The National Theatre’s 2016 production of Les Blancs was directed by Yaël Farber and used the full resources of the Olivier stage to transmit its full force.
‘A spectacle that only the most hard-nosed sceptic would be unable to completely resist’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
To the credit of Kwame Kwei-Armah and Idris Elba – and maybe Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley – you can feel the urge to find a healing of all sides in a conflict between black and white South Africans that persists to this day.
THE FALL – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
“Theatre is important. Theatre has the most amazing ability to give people an understanding of what can often be very complex social issues by telling human stories, while at the same time speaking truth to power.”
THE FALL – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
“Theatre is important. Theatre has the most amazing ability to give people an understanding of what can often be very complex social issues by telling human stories, while at the same time speaking truth to power.”
LES BLANCS – National Theatre
This play is not about the American backwash from the slave era, but a shattering, important take on Colonial Africa, an unnamed country on the edge of revolution and independence. It is by Lorraine Hansberry (better known for A Raisin In The Sun) who died before it was finished; on the page I suspect would be weaker, though God knows the points it makes are valuable.
NEWS: Sharon D Clarke plays Ma Rainey in new NT season
The National Theatre has announced new production dates and casting updates for its next booking period, running from January to April 2016. Highlights include: Sharon D Clarke in the title role of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by Dominic Cooke; Katie Mitchell’s revival of Sarah Kane’s 1998 play Cleansed; Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs, directed by Yael Farber; a modern take on Nikolai Erdman’s The Suicide by Suhayla El-Bushra, directed by Nadia Fall; and the New York transfer of Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick.