Thornton Wilder’s writing in Our Town feels as fresh and innovative as it must have done in the 1930s and taking an early season risk on a less conventional play ultimately pays off.
‘Consistently interesting & valuable experience’: ORPHEUS DESCENDING – Menier Chocolate Factory
Even a middling Tennessee Williams play – Orpheus Descending – is better than most, and this one still has plenty to say about sacrifice and suffocation in small-town America
‘It’s more than enough that this eye-opening production exists at all’: DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Young Vic
It’s Marianne Elliott’s impressionistic approach that yields considerable insight into the themes of Death of a Salesman, the characters’ attachment to material possessions as indicators of success, and most especially to the physical home that contains their family history, which they have spent decades slowly paying-off.
Best of the Blogs: All My Sons, Rosmersholm, Man Of La Mancha, This Is My Family & more
As part of a new series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out seven of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (29 April-6 May 2019), ranging from Johnny Fox’s nostalgic return to see All My Sons and Maryam Philpott’s thoughts on the much-anticipated Rosmersholm starring Tom Burke and Hayley Atwell.
‘Hayley Atwell’s multi-layered performance reveals a heroine like no other’: ROSMERSHOLM – West End
Most importantly Ian Rickson’s gripping production of Rosmersholm suggests that great female roles are to be found among the classics if only we look hard enough.
‘Builds to an edge-of-your-seat tension’: ALL MY SONS – The Old Vic
With compelling performances from the four leads this production of All My Sons fulfils its promise, a gripping Miller tragedy that concludes with a lasting sense of devastation.
‘A vibrant & meaningful interpretation’: THREE SISTERS – Almeida Theatre
It is a vibrant and meaningful interpretation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters that reaps rewards. Keep on an eye on this new theatre partnership, it could be around for many years to come.
Best of the Blogs: Toast, A German Life, Tony’s Last Tape, Top Girls & Queen of the Mist
Carrying on her new series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out five of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (8-14 April 2019).
‘A satisfying & hearty concoction’: NIGEL SLATER’S TOAST – The Other Palace
Smartly adapted by Henry Filloux-Bennett, Nigel Slater’s Toast will warm you through without disguising its darker flavours, a satisfying and hearty concoction that sees the world through the eyes of a child.
‘It is a play that requires you to feel rather than to understand’: GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS – Barbican Theatre
Grief on stage and in popular culture is rarely considered as a psychological state of its own but as a means or driver for other behaviour.