As distinct from my favourite shows of the year, this list celebrates the fact that sometimes the good and the not-so-good co-exist right next to each – some of my favourite moments.
‘A powerhouse performance for posterity’: MEDEA – National Theatre At Home (Online review)
Having missed the National Theatre production of Medea in the theatre I was pleased to catch up with it and, especially, Helen McCrory’s performance for she was on blistering form.
‘It’s a winning formula’: LETTERS LIVE FROM THE ARCHIVE (Online review)
There is something essentially life affirming about the whole idea of Letters Live and these documents will prove an invaluable way of connecting with others as the dark times close over us once again.
‘Death haunts this play as surely as it does Hamlet’: How significant is the role of Hester in The Deep Blue Sea?
Like Shakespeare’s greatest play, The Deep Blue Sea is grief channelled into art, aligning Hamlet and Hester as two souls enveloped by death and choosing whether to live.
‘Helen McCrory is on fine form’: THE DEEP BLUE SEA – National Theatre At Home (Online review)
In the case of The Deep Blue Sea I find myself firmly sitting on the fence. Good performances? Mostly. Fine production? Mainly. Great play? The jury’s still out.
NEWS: Acting honours go to Andrew Scott & Maggie Smith at 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards while Sweat wins Best Play
Acting honours go to Andrew Scott & Maggie Smith at the 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards while Sweat wins Best Play.
14+ shows most likely to make critics’ #theatre2016 list of lists
I rounded up my personal choices in a recent blog and have enjoyed reading and publishing the scores of Year in Review blogs (nearly 30!) from My Theatre Mates colleagues in recent weeks. As an addendum, I’ve now rounded up critics’ round-ups in other publications.
Year in Review: Ian Foster’s Best Actress in a Play & in a Musical
In addition to lists of top productions, Mates contributor Ian Foster reviews his reviews from the past year to award his personal prizes for the best performances for Best Actor and Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in both plays and musicals…
Weekly Theatre Podcast: The Spoils, Titanic, The Deep Blue Sea, Human Animals
This week the London theatre bloggers discuss Jesse Eisenberg’s double West End debut The Spoils, Helen McCrory in Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, the return of Titanic, and Human Animals at the Royal Court.
TICKETS: Mark’s Top Ten recommendations this week (20 June)
In Mark Shenton’s regularly updated list of top ten ticket recommendations, new entries this week include The Spoils, Blue/Orange, The Deep Blue Sea and The Go-Between.
THE DEEP BLUE SEA – National Theatre
Terence Rattigan’s best play stars Helen McCrory in an uncertain production that attempts an emotional update.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: The Deep Blue Sea at the National Theatre
Terence Rattigan’s heartbreaking drama reunites director Carrie Cracknell and Helen McCrory at the National Theatre, where it runs in rep at the Lyttelton until 21 September 2016. But is the quality of the production worthy of the collaboration?
REVIEW ROUND-UP: The Deep Blue Sea at the National Theatre
Terence Rattigan’s heartbreaking drama reunites director Carrie Cracknell and Helen McCrory at the National Theatre, where it runs in rep at the Lyttelton until 21 September 2016. But is the quality of the production worthy of the collaboration?
THE DEEP BLUE SEA – National Theatre
“We’re death to one another, you and I”. The great cry from trapped, degraded macho Freddie, struggling to leave the desperate demanding Hester Collyer as she clings to his very shoes, marks a turning-point in what – as any fule kno – is one of Terence Rattigan’s greatest and most intimately felt plays. Her “Don’t leave me alone tonight!” rips through the air as the door slams. She has already tried suicide once.
5 shows to look out for in June: Aladdin, The Spoils, The Go-Between & more
Is it really June already? Summer is upon us. Here are a few hot show opening this month that you need to keep an eye out for…
VIDEO, pics and press pass: Back to the 70s with Damian Lewis and John Goodman in American Buffalo
As Rolls Royce productions go, they don’t get much better than this. Homegrown screen and stage star Damian Lewis returning the stage after a six-year absence, and for the first time since Homeland made him a mega mega international star (after seeing him in this and Band of Brothers, my nephews in Chicago simply refuse […]
Critics’ Circle winners contradict Standard: any bets on Oliviers?
If you read my Best of the Best of #theatre2014 round-ups a few weeks ago, you may have been able to predict most of the winners of the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, announced today at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre. That’s with the possible exception of Best Actress, which based on the frequency […]