The first thing I said to my friend during the interval of Private Lives at the Donmar Warehouse was, ‘I don’t remember this being a play about domestic violence’. We’d just witnessed Elyot (Stephen Mangan) and Amanda (Rachael Stirling) having a physical fight which included Elyot grabbing Amanda by the throat and throwing her onto a sofa.
‘The approach unbalances the play entirely’: PRIVATE LIVES – Donmar Warehouse
The sun is setting on Michael Longhurst’s time at the Donmar Warehouse and his penultimate production is a timeless classic, Noel Coward’s sparky and charismatic relationship comedy about middle aged love, Private Lives, a fairly safe bet which this century alone has resulted in some great comic pairings from Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan to Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor. But Coward’s work is tricky to get right and it always looks far easier than it really is.
‘Makes for an entertaining show’: TROUBLE IN BUTETOWN – Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse, London – until 25 March 2023 With the fast-approaching anniversary of the latest war in Europe, our culture’s continued fascination with the second world war gets a contemporary boost from Trouble in Butetown at the Donmar Warehouse. Written by Diana Nneka Atuona, this follow-up to Liberian Girl, her 2015 debut, won the 2019 George Devine Award for most …
‘A writer who knew that you must both entertain & awaken’: WATCH ON THE RHINE – Donmar Warehouse
HELLMAN’S LESSON IN HUMANITY Theatre can offer few more topical messages for a nation which might hesitate over Ukraine’s needs than this neglected one-set domestic play by Lilian Hellman. It is an artfully jolting picture of a comfortable, … Continue reading →
‘Everything about this production feels authentic & sharp’: WATCH ON THE RHINE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Ellen McDougall’s sharp and biting revival of Lillian Hellman’s rarely performed play Watch On The Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse features plenty of classy performances.
‘Live entertainment has come back with an encouraging roar’: Alun Hood celebrates his Top 20 new theatre shows of 2022
As somebody who loves a listicle plus a bandwagon to jump on, how could I NOT compile my list of my top 20 new (to me) shows of 2022? It’s been 12 months in which live entertainment has come back with an encouraging roar, although the impending cost of living crisis is inevitably, and understandably, causing anxiety in theatrical circles. Please do get out there, if you can, and support your local venue in 2023.
Rev Stan chooses her Top Ten Plays of 2022
This feels like a moment; I haven’t been able to do a best of theatre list since 2019 because of ‘you know what’. It’s been huge fun revisiting the plays I’ve seen – nearly 50. And while that total is down on pre-pandemic levels, it was still tricky to narrow down my choices, but here goes.
‘Enchanting & quietly riveting’: THE BAND’S VISIT – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
In Michael Longhurst’s dreamy new London production of The Band’s Visit at the Donmar Warehouse, where everyone is close to the stage, it’s enchanting and quietly riveting. It also features, in the work of leading lady Miri Mesika, in the role that won Katrina Lenk the 2018 Outstanding Actress Tony, one of the most remarkable British stage debuts in living memory.
‘A moving experience’: SILENCE – Donmar Warehouse
In Silence at the Donmar Warehouse four British playwrights have adapted Kavita Puri’s book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories in a joint production between Donmar Warehouse and Tara Theatre.
‘Factual approach strips away some of the emotion’: SILENCE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★
Silence at the Donmar Warehouse is based on a non-fiction book by journalist Kavita Puri who interviewed people who lived through the partition of India in 1947 and subsequently settled in the UK.
‘Convincing & urgent’: THE TRIALS – Donmar Warehouse
In developing The Trials, the Donmar worked with more than 1,300 young people plus a further 200 in workshops at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and National Youth Theatre. Director Natalie Abrahami, helped by designer Georgia Lowe and video maker Nina Dunn, has created a compelling production, with more than half the cast making their stage debuts.
‘A door slam may be decisive but it’s not final’: A DOLL’S HOUSE PART II – Donmar Warehouse
Does A Doll’s House really need an epilogue? On this evidence it’s a sound choice. The force and weight of Ibsen’s play came from the decision to abandon institutional forces – the husband, the baby, the estate; but in A Doll’s House Part II at the Donmar Warehouse Lucas Hnath, with sound reason and compassion, reminds us that human beings prop up society’s structures and they too have a voice and perspective worth hearing.
‘A tough watch with an abstract style & disjointed scenes’: MARYS SEACOLE – Donmar Warehouse
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s new play is an entirely female affair, no male characters are present, implied or even speak, only the time-travelling idea of Mary, her ghostly mother, Mary’s daughter and another tri-generational white family.
‘The story of the pioneering Jamaican nurse seems to get lost’: MARYS SEACOLE – Donmar Warehouse ★★
What I was expecting from Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play highlighting the story of pioneering Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole was a straightforward biopic with her story being recounted maybe from the present day.
‘A relevant & timely production that will stay with you long after it has finished’: HENRY V – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
This powerful and thought-provoking production is electrifying to watch from start to finish.
‘As much calculating businessman as inspirational ruler’: HENRY V – Donmar Warehouse
There’s way too much going on in this production of Henry V at the Donmar Warehouse, despite Kit Harington’s return to the stage.
‘Kit Harington combines drop-dead gorgeous with an innate everyman likability’: HENRY V – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★★
This thrilling Donmar revival comes at a particularly interesting time in global history, where an unchecked leader invading a neighbouring country on which he has no authentic claim is likely to provoke a particularly vehement reaction.
‘Kit Harington is nuanced, often quiet & considered’: HENRY V – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★★
Henry V opens with a burst of energy at a club with a worse for wear party prince. It’s lifted from Henry IV part 2 and is an important reminder of Henry V’s past and subsequent transformation into a serious king.
‘This is easily Kit Harington’s finest career performance on stage or screen’: HENRY V – Donmar Warehouse
Henry V is the greatest war play ever written and is the template for all literary responses to conflict since produced.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Force Majeure at the Donmar Warehouse
On LoveLondonLoveCulture, Emma Clarendon rounds up the reviews for the stage adaptation of Ruben Östlund’s film Force Majeure, now at London’s Donmar Warehouse until 5 February 2022.