Headlong has announced its programme for 2020/21, the final season under current artistic director Jeremy Herrin.
‘Hard not to be impressed’: MY BRILLIANT FRIEND – National Theatre
Melly Still’s reworking of April De Angelis’ adaptation of My Brilliant Friend gives the show both a flowing and episodic quality as the interior monologue of the protagonist in the books is replaced by fully dramatised scenes.
More apprenticeships please
If more resources are not put into more apprenticeships, it will be a great pity for both for the creative industries & the many young people who simply don’t get the opportunity to make the best of their talents.
NEWS: National Theatre’s 2020 programme includes new production of Romeo & Juliet starring Josh O’Connor & Jessie Buckley
The National Theatre has announced its programme of productions between December 2019 and June 2020, including Simon Godwin directing Romeo & Juliet with Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley.
‘The best thing is its pitch perfect cast’: THE ANTIPODES – National Theatre
The Antipodes is certainly not the play for you if you want an easy, purely entertaining night at the theatre. However, if you’re willing to put in the effort and have something to chew over then it very much is for you.
‘This is a writer with lots to say’: THE ANTIPODES – National Theatre
While the descent into a kind of collective insanity may seem strange in lieu of a plot in Annie Baker’s Antipodes at the National Theatre, as with all her work you find your thoughts returning to it again and again once the curtain comes down.
‘As finely-tuned a theatrical machine as you are likely to see’: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES – Touring ★★★★
There is a winning combination of the playful and the profound in Barber Shop Chronicles which allies serious stagecraft and knowledge to sheer enjoyability.
‘Little thought is left for the content’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse
Alice Birch’s experimental new play [Blank] prioritises form over content and is at heart depressingly reactionary.
Best of the Blogs: The Mates give their verdicts on Noises Off, Translations, [Blank], The Girl Who Fell, Tickle The Musical & more
In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 20 October 2019), ranging from Olivia Mitchell’s thigh-slapping joy on seeing Noises Off to Libby Purves’ plea that we listen to the story being told in [Blank] at the Donmar Warehouse.
Text of the Day: Hansard
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
‘A slow build to an explosive picture’: MASTER HAROLD & THE BOYS – National Theatre ★★★★
Master Harold & The Boys is a play about lessons and devastating loss, about how you can’t dance around injustice and its impact.
Best of the Blogs: Master Harold, The Watsons, Mamma Mia!, The Open, Two Ladies &…
In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 6 October 2019), ranging from Libby Purves’ childhood reminiscences associated with Master Harold and the Boys at the National to Abba-fest Mamma Mia! The Party and reviews of new plays The Open, Two Ladies, The Watsons and more. Enjoy.
‘It is beautiful. Then it is ugly’: MASTER HAROLD & THE BOYS – National Theatre ★★★★★
As a world of harmony tilts into filth you can feel the jolt going through the audience in Athol Fugard’s personal play set in apartheid era South Africa, ‘Master Harold’… and the boys at the National Theatre.
Absolutely superb’: A TASTE OF HONEY – Touring ★★★★
The National Theatre does not disappoint with A Taste of Honey. The production is absolutely superb, with some of the cleverest staging imaginable.
‘Writes with wit & clarity’: HANSARD – National Theatre
Simon Woods’ debut play Hansard, about the parliamentary ruling class is timely, and amusingly preceptive, but ultimately unsatisfying.
‘High quality & thought-provoking work’: HANSARD – National Theatre
Lindsay Duncan and Alex Jennings prove entirely watchable in Hansard, a sharp new play at the National Theatre.
‘A great political play’: HANSARD – National Theatre
Hansard is a great political play, one that tells us everything about the society we have become and why the impasse of the last three years cannot be easily broken.
‘Grief is the point of all’: HANSARD – National Theatre ★★★★
With Parliament in uproar upriver, the NT hit a luckily apt moment to stage Simon Woods’ first play Hansard and promote it as a “witty and devastating portrait of the governing class”. Just the night to hurl some fine invective at an audience fancying a torture-a-Tory session.
‘Haunting, both actual & metaphorical, is at its heart’: APPROPRIATE – Donmar Warehouse
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Appropriate is a brilliantly acute and entertaining, if a bit depressing, deconstruction of the great American family drama.
‘Completely beguiling & emotionally true’: AS YOU LIKE IT – Hornchurch
The Public Acts programme produces another winner in As You Like It at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, community theatre at its absolute best.