCarthy’s Clapham Omnibus venue never ceases to surprise. Dedicated, as befits its previous life as a library, to storytelling in all its various forms, Scott Le Crass’ revival of Simon Stephens’ Country Music is itself a revelation.
‘A production of highs & lows’: PICTURES OF DORIAN GRAY – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★
It was a bold idea on Tom Littler’s part to think of adapting Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray into a multi gender-swapping stage production.
‘One of the most joyous experiences you’ll encounter in the theatre’: COME FROM AWAY – West End ★★★★★
Come From Away, the story of how one small town, Gander in Newfoundland, responded to events of 9/11 when 7,000 passengers from 38 diverted aircraft landed in their midst, is one of the most joyous experiences you’ll encounter in the theatre.
How the Mates Rate: Death Of A Salesman at the Young Vic Theatre
Directors Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell have brought their unique vision to one of the greatest plays of the 20th century by Arthur Miller, seen through the eyes of an African American family. So what did the Mates think of this Young Vic production of the American drama classic?
‘Tense, beautifully calibrated revival’: VINCENT RIVER – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Philip Ridley and Robert Chevara’s production of Vincent River emerges as a masterful depiction of oppositional but mutual need unexpectedly producing a healing catharsis.
‘Impressive, even dynamic evening’: DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Young Vic ★★★★
For Death of a Salesman, one of Arthur Miller’s greatest plays about the hollowness of the American Dream, Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell and their cast make it an impressive, even dynamic evening that lacks some subtleties but is never less than gripping.
‘A sobering, haunting journey’: AVALANCHE – Barbican Theatre ★★★★
Avalanche is a sobering, haunting journey that carries as much warning as it does perhaps solace to those thinking of having IVF or have had it as well as a kind of delight in the sheer beauty and bravura of Maxine Peake’s performance.
‘A cracker of an evening’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End ★★★★
It could all go horribly wrong but Ian Rickson’s production of Rosmersholm in Duncan Macmillan’s new adaptation brings Ibsen’s dense moral and political tragedy safely into port.
How the Mates Rate: Sweet Charity at the Donmar Warehouse
Sweet Charity, Josie Rourke’s farewell production at the Donmar Warehouse which stars Anne-Marie Duff as Charity and Arthur Darvill as Oscar, appears to have charmed the majority of our Mates, with a few reservations here and there. The musical continues until 8 June 2019.
‘The show sparkles with invention’: SWEET CHARITY – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
‘A sweet sexy fairy tale’ is how one critic described Sweet Charity on its opening in London in October 1967. And Josie Rourke’s final production as the Donmar’s artistic director before handing over to Michael Longhurst certainly lives up to that description, but also makes it something rather more and darker because of the unlikely casting of Anne-Marie Duff as Charity.