After the 75th anniversary weekend of VE Day, the musical Only The Brave drew my attention as a perfect way to spend an afternoon.
‘Ralph Fiennes & Sophie Okonedo are well matched’: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA – National Theatre (Online review)
I’ve always found Antony and Cleopatra a bit of a slog. There, I’ve said it. Too many scenes which flit about all over the place, too many minor inconsequential characters, deaths which seem interminable.
‘A kind of strange hybrid form’: THIRTY MILLION MINUTES (Online review)
A life distilled to its essentials: 30 Million Minutes indicates the rough length of time that Dawn French had been alive at the time of her solo show recorded in its final incarnation in 2016.
‘This is a defiantly feminist reading of the text’: JANE EYRE – National Theatre (Online review)
The problem with staging a classic novel is that everyone has a slightly different view of how it should be done – many have tried and few have fully succeeded.
‘A success which I intend to repeat’: LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN – Marquee TV (Online review)
This production of Lady Windermere’s Fan is mostly a strong account of a play that will always be overshadowed by Earnest and a very pleasant way to spend a locked down afternoon.
‘Dense study of women in emotional turmoil’: PERSONA – Riverside Studios
While I can fully imagine Persona working on film – indeed it seems to be generally hailed as a masterpiece – on stage I fear it fares less well.
‘Given a new lease of life’: TEN TIMES TABLE – Touring
A review of Ten Times Table by Alan Ayckbourn currently at Richmond Theatre . Still has resonance.
‘Fails to be seriously entertaining’: THE WEATHERMAN – Park Theatre
“A meaningful play about a really important subject”. As I left the Park Theatre having watched Eugene O’Hare’s play The Weatherman, these were the sort of (overheard) comments I heard. Unfortunately, I could not altogether agree.
‘Splendidly sharp & biting satire’: BREXIT – King’s Head Theatre
A revival of the play Brexit at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington is very much of the moment and stirs some classic sitcom memories.
A play about the writing & staging of a play has always been part of a popular genre
Inevitably writers will gravitate to the world they most often inhabit and about which they can speak with a degree of authority whether that be professionally, publically or privately.