Award-winning French playwright Marc Emmanuel Soriano’s One Who Wants To Cross (Un Qui Veut Traverser), a dramatic meditation on migrants, wherever their place of origin, receives its UK premiere at London’s Finborough Theatre from 31 January to 25 February 2023 (press nights are 2 and 3 February). Translated by Amanda Gann and directed by Alice Hamilton, One Who Wants To Cross is …
‘We’re left wanting more & that’s never a bad thing’: SALT-WATER MOON – Finborough Theatre
Though it’s considered to be a Canadian classic, it’s somehow taken nearly 40 years for David French’s Salt-Water Moon to reach the UK, directed by Peter Kavanagh at the Finborough. Part of the semi-autobiographical “Mercer series”, this gentle two-hander introduces us to Jacob (Joseph Potter), newly returned to his Newfoundland home after a year in Toronto, and Mary (Bryony Miller), the sweetheart he’s come to win back.
‘An engagingly intimate production’: SALT-WATER MOON – Finborough Theatre
If you want to see a couple of young actors bringing truth and sincerity to a well structured piece of dialogue and elevate it towards the stars which provide a backdrop to this piece, then head for the Finborough for Salt-Water Moon.
New post-show Q&A: Terri Paddock discusses the dramatic meditation on migration in One Who Wants to Cross at the Finborough Theatre
I’m at London’s Finborough Theatre in February for the UK premiere of Marc-Emmanuel Soriano’s multi-award-winning French play One Who Wants to Cross (Un Qui Veut Traverser), directed by Alice Hamiton.
‘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.
‘Enormous contemporary resonance’: 12:37 – Finborough Theatre
Julia Pascal is a resourceful theatre-maker who is unafraid of controversy. Her interest in the relationship between the personal and the political, and sympathy with both the victims of the Nazis and those of Israeli expansionism, means that her work is often provocative, and always unsentimental. She has also been active in bringing some less known episodes of Jewish history to public attention. In her latest play, 12:37, she explores the relationship between a couple of Irish Jews and the fight to create a Jewish state in 1940s Palestine, where the main colonial power was Britain.
‘Quiet, intimate & satisfying’: NOT NOW – Finborough Theatre ★★★★
In David Ireland’s charming two-hander Not Now at the Finborough Theatre his usual concern about the British-Irish question of identity remains, but without the explosions of violence characterised in works like Cyprus Avenue.
‘Powerful & chilling’: THE CORAL – Finborough Theatre ★★★
How can such a small item of jewellery create so much chaos and disruption? The blood coloured coral brooch appears to lead the wearer to become obsessed with power and wealth. The Coral makes its first staged performance in one hundred years. The storyline is still relevant in our society and strained family relationships are probably more relatable.
‘Timely, enterprising, emotionally shattering, politically shaming’: TWO UKRAINIAN PLAYS – Finborough Theatre
These two Ukrainian Plays at the Finborough Theatre were both both first born at the time of the 2014 conflict in Ukraine, the second particularly in the Donbas where ugly divisions erupted between Russian sympathisers and supporters of the elected and legitimate government in Kyiv.
‘Feels immensely immediate & relevant’: PENNYROYAL – Finborough Theatre ★★★★★
Lucy Roslyn’s Pennyroyal takes Edith Wharton’s 1922 novella The Old Maid as its initial inspiration but feels immensely immediate and relevant. It centres on a very specific theme – Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, not a Wharton issue, to be clear – but in it’s unflinching, open-hearted depiction of the stresses and dynamics of family relationships it nudges towards the universal. There’s a lot to unpack and connect with here, and it is exquisitely observed.
‘Know us by our courage, not by our fear’: VOICES FROM UKRAINE – Finborough Theatre (Online Show)
The second pair of plays from #FinboroughFrontier’s quartet of pieces #VoicesFromUkraine reflecting on the situation in the war torn nation is now available. They join the first couple to form a suite of programmes focusing on life in the country as the inhabitants are invaded by a hostile force and their response to the situation.
‘An intriguing piece of historical drama set in the wilds of Scotland’: THE STRAW CHAIR – Finborough Theatre
Sue Glover’s play is set on Hirta, the largest island on St Kilda, and takes inspiration from the story of Rachel Erskine, Lady Grange, in the eighteenth century.
VIDEO: Who’s in charge in a toxic teenaged relationship? Bacon post-show Q&A
The spark of an idea for award-winning new two-hander Bacon, now in its extended world premiere season at London’s Finborough Theatre, came when playwright Sophie Swithinbank, then working as a nanny, witnessed a bullying incident between two boys in a park.
New post-show Q&A: Join Terri Paddock for the extended premiere of ★★★★★ Bacon at the Finborough
As part of her resumed post-show talk series, Mates founder Terri Paddock will chair a discussion for the premiere production of Sophie Swithinbank’s award-winning new play Bacon at London’s Finborough Theatre this Wednesday 23 March 2022. Time to get booking!
NEWS: David Ireland’s Yes So I Said Yes gets British premiere at Finborough Theatre
Yes So I Said Yes, written by Cyprus Avenue’s multi-award-winning author David Ireland, receives its British premiere this month at London’s Finborough Theatre, in a limited season running from 23 November to 19 December 2021. Time to get booking!
‘It’s refreshing to see Australian writing on the London stage’: THE SUGAR HOUSE – Finborough Theatre ★★★
Nobody who sees this award-nominated Australian drama is likely to accuse playwright Alana Valentine of lacking ambition.
‘An enjoyable evening, superbly acted’: HOW TO SURVIVE AN APOCALYPSE – Finborough Theatre ★★★
Jordan Hall’s multi-award-winning Canadian comedy, in a smart staging by Proud Haddock artistic director Jimmy Walters, is so engaging you don’t really need a glass of overpriced wine to enhance your experience.
‘Intriguing revival’: MASKS & FACES – Finborough Theatre (Online review)
This is Masks And Faces (full title: Masks And Faces or Before And Behind The Curtain) his 1852 play set in the world of the theatrical profession which the Finborough rediscovered and produced in 2004 and is now being presented as a recorded Zoom reading.
‘Chance for a wider audience is undoubtedly a good thing’: LEATHER – Finborough Theatre (Online review)
The Finborough Theatre’s latest show to hit the ether is Leather which is now available on demand. It is a play which isn’t for the faint hearted and comes trailing clouds of notoriety as one of the first plays (if not THE very first) to highlight male rape, domestic violence and sado-masochism within the gay community.
‘As much about life as it is death’: A Brief List Of Everyone Who Died – Finborough Theatre (Online review)
Quite apart from its quirky title, A Brief List Of Everyone Who Died, what immediately strikes the viewer is the elegance of the structure of this piece from American writer Jacob Marx Rice.