I go to the theatre is to be amused or moved or challenged or interested and sadly this collection of Pinter didn’t really reach out across the dark auditorium to me.
‘Jamie Lloyd varies the tone, pace & style’: PINTER THREE – West End
Pinter Three features 11 plays, allowing director Jamie Lloyd to vary tone, pace and style with shorter, more amusing sketches bookended by two more heavyweight works; Landscape and A Kind of Alaska.
‘Extremely pleasant surprise’: PINTER THREE – West End
Overall, I really rated Pinter Three. Whether you know your Pinter or not, I’d wager there’s something new for you here. Funny, touching, and staged and performed with real class. Solidly good stuff.
‘An uneven double bill, but it does work well’: HOGARTH’S PROGRESS – Rose Theatre, Kingston
Hogarth’s Progress consists of two plays by Nick Dear: The Art of Success, 30 years old, and a new companion piece, The Taste of the Town, set 30 years later. Both tell the story of William Hogarth, artist and satirist, his wife Jane and a fluctuating cast of friends and enemies.
‘Still works as a bright satire of the art world’: HOGARTH’S PROGRESS – Rose Theatre, Kingston
Hogarth’s Progress is an ambitious production that, although not entirely flawless, alternates moments of great fun with thought-provoking, timeless questions on the arts, life and politics, and effortlessly captivates the audience.
‘Compelling viewing’: HOGARTH’S PROGRESS – Rose Theatre, Kingston ★★★★
The contrast in styles between Nick Dear’s The Art of Success and The Taste of the Town is striking but both make for compelling viewing in Anthony Banks’ production of Hogarth’s Progress.
‘Feels misguided’: HOGARTH’s PROGRESS – Rose Theatre, Kingston
The oft-misquoted George Santayana once said “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and taking a glance at Nick Dear’s Hogarth’s Progress, you can’t help but feel it is most apposite for the folks at the Rose Theatre Kingston.
NEWS: Lee Evans steps out of retirement to perform in the Pinter at the Pinter season
In what promises to be an exciting event within the Pinter at the Pinter season, Lee Evans will appear in an eclectic mixed bill alongside stage and screen favourite Meera Syal. They join the previously announced Keith Allen and Tamsin Greig from 25 October to 8 December 2018 for 23 performances only. Evans will perform the poignantly witty Monologue and a …
NEWS: Keith Allen & Bryan Dick share title role in Hogarth’s Progress double bill, Full casting
Keith Allen and Bryan Dick will star as William Hogarth, older and younger, in the double bill of Nick Dear’s Hogarth’s Progress at Rose Theatre, Kingston. Full casting is now announced.
NEWS: Antony Sher, Penelope Wilton, Russell Tovey & others join all-star Pinter at Pinter
Further all-star casting has been announced for Jamie Lloyd Company’s Pinter at the Pinter, an unparalleled event featuring all twenty short plays written by Harold Pinter in the West End theatre that bears his name.
NEWS: Keith Allen & Bryan Dick will lead the cast of Rose Theatre’s double-bill Hogarth’s Progress
Rose Theatre Kingston has announced the full cast for Nick Dear’s double-bill Hogarth’s Progress. Anthony Banks directs Bryan Dick as the younger William Hogarth in the first major UK revival of Dear’s The Art of Success, and Keith Allen as the older William Hogarth in the world première of The Taste of the Town.
NEWS: Further casting for Pinter at the Pinter includes Keith Allen, Rupert Graves, Gary Kemp, John Simm & Maggie Steed
Keith Allen, Phil Davis, Paapa Essiedu, Rupert Graves, Gary Kemp, John Simm and Maggie Steed have joined the extraordinary company of Pinter at the Pinter, the unprecedented season featuring all 20 of Harold Pinter’s one-act plays, running from September 2018 to February 2019, to mark the tenth anniversary of the Nobel Prize winner’s death.
GASLIGHT – Touring
Kara Tointon plays Bella Manningham; it is evident from the opening scene that she is a troubled, anxious soul who dotes on her husband, Jack (Rupert Young).
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On…Gaslight Star Kara Tointon
Gaslight is a play written by Patrick Hamilton written in 1938 and I play Bella Manningham who has been married for seven years.
NEWS: Kara Tointon, Rupert Young & Keith Allen star in Gaslight tour
One of the greatest thrillers of all time GASLIGHT returns to UK theatres starring the celebrated stage and television actress Kara Tointon as Bella Manningham, memorably portrayed by Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman in the classic 1944 film adaptation. The UK tour opens at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre on 6 January 2017.
THE HOMECOMING – West End
It’s fair to say that Pinter is not for the faint hearted of theatre goers. The complexity, controversial and sometimes baffling storylines dealing with sexism, antiquated values, male chauvinism and anger does not make for a necessarily enjoyable evening. An awkward reminder of bygone days is an unusual choice to celebrate its 50th anniversary. However what makes this production is the artistic direction of Jamie Lloyd and a cast of brilliant actors each at the height of their profession.
TICKETS: Mark’s Top Ten recommendations + this week’s openings (7 Dec)
What’s opening in London and beyond this week, plus my personal Top Ten of the Week including Bend it Like Beckham and The Winter’s Tale
TICKETS: Mark’s Top Ten recommendations + this week’s openings (7 Dec)
What’s opening in London and beyond this week, plus my personal Top Ten of the Week including Bend it Like Beckham and The Winter’s Tale
THE HOMECOMING – West End
A true theatre masterpiece can survive any directorial mugging. By this definition, Harold Pinter’s 1965 play, The Homecoming, is a robust work of genius. It has to be because, from the very start of this starry 50th anniversary revival, director Jamie Lloyd seems determined to turn it into a lurid mix of cartoon and nostalgia-fest. As the evening begins, the drama’s grubby setting, given a retro look by designer Soutra Gilmour with the addition of a couple of sticks of period furniture, is bathed in bright red light while pounding drums and throbbing bass evoke something like the Swinging Sixties.
NEWS: Jamie Lloyd revives Pinter’s Homecoming for 50th anniversary
The Jamie Lloyd Company returns to the West End with Harold Pinter’s enigmatic masterpiece, The Homecoming, in the 50th anniversary year of the multi award-winning modern classic. Public booking opens Tuesday 22 September 2015 at 10am.