However, Rebecca Frecknall’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre is an unusually youthful reading of a play usually marinated in the disappointments of middle age, which duly casts it in a bold, bracing new light.
‘Vastly overlong & tonally varied piece of drama’: I, JOAN – Shakespeare’s Globe
History wasn’t only written by the winners, but by the men on the winning side so what can it really tell us about the lives, experiences and identities of anyone else? That is the central debate in Charlie Josephine’s new play for the Globe Theatre, I, Joan, a re-examination not only of the supposed facts and assumptions made about Joan of Arc but also her subsequent presentation predominantly by male artists and writers who retrospectively project shape and meaning onto her story, replacing Joan’s voice with their own.
‘A well overdue production of an elusive play’: HENRY VIII – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Written in collaboration with John Fletcher, Henry VIII is quite possibly Shakespeare’s final play – but, despite this country’s continued obsession with all things Tudor, it remains a rarely performed piece. Imagine the delight of Shakespeare completists everywhere when it was announced as part of the Globe’s 2022 summer season, this time in a slightly updated version that sees Hannah Khalil (resident writer) become the third collaborator; the original has a heavy male focus, thanks in part to the two (male) playwrights having to work around the expectations of the establishment to avoid censorship and arrest – but now 400 years have passed, it’s about time the female voices in this story were heard as well.
‘Lively but chaotic affair’: DINOMANIA – New Diorama Theatre ★★★
Overall, Kandinsky showcases a fascinating story delivered with great imagination in Dinomania, but it feels too rushed and needs further development to cover the story and Mantell’s discovery in more detail to make more of an impact.
‘Great fast-paced play that shines a light on some little-known history’: DINOMANIA – New Diorama Theatre
Dinomania at the New Diorama Theatre is a compelling, musical story of a man willing to lose everything in the fight for scientific progress.
THE SCAR TEST – Soho Theatre
Khalil has turned her focus to the experience of female detainees at the notorious Yarl’s Wood detention centre and the many, many indignities suffered by those trying to work their way through the knots and prejudices of our immigration system.
LOVE – National Theatre
No remedy for the January blues this, but one of the most brutally affecting pieces of theatre you could ever bear to see. Alezander Zeldin’s Love follows what life can be found in the anonymous surroundings of a halfway house, a hostel run by the council for people in need of temporary accommodation. People are only meant to be there for a maximum of six weeks but with the system in meltdown, some have been there for over a year, living beyond what anyone could ever call reasonable.
LOVE – National Theatre
Alexander Zeldin’s world premiere of Love is by no means a stereotypical interpretation of the emotion. Natasha Jenkins presents a semi-immersive set, a run-down, stark social housing unit that bleeds out into the audience space – the front rows directly sit in the way of the production itself.
LOVE – National Theatre
New devised piece about poverty and temporary accommodation is extremely powerful, but also deeply flawed.
BEYOND CARING – Manchester
Alexander Zeldin’s perception of life on the lowest rung of the employment ladder is precise, darkly comic and painstakingly accurate.