I’m unashamedly a friend and champion of the theatre; but I can never been a simple cheerleader for it, regardless of the circumstances or my connections with people in a show I’m seeing. As honest critics find out all too often, we’re loved when we love something we see; but that can quickly pivot to becoming the enemy when we don’t.
There’s nothing like it: TV dips into theatrical friendships from Staged to Dames
I’ve just gorged on the second series of Staged, the blissful second series of the actors-in-lockdown zoom show, directed and co-written by Simon Evans, with Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing (versions of) themselves.
After Matt Smith & Claire Foy in Lungs, here are 5 more plays perfect for the social distance treatment
The idea of re-performing Lungs while the actors safely socially distance got me thinking about other plays which have been performed over the past year or two that could be similarly revived.
NEWS: Ian McKellen is the first actor to top The Stage 100
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen has been named number one in The Stage 100, ‘the definitive guide to the most influential figures working in the UK theatre and performing arts industry today’. He is the first actor to ever top the list.
Mind the Blog’s Favourite female performances of 2019
As with last year, there were too many brilliant performances to restrict this to one combined list – so once again I’ve split them up into male and female performances.
NEWS: Acting honours go to Andrew Scott & Maggie Smith at 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards while Sweat wins Best Play
Acting honours go to Andrew Scott & Maggie Smith at the 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards while Sweat wins Best Play.
‘The play is equally worthy of attention’: A GERMAN LIFE – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★
When Maggie Smith heads to the stage it is undoubtedly a big draw but I think the play, A German Life, is equally worthy of the attention, subtly asking important questions about culpability and responsibility.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: A German Life at the Bridge Theatre
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Jonathan Kent’s production of A German Life starring Maggie Smith.
‘Without doubt, this is the theatre event of the year’: A GERMAN LIFE – Bridge Theatre
Maggie Smith is absolutely triumphant in this memoir of a Berlin secretary in the Nazi era, A German Life at the Bridge Theatre.
NEWS: Maggie Smith will return to the stage in Christopher Hampton’s new play A German Life at the Bridge Theatre
Maggie Smith will return to the stage for the first time in 12 years in A German Life at the Bridge Theatre, a new play by Christopher Hampton drawn from the life and testimony of Brunhilde Pomsel (1911-2017). Smith, alone on stage, plays Brunhilde Pomsel.
Life outside of Edinburgh? Mark Shenton rounds up the week in theatre from both sides of the pond
Mark Shenton rounds up news of singalong performances of Bat Out of Hell, reviews of Aristocrats, Bring It On and Little Shop of Horrors and an extract from an interview with Kathleen Turner.
‘Surely, this is the crème de la crème of Brodie adaptations’: THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE – Donmar Warehouse
Polly Findlay’s fluent production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie avoids the fluting exaggerations of some previous versions and tells the story with a fine appreciation of its grounding in the needy emotions of all concerned.
‘Eclipses any version of this story you may have seen before’: THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE – Donmar Warehouse
It’s a short run at the Donmar – take any available ticket, Polly Findlay’s splendidly-cast and nimbly directed production is a must-see. And let’s hope it has a longer life somewhere else.
NEWS: Felicity Kendal & Maureen Lipman lead Lettice & Lovage at Menier
Felicity Kendal and Maureen Lipman will star in the first major London revival of Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage, directed by Trevor Nunn at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
NEWS: Judi Dench & Maggie Smith reunite for joint Q&A at Tricycle fundraiser
Downton Abbey star Jim Carter hosts Q&A evenings with Paul Greengrass, Danny Boyle, and a joint conversation with Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith as part of the Tricycle Theatre’s new ‘In Conversation With…’ fundraising series.
Diary of a Theatre Addict: Maggie Smith and me – and sharing a hip surgeon!
I’ve seen twenty shows in the last three weeks, including a welcome return visit to The Book of Mormon – and also discovered that Maggie Smith and I share a hip replacement surgeon!
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER – The Glory
With David Suchet currently bashing Lady Bracknell’s back doors in in the West End it seems almost a logical sequence that trash drag supremo Jonny Woo should assail Katharine Hepburn’s New Orleans matriarch role in Suddenly Last Summer. Except he looks nothing like Kate, veering instead towards a creamy mash of Hattie McDaniel in Gone […]
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