“I’m holding out for a hero” is Bonnie Tyler’s famous song, and it could be the theme tune for David (Danny Lee Wynter) in Black Superhero. He’s long held a torch for friend King (Dyllón Burnside), who is playing superhero Craw in a low-brow movie franchise.
‘The performances are top-notch’: THE BEACH HOUSE – Park Theatre
They say moving is one of the most stressful things you can do. What happens when you move to your dream beachfront home that is ‘in need of renovation,’ you have a baby on the way, and your relationship is evolving fast? Add a flighty sister, and you’ve got the premise for Jo Harper’s new play The Beach House at the Park Theatre.
‘Both bubbles of laughter & heartbreaking tragedy’: LINCK & MULHAHN – Hampstead Theatre ★★★★★
Helena Wilson and Maggie Bain in Linck & Mülhahn, Hampstead Theatre, Feb 2023. Photo: Helen Murray
Writer Ruby Thomas was in the British Library when she came across a reference Linck and Mulhahn, a same-sex couple in 18th Century Prussia wh…
‘It lingers in your mind’: THE ELEPHANT SONG – Park Theatre ★★★★
Nicolas Billon’s The Elephant Song at the Park Theatre takes us through a game of cat and mouse as Dr Greenberg tries to talk resident Michael into revealing the information he has. Michael, with his toy elephant always in his hand, knows the information he has might give him some leverage. He wants to leave the hospital.
‘Bursts onto the stage’: NO ONE – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★★
No One at the Omnibus Theatre bursts onto the stage with a scene in a club, complete with a live DJ, which quickly descends into a fight. Then we jump to a police station and investigation into a missing girl and the violent attack of a man. It sounds dark, but how it is performed brings a humorous touch.
Rev Stan chooses her Top Ten Plays of 2022
This feels like a moment; I haven’t been able to do a best of theatre list since 2019 because of ‘you know what’. It’s been huge fun revisiting the plays I’ve seen – nearly 50. And while that total is down on pre-pandemic levels, it was still tricky to narrow down my choices, but here goes.
‘A fascinating story at its heart’: DMITRY – Marylebone Theatre ★★★
Written by Peter Oswald and Alexander J Gifford ‘after’ an unfinished play by Friedrich Schiller, Dmitry is the story of the much loved, youngest son of the Tzar of Russia who was murdered – or was he?
‘A brilliant ensemble piece’: EUREKA DAY – Old Vic Theatre ★★★★★
There is a scene in Eureka Day at the Old Vic during which the audience is roaring with laughter, but it isn’t anything to do with the actors who are on stage or what they are saying. And it isn’t a mistake, it is intended, and it’s a genius scene for a couple of reasons, how the actors carry on regardless and the relatable source of the comedy.
‘Subtle but powerful’: WHO KILLED MY FATHER – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
I can now say I’ve seen Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio on stage. OK, so they were on telly on stage, but that is technically on stage. Kate and Leo were in Titanic mode, the favourite film of the son in Who Killed My Father. His homophobic father initially refuses to get him the video for his birthday.
‘Brilliantly written & performed’: MONSTER – Park Theatre ★★★★★
There was a point while watching Monster at the Park Theatre when I realised I had my hand over my mouth. What was unfolding on stage was shocking, and I haven’t had a reaction like that to a play for quite a while.
‘Like looking at broken mirror pieces’: THE FOREST – Hampstead Theatre ★★★★
The play follows Pierre, a successful surgeon who’s married and the father of a grown-up daughter, as he juggles his professional and family life with having a mistress.
‘It envelops you into the landscape of serious athletics’: FAIR PLAY – Bush Theatre ★★★★
Fair Play is set in the world of female athletics. Ann joins a running club, meets Sophie, and the two bond over their love of running.
‘One of the stars is for the staircase, which was great’: MANOR – National Theatre ★★
As the stage was plunged into darkness at the end of Manor on the National Theatre’s Lyttelton stage, I was thinking: What was the point?
‘Gives Scott even more scope to sprinkle his performance magic’: THREE KINGS – Old Vic (Online review) ★★★★★
Three Kings, beautifully written by Stephen Beresford, gives Andrew Scott even more scope to sprinkle his performance magic. Created especially for the Old Vic’s In Camera season, it is described as a scratch performance but only the lack of embellishments like set and fancy lighting give any sign of this.
‘A lesson in embracing the simple pleasures’: THE COLOURS – Soho Theatre ★★★★
Harriet Madeley’s The Colours is a verbatim play based on interviews with people with life-limiting illnesses and those working in palliative care.
‘Interesting & strangely intimate experience’: ANNA – National Theatre ★★★★
Anna at the National Theatre is a taut thriller and an interesting and different play watching experience.
‘Murphy’s performance is a triumph’: GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS – Barbican Theatre ★★★★
Cillian Murphy and writer Enda Walsh’s collaborations on stage tend to lean towards the surreal and avant-garde and Grief Is The Thing With Feathers is no exception.
‘Meaningful debate, clever thought & persuasiveness’: THE SWORD OF ALEX – White Bear Theatre ★★★
Meaningful debate, clever thought and persuasiveness get overshadowed by ego manifested as sneering, sarcasm and physical violence.
‘A story that bubbles with laughter one minute & tension the next’: REVELATIONS – Edinburgh Fringe
It’s a story that sweeps you up in a mixture of warmth, humour and tragedy.
EdFringe interview: Writer Kat Woods on Killymuck & frustration with theatre elitism
Award-winning writer/director Kat Woods returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with Killymuck. Here she talks about breaking working-class stereotypes – and why you should always perform like it’s press night.
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