Site specific theatre hasn’t been easy over the last eighteen months – in fact you can take out the first two words of that statement. It’s been tricky enough getting regular venues open, let alone some of the more esoteric settings which were used before you know what kicked off. A production that it would probably be almost impossible to revive now is Clare Bayley’s The Container which happened at the Young Vic in 2009. Set in an actual shipping container near to the theatre it allowed for just 28 audience members each time crammed onto uncomfortable benches around the perimeter with a narrow central strip for the 6 performers to use. 34 bodies in close proximity packed into a metal box with no sense of social distancing and not a mask to be seen; even Covid deniers might baulk.
‘Chillingly atmospheric’: EQUUS – West End ★★★★
Ned Bennett’s thrillingly engaging production of Peter Shaffer’s play grabs the audience’s attention and imagination brilliantly.
Post-show Q&A: How many different ways can one audience interpret Equus?
How many different ways can one play be interpreted? The company of Equus were very keen not to impose their opinions but the audience at last night’s post-show Q&A at Trafalgar Studios had plenty of their own. Which were right? All of them! And what a knowledgeable audience it was. Many had seen this or other previous […]
‘Feels like a starting point for a wider narrative’: BULLET HOLE – Park Theatre ★★★
A play about female genital mutilation is never going to be an easy watch but I particularly was drawn to Bullet Hole to better understand the culture and tradition that supports it, particularly in a 21st-century Western context.
‘Valuable in contributing to our understanding of mental illness’: DISTANCE – Park Theatre ★★★
Alex McSweeney’s Distance playing at the Park Theatre displays an innovative representation of the experience of depression, but with a slightly wandering narrative.