Pearl Cleage’s 1995 play Blues for an Alabama Sky creates a world, the world of dreamers in the fading Harlem renaissance, the Depression starting to bite. It’s domestic: Frankie Bradshaw’s fabulous set has two fire escapes, a hallway, steps, rooms high and low, balcony (where we glimpse other neighbours, sometimes with quiet harmonies sung). Outside the street is barred with lamplight.
‘Some may find it ponderous while others will be fascinated’: BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY – National Theatre
Looking across cultural representations of women in the past 100 years it is possible to draw connections between characters such as Hester Collier in Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, Patrick Hamilton’s Jenny from Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, even up to Kyo Choi’s Kim Han-See in The Apology, all of whom are in pursuit of a fantasy life that will never be fulfilled. Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky, opening at the National Theatre, adds another unknowingly tragic heroine to that list, singer Angel who will grasp at an opportunity to get out of Harlem in 1930.
‘Enhanced by crisp editing & two towering performances’: DEATH OF ENGLAND: FACE TO FACE – National Theatre (Online review)
The Death Of England sequence by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams has had an interesting history. Starting life as a ten-minute microplay film courtesy of the Royal Court.
‘A perfect tour de force of visual, intellectual & emotional pleasure’: DEATH OF ENGLAND: FACE TO FACE – National Theatre/Sky Arts
One of the absolute highpoints of new writing in the past couple of years has been the Death of England trilogy.
Book Review: Hamilton & Me – by Giles Terera ★★★★
While working to bring the smash-hit musical Hamilton to the West End stage, Giles Terera kept a journal that chronicled the journey and now provides a wonderfully moving insight into the process that so few get to be part of.
Book Review: Hamilton & Me – Giles Terera ★★★★★
Illuminating about both the craft of acting and the glorious show that is Hamilton, Giles Terera’s book Hamilton And Me takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through what was clearly an incredibly important period in the performer’s life.
Book Review: Hamilton & Me – Giles Terera
In Hamilton and Me, Giles Terera shares his personal story and relationship with Hamilton and his character, Aaron Burr. It covers how he auditioned for the role of ‘the villain’ and the journey he went on in order to understand and embody him on stage.
‘Celebrating the breadth & creativity of the theatre industry’: THE MEANING OF ZONG / AFTERPLAY – BBC Sounds
The Meaning of Zong and Afterplay showcase the power of audio drama to transport an audience’s imagination and to see the familiar a little differently.
With light at the end of the tunnel for live performance and some of our biggest institutions announcing summer programmes at their venues, the BBC’s new Lights Up Festival has arrived at a moment of optimism, not just acting as a reminder of all …
‘A completely absorbing experience’: BLACK MATTER – Crazy Coqs (Online review) ★★★★★
Giles Terera’s song cycle Black Matter shows exactly how powerful music can be in highlighting important issues.
NEWS: Emergency surgery forces Giles Terera to pull out of Death of England: Delroy at the National Theatre
Having had emergency surgery (not Covid related), Giles Terera will no longer be appearing in the National Theatre production of Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ new one-person play Death of England: Delroy. Understudy Michael Balogun will take over the title role.
‘Full of wit, humour & reminiscence’: A MARVELLOUS PARTY (Online review)
A Marvellous Party, commissioned by the Noël Coward Foundation, ostensibly marks the centenary of Coward’s first appearance on stage and has been produced to raise funds for actors on both sides of the Atlantic who are struggling with the effects of the pandemic.
NEWS: National Theatre returns with new Clint Dyer & Roy Williams play performed by Giles Terera
The National Theatre will reopen with a socially distanced production of new one-person play, Death of England: Delroy, by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams, directed by Dyer and performed by Giles Terera.
’An absolute ray of sunshine’: Hello, Harry! A Celebration of 40 Years at Stage Door (Online review)
Hello Harry!, an online concert celebrating the incredible 40-year career of Harry Gabriel, the Shaftesbury Theatre’s Stage Door Keeper, was an absolute ray of sunshine.
‘This is what theatre is’: HELLO, HARRY! (Online review)
Harry Gabriel is one of those unsung heroes in theatreland: the stage door keeper. Part surrogate parent, part nurse, part firm friend, they are the conduit between front and back of house, cast and crew, performer and fan.
In forty years at the Sha…
NEWS: Giles Terera stars as Sammy Davis Jr in Leslie Bricusse musical, directed by Clarke Peters
Clarke Peters directs the premiere of Leslie Bricusse musical SAMMY, starring Giles Terera as Sammy Davis Jr, at London’s Lyric Hammersmith this summer.
NEWS: Elton John, Sam Mendes, Natasha Gordon, James Graham & Giles Terera feature in the New Year Honours List
Elton John, Sam Mendes, Christopher Hampton, Natasha Gordon, James Graham, Giles Terera and Stephen Mear are among the list of theatre and showbusiness luminaries who feature in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
‘Atwell’s performance anchors the play’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End ★★★★★
Written in 1886, Henrik Ibsen’s play Rosmersholm has a new-found poignancy in today’s political climate.
‘A thing of pure beauty but fails to stir the heart’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End
Neil Austin’s lighting design in Rosmersholm at the Duke of York’s Theatre is a thing of beauty and Hayley Atwell is excellent but Ibsen is still Ibsen…
‘A cracker of an evening’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End ★★★★
It could all go horribly wrong but Ian Rickson’s production of Rosmersholm in Duncan Macmillan’s new adaptation brings Ibsen’s dense moral and political tragedy safely into port.