Leaving the former Young Vic production a lad far too young to remember 1968 said sadly to me: “It was the beginning of Now, wasn’t it?” He is right. James Graham’s play Best of Enemies, now spectacularly in the West End, is about the TV confrontations between the arch-conservative William F. Buckley and the maverick gay liberal Gore Vidal during an American election. But it also neatly prefigures today’s divisions, demonstrations and intolerances.
‘Applauds Williams’ technique as a conjurer’: THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Duke of York’s Theatre
Amy Adams, already an acclaimed and multi Oscar-nominated film actor with some notable stage experience in the US, makes her West End debut in Jeremy Herrin’s new version of The Glass Menagerie.
‘You feel Amy Adams’ absence when she is not on stage’: THE GLASS MENAGERIE – Duke of York’s Theatre ★★★
Amy Adams’ Amanda is a matriarch full of bustle and bristle in Jeremy Herrin’s production of The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre. She is an irritating spark to her despondent and bored son and pushes her shy, nervous daughter Laura further into her own world. And, she is such a spark that you feel Amanda’s absence when she is on stage.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Best of Enemies at the Young Vic Theatre
On LoveLondonLoveCulture, Emma Clarendon rounds up the reviews for the world premiere James Graham’s latest political drama, Best of Enemies, now running at the Young Vic Theatre until 22 January 2022.
‘A fine slice of time travel with an eye on contemporary political malaise’: BEST OF ENEMIES – Young Vic Theatre
James Graham’s latest history play has an eye on the present but a messy staging.
‘An entertaining, instructive, questioning, honest play’: BEST OF ENEMIES – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
James Graham’s mission might seem unfashionable: trawling 20th-century history and public culture, looking not for villains and heroes but for the nuances of human behaviour.
‘James Graham asks interesting questions about public posturing versus private belief’: BEST OF ENEMIES – Young Vic Theatre
James Graham’s new play Best of Enemies takes us back to the 1960s, demonstrating that the roots of our division partially lay in the creation of televised intellectual debating.
‘The general tone is that of history lite’: THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT – West End
This is a labour of love. Hilary Mantel has adapted The Mirror and the Light, the third novel of her Tudor trilogy, in collaboration with actor Ben Miles.
‘Even if you came to it cold, this play would grip you by the throat’: THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT – West End ★★★★★
It was rising eight years ago that the first two parts of Hilary Mantel’s majestic Wolf Hall trilogy came to the stage, adapted by Mike Poulton and directed by Jeremy Herrin.
‘An interesting character study of the King & his best man’: THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT – West End
Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles have combined a sizeable semi-fictional tome and the familiar historical story of Henry VIII, distilling them into a properly theatrical show with something new to say about this era and the humble man who, for 10 years, commanded a king.
‘Didn’t I want to see it unfiltered by the opinions of others?’: Mark Shenton explores critical opinion and its influence on perception
One of the pleasures — but also the risks — of being a theatre critic is that you come first to a new production, ready to form your own opinions on what you’ve seen, before you’ve already encountered or digested the opinions of others.
NEWS: Amy Adams to make West End debut in new production of The Glass Menagerie
Six-time Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams will make her West End debut in a new production of Tennessee Williams’ celebrated memory play The Glass Menagerie, the debut production from Second Half Productions, a new entertainment company founded by Jeremy Herrin, Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly.
NEWS: Further casting for the West End production of The Mirror & the Light
Producers Playful Productions and the Royal Shakespeare Company have announced initial casting for The Mirror and the Light in the West End.
‘A meaningful experience’: THE DUMB WAITER – Old Vic
We may not have been able to see our fellow digital audience members but we knew they were there, making The Dumb Waiter feel like a communal event.
‘Surprisingly beautiful’: AFTER LIFE – National Theatre ★★★★
Where Jeremy Herrin directs and Bunny Christie designs, you expect something pretty damn theatrical before After Life ends, and this we get.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: After Life at the National Theatre
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Jack Thorne’s adaptation of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film of the same name now playing at the National Theatre.
NEWS: The RSC’s production of The Comedy of Errors transfers to the Barbican in November 2021
The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that The Comedy of Errors will transfer to the Barbican for a strictly limited London run following a season in Stratford-upon-Avon and a short national tour.
NEWS: Final part of the Wolf Hall trilogy The Mirror & the Light is set for the West End in September 2021
Producers Playful Productions and the Royal Shakespeare Company have announced that the third and final novel in the Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror and the Light has been adapted for the West End stage. The world premiere will run at London’s Gielgud Theatre from 23 September for a strictly limited season until 28 November, with an opening night on 6 October.
NEWS: The Old Vic announces Back Together season
The Old Vic has announced its Back Together season, the seventh from artistic director Matthew Warchus, which will run from July 2021 to July 2022 and combines both streamed and live shows.
NEWS: New plays by Ben Okri & James Graham feature in the Young Vic’s new season
Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah has announced a new season of work, Welcome Back and Welcome Home, welcoming theatre-makers and audiences back through the doors for the first time since the venues’s 50th Birthday celebrations in October 2020.