We should celebrate the fact that within the space of a year London has played host to stagings of not one but two Sondheim masterpieces that have all but redefined them in theatrical terms: Company and Follies.
‘I predict a hit’: VANYA & SONIA & MASHA & SPIKE – Bath ★★★★
Jonathan Church has a showman’s eye for the popular and it’s a relief to report that Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike provides a strong start to another Bath summer season.
NEWS: Katherine Parkinson & Vanessa Redgrave join line-up for Theatre Royal Bath’s summer season as new productions are announced
Jonathan Church, artistic director of Theatre Royal Bath’s summer season, has announced further productions and new casting for the 2019 programme. Katherine Parkinson joins Rupert Everett in the cast of Uncle Vanya which he also directs.
‘As perfect a piece of musical theatre as I could hope for’: FOLLIES – National Theatre
Just a quickie for this revisit to Follies, which remains as perfect a piece of musical theatre as I could hope for. I loved it then but I really love it now.
Joanna Riding & Janie Dee talk Carousel, Follies & friendship
Janie Dee and Joanna Riding are two of the UK’s finest musical theatre performers. At the National Theatre the return of Dominic Cooke’s acclaimed production of Follies currently stars the two actresses.
‘A simply outstanding piece of musical theatre’: FOLLIES – National Theatre
The Olivier Award-winning Follies returns to the National Theatre in richer, deeper, more resonant form and just blows me away.
‘Scoring top marks across the board’: FOLLIES – National Theatre ★★★★★
Eighteen months on and with a couple of well-placed casting changes Stephen Sondheim’s Follies returns to the National Theatre with the excellence of this devastating musical a breath of fresh air amidst a slew of disappointing recent openings in the capital.
‘It’s worth a visit to see how theatre should be done’: FOLLIES – National Theatre ★★★★
After its sold out run in 2017, Follies is back in true glamorous style as it follows a group of dancers reminiscing and reliving their youth.
‘Provides a combination of dark humour & precisely honed language’: PINTER FOUR – West End
The fourth instalment in Jamie Lloyd’s consistently enjoyable season of Harold Pinter’s short plays contrasts plays from either end of the writer’s career.
‘Exploring how subjective memories can be’: PINTER FOUR – West End
Pinter Four serves up something of a difficult double bill at the Harold Pinter Theatre, but Bríd Brennan and Janie Dee are there to help us through the dark times.
‘The two plays are starkly different’: PINTER FOUR – West End
Pinter Four continues Jamie Lloyd’s Pinter at the Pinter season with the Lyndsey Turner-directed Moonlight starring Robert Glenister as a dying patriarch who bemoans his family’s absence at his deathbed to his long-suffering wife (Brid Brennan).
‘Top drawer cast, top drawer production’: PINTER FOUR – West End
Like ripping off a dramatic plaster, now that I’ve done one show’s worth of Harold Pinter it’s time to plunge headfirst into another. Pinter Three down, Pinter Four to go.
‘Showcasing comic brilliance & an ability to move an audience’: PINTER THREE & FOUR – West End ★★★★
The Pinter at the Pinter season continues with parts Three and Four which showcase both Pinter’s comic brilliance and his ability to move an audience.
‘Someone to hold you too close’: 10 takes on ‘Being Alive’ to celebrate Company’s opening
My Top 10 ‘Losing My Mind’ post has been one of the most popular on the site, so I thought I would repeat the exercise with what is arguably Company’s most iconic song ‘Being Alive’.
NEWS: Further casting for Pinter at the Pinter season includes Janie Dee & Robert Glenister
The esteemed company of Pinter at the Pinter is joined by Bríd Brennan, Janie Dee, Tom Edden, Abbie Finn, Robert Glenister, Isis Hainsworth, John Heffernan, Katherine Kingsley, Eleanor Matsuura, Peter Polycarpou, Dwane Walcott and Al Weaver.
‘Leaves an unpleasantly bitter aftertaste’: MONOGAMY – Park Theatre
For a comedy, there are not enough laughs. Although Torben Betts is perfectly skilled at delivering humorous dialogues, in Monogamy there is very little sun, but plenty of glowering darkness.
‘Why you should not leave in the interval’: MONOGAMY – Park Theatre ★★★
So many characters – and their troublesome characteristics – have piled in, manic sitcom style, with bursts of backstory and downright bafflement, that it seems a problem beyond solution in a final hour. That is why you should not leave in the interval.
‘A side salad of a play’: MONOGAMY – Touring ★★
Playwright Torben Betts has turned to the kitchen for inspiration with his latest play, Monogamy, delving into the pantry of celebrity chef Caroline Mortimer and discovering that there’s no recipe for happiness among her haute cuisine success.
NEWS: National Theatre season features UK premiere of Anaïs Mitchell musical & Patrick Marber version of Exit the King
Details have been released of the National Theatre’s season from May to September 2018. Highlights include the Uk premiere of Hadestown, with music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, the return of Follies and Patrick Marber’s new version of Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King.
‘A performance of understated excellence’: JANIE DEE – Live At Zedel ★★★★
Janie Dee’s brief residency at Live At Zedel was a chance to glimpse a performance of understated excellence. A two-time Olivier winner – and just nominated for a third – Dee drew her inspiration from across the spectrum of song in an enchanting yet eclectic set.