Love London Love Culture’s Emma Clarendon finds out what critics have had to say about the latest revival of Patrick Marber’s play Closer at Lyric Hammersmith.
‘Interesting exploration of relationships’: CLOSER – Lyric Hammersmith ★★★
I liked the tone of this production of Closer at the Lyric Hammersmith and the sense of sadness that underpinned it, even if I was glad to leave the characters behind. It is an interesting exploration of relationships with some nice production touches.
‘Still has a hold’: CLOSER – Lyric Hammersmith
Not quite a perfect version of Closer at Lyric Hammersmith but a compelling one. If the heart really just looks like a fist wrapped in blood then why, Lizzimore’s production asks, does it hurt so much?
‘A play whose time has come yet again’: EUROPE – Donmar Warehouse
Europe at the Donmar Warehouse is a magnificent revival of David Greig’s 1990s visionary classic which is timely, tough and tender, brutal and brilliant.
CONSENT – National Theatre
Rape is such a serious social issue that it’s hardly surprising that several recent plays have tackled it. I’m thinking of Gary Owen’s Violence and Son, James Fritz’s Four Minutes Twelve Seconds and Evan Placey’s Consensual. All of these discuss, whether implicitly or explicitly, the notion of consent, which is the name of playwright and director Nina Raine’s latest drama about the subject.
CIRCUS DIARIES at #edfirnge: Closer by Circa
In 2013, Circa won a Total Theatre ‘Significant Contribution’ Award at Edinburgh Fringe, for pushing the boundaries of what 21st Century circus can look like. Their offering this year, Closer, takes some of the material from last year’s Close Up, and repackages it into a fine example of classic Circa that, whilst not expanding into new territories, showcases what the company do best.
CLOSER – Udderbelly
Five performers gleefully throw themselves around the stage inside Southbank’s upside down purple cow. Displays of tumbling, trapeze and acrobatics abound, but what makes Australian company Circa’s show different from other circus isn’t their physical skill. Closer is full of unadulterated joy and celebration of human intimacy. Personality is on show as much as circus skills are, and Closer is a powerful reminder to share our emotions with those around us because it feels great to connect with others.
CLOSER DONMAR WC2
NEW-GENERATION GUEST REVIEWER LUKE JONES UNIMPRESSED BY MARBER REVIVAL There were a lot of jokes about strippers’ arseholes. Almost entirely for the joy of saying ‘strippers’ arseholes’. Was that funny in 1997? Half the audience seemed to remember why. But, … Continue reading →