Terry Johnson’s new play is a deeply felt and typically witty look at the cinematographer Jack Cardiff.
Text of the Day: Dead Funny
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
Year in Review: Terri Paddock’s top plays, musicals & performances of 2016
Ahead of rounding up various publications #theatre2016 highlights, I’m taking a moment to reflect on my own theatregoing year and my favourite plays, musicals, performances and other events.
What were our Top 25 reviews & other blogs in November 2016?
As it’s the first of the month, we’re taking a brief moment to remind ourselves of the most popular contributions from our 20+ syndicate Mates bloggers from the month just closed. What were the reviews and other blogs that got readers clicking most? Any surprises?
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Twenty years ago, there was a lot of it about: light comedies afloat in the West End, chronicling the disintegration of a suburban marriage while simultaneously lampooning the middle-class enthusiasm for some hobby or other.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Terry Johnson deftly directs the West End revival of his 1994 play, a sharply observed often painfully funny dark comedy with several dramatic twists, as well as a good dose of slapstick and added custard pies.
Text of the Day: Dead Funny
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Much like 2016 has been unkind to us in taking legends, 1992 took, amongst others, comedy heroes Frankie Howerd and Benny Hill. The Dead Funny Society meets to celebrate the lives of such heroes but in doing this their focus is not where it should be, and some might say life is actually passing them by.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Terry Johnson’s 1994 play functions both as a cleverly interwoven tribute to old school British comedy and a domestic drama, with a good balance of comedic and serious moments. But even though the play is only a couple of decades old, it occasionally feels its age.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Turns out what I should have been on the lookout for was an Alan Ayckbourn play in sheep’s clothing. And if that’s the way your preferences go, as it seems with the majority of the print critics, then this is the play for you.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Terry Johnson’s play Dead Funny, revived here by the author with a stellar cast, definitely has its funny moments but can tend to feel as though it isn’t sure whether it is a comedy or a tragedy.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Terry Johnson’s revival of his classic 1994 comedy combines, with immense art and heart, real sexual and marital misery with a subtle examination of male fan-boy hobbyism in all its strange, sweet, absurd, retarded innocence.
DEAD FUNNY – West End
Why is comedy, in the words of the cliché, such a serious business? One reason is that what we laugh at says a lot about who we are as a nation; another is that the simple “joy of laughter” drowns out the anxieties of life’s little, and not so little, agonies.
What are the Top 15 hottest tickets on the site right NOW?
we’re looking backwards and forwards for our final list today. These are our current Top 15 Ticket Recommendations – broken down into five musicals, five plays and five ‘star attractions’ (in other words, there are famous faces in the cast) – based on both best-sellers over the past month as well as our predictions on the hottest of upcoming openings…
NEWS: Terry Johnson revives Dead Funny with all-star cast including Katherine Parkinson & Rufus Jones
Writer and director Terry Johnson will revive his award-winning 1994 comedy DEAD FUNNY with an all-star cast for a limited season at the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre, running from 17 October 2016 to 4 February 2017, with a press night on 3 November. Tickets are now on sale.