Plenty of productions search fruitlessly for the magic in As You Like It, but Josie Rourke’s version at the new @sohoplace theatre makes it seems effortless. This is greatly helped by the delightful new space, designed by architects Haworth Tompkins as that rare thing – a theatre in the round.
‘This is contemporary Shakespeare at its finest’: ROMEO & JULIET (National Theatre / Sky Arts)
Jessie Buckley is astonishing as the National Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet makes the jump from stage to screen to extraordinary effect.
‘Manages to be inherently theatrical & a successful movie experience’: ROMEO & JULIET (National Theatre / Sky Arts)
National Theatre and Sky Arts’ hybrid theatre and film production of Romeo & Juliet has been a fascinating experiment resulting in a smart, interesting and entirely collaborative piece of art.
‘Okonedo more than delivers’: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA – National Theatre ★★★★
Or Cleopatra and Antony as it turns out. Ralph Fiennes is plenty good in Simon Godwin’s modern-dress production of Antony & Cleopatra for the National Theatre, but Sophie Okonedo is sit-up, shut-up, stand-up amazing.
‘There are moments here to be savoured’: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA – National Theatre ★★★★
At three and a half hours all in Antony and Cleopatra is a long haul, but with Fiennes and Okonedo making Shakespeare’s verse sing, there are moments here to be savoured.
‘A third dimension of pure class’: Harold & Maude – Charing Cross Theatre
This new stage version of Harold & Maude says more about modern attitudes to ageing, about feminism, migration and seizing opportunities than the current slew of angry Fringe diatribes. And it says it more elegantly.
‘Hopeful, joyous and hilarious’: Harold & Maude – Charing Cross Theatre ★★★★
When told well, coming of age stories are very often a reminder of the fragility and beauty of life, inspiring a carpe diem attitude tempered with immense gratitude. That the ‘Harold and Maude effect’ delivers this message completely liberated of any subtleties is a shining beacon of hope for humanity in otherwise trying times.