“We’re not here for your pleasure.” “Consent is hot.” The Fringe Wives Club need some merch with these slogans on. Glittery Clittery has everything you need for a cult feminist disco, plus a labia costume.
Could Hamilton become the new symbol of the Leave campaign?
This pro-immigration, hip-hop reinvention of the all-American musical about a country gaining independence from a distant, tyrannical overlord resonates rather differently in Brexit Britain than it does in America. Forget the NHS bus – could Hamilton be the new symbol of the Leave campaign?
‘You have goat to be kidding me’: GOATS – Royal Court Theatre
You have goat to be kidding me: the Royal Court’s latest experiment is a tonally-confused take on the Syrian conflict, fake news, and livestock management.
‘Charm & wit’: Ordinary Days – Drayton Arms Theatre
There is the glorious Deb. A semi-neurotic slice of contemporary crisis. Nora Perone completely nails the role with her excellent vocals and comic timing.
MENDOZA – Southwark Playhouse
Mexican company Los Colochos Teatro not only knows how to utilize Shakespeare’s Scottish Play in order to tell a story of the here and now, but also uses human imagination in a simple, yet creative and immersive way. Their Mendoza, based on Macbeth, is one of the best Shakespeare productions I have seen.
SKIN TIGHT – Hope Theatre
Skin Tight declares that all good things must end and heartbreak is inevitable – but these are the secrets to a fulfilling life. Gary Henderson’s modern classic is reflective and moving, but the production doesn’t fully serve these ends.
THE TOXIC AVENGER – Arts Theatre
I’ve seen sexist theatre. I’ve seen ableist theatre. But it’s rare to come across a show that is so openly and unashamedly both of these things.
B – Royal Court Theatre
Chile has suffered regular bombings since 2005. Unlike the current spate of terrorism the UK is experiencing, more than 80 disparate, domestic anarchist groups have claimed responsibility for these actions.
THEBES LAND – Arcola Theatre
A playwright wants to write a play about patricide, but with an actual criminal onstage instead of an actor. Initial research leads him to a young man called Martin Santos, serving consecutive life sentences in Belmarsh for killing his father.
THE NASSIM PLAYS – Bush Theatre
Inspired by the humour and spontaneity that comes from cold reading, Nassim Soleimanpour has developed what has become his trademark style of reflective, personal writing performed by an actor who knows nothing of the play.
CHANGELING – #EdFringe
Mowgli, a ferocious boy-child raised by wolves in the jungle, has been kicked out of the pack. He’s trying to figure out what to do next when he meets a mysterious creature from another world – or rather, another story.
GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY – Old Vic Theatre
The music they listen to, and that which seeps from them with aching melancholy, is by Bob Dylan – written decades after the Great Depression ended. Combined with Conor McPherson’s earthy, Celtic script of imagery-laden prose, Girl From the North Country is not a musical.
TORN APART (DISSOLUTION) – Hope Theatre
Tighter dialogue in the latter half and the addition of some physical theatre sequences give this update more sophistication, but a few of the original issues are still there. McNeill, who also directs, shows an inclination towards European theatre aesthetics, but he doesn’t quite go far enough.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS – Underbelly Southbank
Theatre can plumb the depths of despair. It can elevate human glory and achievement. It can stir the heart and still the soul. Or it can throw a fabulous party on a rocket ship full of bearded drag queens in sequinned thongs.
HIR – Bush Theatre
Issac is returning home after a three-year stint as a US marine where his job was to pick up body parts after front line attacks. He longs for the peace and quiet of his nuclear family and the familiarity of middle America so he can make peace with the demons of war.
HAMLET FOOL – Lion & Unicorn Theatre
Anastasia Zinovieva is a motley clown who wants to reenact Hamlet, but it’s a big story to take on herself. She enlists seven people from the audience to fill the major roles and instructs them as they go – similar to Hamlet’s treatment of the players.
THE MISANTHROPE – Drayton Arms
Exchange Theatre sets The Misanthrope in a contemporary newsroom full of gossip, affairs, backstabbing and cocaine-fueled all-nighters. Alceste loathes the way his colleagues behave, but fancies the flirtatious Celimene in spite of his prejudices.
I HEAR YOU AND REJOICE – Tricycle Theatre
I Hear You And Rejoice is a tribute to the power of the single storyteller. Lighting, costume and staging are simple, revealing the power of the skilled actor. The result is a joyful play full of sentimentality that is also hugely funny.
ROOM – Theatre Royal Stratford East
Originally a novel by Emma Donoghue that swept up the award nominations last year after being made into a film, Room is now a play. Adapted by the writer for the stage, it stays true to the original story of a young woman abducted at 19 and imprisoned as a sex slave.
THE PULVERISED – Arcola Theatre
Does anyone really win under capitalism? Alexandra Badea’s The Pulverised doesn’t think so. Even though those near the top of the pyramid living jetsetting lifestyles and rolling in cash might live comfortable lives, they are still left feeling broken and hollow.