The Rocky Horror Show started as a tiny fringe production upstairs at the Royal Court, nearly 50 years ago. Over time it has grown and developed, but still retains the connection with fans with the constant breaking of the fourth wall, and encouraged callbacks (example: when Janet is first mentioned, you shout “Slut!”).
‘A real call to arms’: EMILIA (Online review)
One play I have seen consistently recommended over the last couple of years is Emilia which premiered at The Globe in 2018 and transferred to the West End last year and was awarded three Oliviers.
‘Little thought is left for the content’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse
Alice Birch’s experimental new play [Blank] prioritises form over content and is at heart depressingly reactionary.
‘The writing is excellent, naturalistic & usually pacy’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Alice Birch’s [Blank], about how our criminal justice system treats women, features tremendous ensemble work, physically expressive, verbally articulate, ripping off layers of smug delusion with elegant skill.
‘Is there anything on the London stage more gracefully eloquent?’: EMILIA – West End
It’s a rare moment of beautiful subtlety in a play that is more often considerably bolder in its sentiment, but it’s also a mark of just how nuanced Nicole Charles’ production and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s writing is.
‘Demands to be seen’: EMILIA – West End
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s script for Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre is spectacularly good: funny, poignant, angry and inspiring. It’s an amazing piece of theatre, yes, but it’s also something more than that. It feels like a movement, almost.
‘Shamelessly rousing & disappointingly crude’: EMILIA – West End
Triumphant, if crude, the West End transfer of Emilia is a heartfelt account of a Renaissance woman who has been hidden from history.
NEWS: Further casting is announced for West End transfer of Shakespeare Globe’s Emilia
Further casting has been announced for Emilia, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and directed by Nicole Charles at the Vaudeville Theatre from 8 March to 15 June 2019, following its run at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018.
NEWS: Shakespeare’s Globe production of Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s new play Emilia transfers to the Vaudeville in March 2019
Following its sell-out run at Shakespeare’s Globe, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s new play Emilia, directed by Nicole Charles, will transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre for a strictly limited season from 8 March to 15 June 2019.
NEWS: Full cast joining Hayley Atwell & Jack Lowden in Donmar Warehouse’s Measure for Measure is announced
The Donmar Warehouse has announced the full casting for artistic director Josie Rourke’s production of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Previews start from Friday 28 September 2018.
‘The life of an everyday woman is at its heart’: UTILITY – Orange Tree Theatre
Such a bleak, unexciting play is high risk, for sure. But if women’s lives are to be represented truthfully, then this is the risk that must be taken, and I applaud Emily Schwend for her bravery.
SHAKESPEARE TRILOGY – Donmar at King’s Cross
What you do get from the trilogy day though is a huge sense of occasion, and the undeniable truth of the significance of what has been achieved here. Unabashedly all-female productions of Shakespeare, shaking up a (male dominated) establishment that still can’t quite let these things happen without a range of think-pieces.
THE TEMPEST – Donmar at King’s Cross
Shakespeare 101: muck/fuck about with it all you like, the poor sod’s well out of copyright, but the acid test for any modern rendering is ‘if you hadn’t seen this play before, would this production tell you the story?’ and the answer to the Donmar’s all-girl Tempest is a big fat no.
THE TEMPEST – Donmar at King’s Cross
A slightly odd one this, the Donmar’s all-female adaptation of The Tempest opened at the King’s Cross Theatre in late September, but from what I can tell won’t be officially reviewed until 22nd November.