Noises Off at the Phoenix Theatre is a fast-paced show that still demands an enormously skilled and precise technical performance from every member of its cast and Lindsay Posner’s team makes it look far easier than it really is. 40 years on, Michael Frayn’s play has still got it.
New work, new voices, hybrid approaches: How theatre changed in 2021
It has been another complicated year for theatres with venues unable to welcome in-person audiences for more than five months of 2021 and the tail end of the year returning to enforced closure and performance cancellations.
‘Each number is sensationally staged’: THE DRIFTERS’ GIRL – West End
The nostalgia musical is back in full force with crowd-pleasing easy listening stories that looks back to the 1950s and 60s for their inspiration.
‘This incredible play’: THE NORMAL HEART – National Theatre
Creating socio-political change and even recognition doesn’t just happen, somewhere, sometime, someone has to fight for it, and history is full of organisations who since the end of absolute monarchies (and arguably even before) have tried to make their voices heard.
‘Engaging insights into living with & exploring the nature of disability’: Unlimited Festival – Southbank Centre (Online review)
Festivals are a vital part of the theatre ecosystem, a place to try out new material, explore form and style while giving a valuable platform to all kinds of performance. These activities have been among the hardest hit during the period of closur…
‘Puts musical theatre at the top of the theatrical agenda’: SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD – London Palladium
This incredible concert version of Songs for a New World serves as an all-to-brief reminder of how it feels to listen to live music in an enclosed, traditional theatre space, responding to every note and beat.
Frankenstein vs Frankenstein: Was role swapping any more than a gimmick?
This is the theatre at its very best and on screen, both productions are gripping, using the camera work to richly convey the abstract shapes and grand vision of its boldly beautiful staging, while allowing the connection between the lead actors to shine.
‘A superb choice to lift a nation’s spirits’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre (Online review)
The first show in the National Theatre at Home programme was the 2011 smash-hit One Man, Two Guvnors, one of the great success stories of the Nicholas Hytner era, a cheeky farce written by Richard Bean and starring National Theatre favourites James Corden and Oliver Chris.
‘Far lighter than the themes of the play might suggest’: UNCLE VANYA – West End
This Uncle Vanya is more roundedly entertaining than other recent productions and while that detracts a little from the emotional undercurrents of the original, the fluidity and richness of Rickson’s production, performed by an excellent cast, ensure a satisfying Chekhovian conclusion.
‘Oh what a show! Raw, fresh & intense’: EVITA – Open Air Theatre
With plenty to say about the shallow foundations of political leaders hiding behind their PR machines, Jamie Lloyd’s triumphant Evita is raw, fresh and intense – “oh what a show!”
‘It is a play that requires you to feel rather than to understand’: GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS – Barbican Theatre
Grief on stage and in popular culture is rarely considered as a psychological state of its own but as a means or driver for other behaviour.
‘In a summer of great Irish drama, this feels unsatisfactory by comparison’: ARISTOCRATS – Donmar Warehouse
There’s little for the cast to improve because the faults in Aristocrats lie with Friel. This production draws-out all of the core themes but cannot overcome the play’s reliance on heavy exposition and failure to satisfactorily resolve its own questions about the past of these characters.
‘Once in a while, you know you’re in the presence of greatness’: KING LEAR – West End
Stand-out performances in any era are often only judged so in retrospect and modern theatre offers much that will be remembered. But once in a while, you know you’re in the presence of greatness, and Ian McKellen’s King Lear will be talked about for years to come.
‘Fascinating examination of power in the entertainment industry’: MOOD MUSIC – The Old Vic
Joe Penhall’s new play Mood Music is set in the music industry and examines the complex and tricky personalities whose deep and longstanding knowledge of how the ‘business’ works means they have become adept at manipulating every system.
‘A glorious adaptation’: SUMMER & SMOKE – Almeida Theatre
The business of Summer & Smoke at the Almeida Theatre is handled with such subtly that it allows the deep emotional connection at the heart of the story to flourish. With a magnetic central pairing, Rebecca Frecknall’s production is unmissably beautiful, and the Almeida at its finest.
‘Utilises all the skills of its excellent cast’: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY – West End
Ian Rickson’s production is a tense and unnerving experience that utilises all the skills of its excellent cast to reinforce the oddity of one of Pinter’s most performed plays.
‘A good introduction to Cirque’s signature style’: OVO – Royal Albert Hall
Cirque du Soleil have brought another of their spectacular shows to the Royal Albert Hall as they do every January, and this one is going to extend their stay by touring to several venues around the UK as the year goes on. Great news for those who live too far to have seen the Canadian entertainment giants in London, but I do wish they’d picked a stronger show to share than Ovo.
SANTA MADERA by Cie MPTA – London International Mime Festival
Compagnie MPTA are a regularly returning company to the London International Mime Festival with their forward-thinking and beautifully presented contemporary circus.
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION – County Hall
A dark new Agatha Christie adaptation has become something of a Christmas tradition, and even though the BBC only started this tradition two years ago with an excellent multi-part interpretation of And Then There Were None, it has fast become an established and much anticipated highlight of the festive schedule.
2017 Review and what to see in 2018
Naturally, facing what felt like a significant and unbreachable rift, instability and economic downturn was the likely outcome, which for the arts, could only mean one thing – cultural depletion – as audience seek safety in comfort and nostalgia.