We round up the reviews for the world premiere production of A Very Expensive Poison, Lucy Prebble’s reimagining of Luke Harding’s exposé of the events behind the notorious death of ex-FSB Officer Alexander Litvinenko.
‘Prefers buffoonery over analysis’: A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON – Old Vic
Lucy Prebble’s latest tells the story of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in A Very Expensive Poison, but prefers buffoonery over analysis.
‘Some of us will just not know what to think’: A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON – Old Vic
In A Very Expensive Poison Lucy Prebble has serious arguments to outlay about the relationship between international governments and narrative misdirection, but the broadly comic approach to presentation feels at odds with the meaning of the play.
‘Unlikely to either open minds or stimulate them’: A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON – Old Vic
Though it’s in places informative, A Very Expensive Poison is a very expensive means of sapping the intrigue and human interest from one man’s inhumane death
NEWS: Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Alan Cumming & Daniel Radcliffe feature in new Old Vic season
Details of Matthew Warchus’ Season 5 at The Old Vic Theatre have been announced. Highlights include:
Claire Foy and Matt Smith making their Old Vic debuts in Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs and Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe starring in a double bill of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame and Rough for Theatre ll.
‘There is no shortage of charm on display’: LOCAL HERO – Edinburgh ★★★
Local Hero, the Lyceum’s co-production with the Old Vic, has the authenticity and drive one would expect considering the source material, but fails to add much that is new.
NEWS: Musical version of Local Hero premieres in Edinburgh, transfers to Old Vic in 2019
John Crowley will direct the world premiere of Local Hero, a stage adaptation of the 1983 film, co-written by David Greig and Bill Forsyth, with music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler. The premiere production, a collaboration between the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and the Old Vic, will run in Edinburgh 23 March to 20 April 2019, then transferring to London in June (opening date tbc) for a run to 31 August 2019.