Lindsay Duncan and Hilton McRae reveal the full depths of The Dance of Death’s ambiguity in production that is funny and strangely touching. Directed by the Arcola’s own Mehmet Ergen, the couple – married in real life – interact with a naturalness that takes the edge off their barbed attacks on one another, even as they push one another further and further and, almost, over the edge.
‘Eminently watchable, but I wasn’t dazzled’: THE DANCE OF DEATH – Arcola Theatre
August Strindberg’s The Dance Of Death from 1900 has been credited with prefiguring the works of Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter and most notably provided a template for Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? However, in its latest incarnation at the Arcola in Hackney, which is the culmination of a tour started in May, I was forcibly reminded of the dynamic evoked by Noel Coward’s Private Lives – but with far fewer laughs.
‘It’s a totally captivating story’: Emily Bruni will star in gripping revenge drama Psychodrama
Actress Emily Bruni spoke to Emma Clarendon about starring in Psychodrama at Never For Ever from 21-31 January 2021.
‘It’s another Boswell triumph’: THE MODEL APARTMENT – Bath ★★★★
Donald Margulies’ The Model Apartment is a typical choice for the Ustinov, a work whose meaning and its overall effect will continue to burrow under the surface of its audience members for weeks to come.
KING LEAR – Shakespeare’s Globe
Characterisation from each member of the cast felt natural, beautifully synchronised and there’s a strong sense of unity amongst the ensemble – even when characters’ paths are divided.
Podcast: Talking Berkoff with Nigel Harman + Lunch & Bow stars
Two rarely seen short plays by Steven Berkoff are professionally performed together for the first time in this much-anticipated West End premiere. LUNCH and, written 20 years later, its sequel THE BOW OF ULYSSES are both set at the seaside where a couple first passionately collide and, decades later, sit reflecting on their wasted life […]
LUNCH & THE BOW OF ULYSSES – Trafalgar Studios
Steven Berkoff’s plays are curious examinations of one couple’s relationship from when they first met, then fast forwarding to twenty years later but strongly brought to life by Emily Bruni and Shaun Dooley’s performances.
LUNCH & THE BOW OF ULYSSES – Trafalgar Studios
It’s a series of observations and inner thoughts spoken aloud. This is how it made me feel, it was as if I was a fly on the wall, that I was party to the inner wants and dreams of two people meeting.
LUNCH & THE BOW OF ULYSSES – Trafalgar Studios
In a powerfully devastating and unrelentingly humorous look at the dark and unspoken truths manifest in the psyches of men and women after decades spent together in a relationship, the double header of Steven Berkoff’s Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses at Trafalgar Studios is gripping theatre that will possibly provide less than comfortable cab rides home for some of the couples in the audience.
LUNCH & THE BOW OF ULYSSES – Trafalgar Studios
There’s something instantly inviting about the bench on the seaside pier where average Tom meets average Mary and the crash of the waves under the boardwalk echoes the crash of the noisy internal monologues through which they convince themselves to first connect.
NEWS: City Stories sets new London dates at Wilton’s Music Hall
City Stories returns to London for two nights only on 20 and 21 October 2016. A suite of short plays set to music, the fully-titled City Stories: Tales of Love and Magic in London is a sequence of interwoven love stories written and directed by award-winning playwright James Phillips in an ode to our beloved capital.
NEWS: Shaun Dooley & Emily Bruni star in Berkoff double directed by Nigel Harman
Shaun Dooley and Emily Bruni are to star in a major West End season of Steven Berkoff one-act plays, Lunch and The Bow of Ulysses, directed by Nigel Harman at Trafalgar Studios in October.