We round up the reviews for the European premiere of Paula Vogel’s play now playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
‘Seething with life & feeling’: INDECENT – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★
Rather than return cautiously with a safe old feelgood favourite the Menier’s artistic director David Babani has taken – deep breath – a new American-Jewish Broadway play about a 1923 scandal about a lesbian play in Yiddish from 1907, and its 1940s aftermath in a doomed attic in the Lodz ghetto
‘Unmissable, breathtaking piece of theatre’: INDECENT – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★
This may be a sweeping statement, but if you’re not profoundly affected by Indecent, Paula Vogel’s provocatively titled powder keg of a play, as staged here in Rebecca Taichman’s Tony Award-winning production, then can you really call yourself a theatrelover?
From Cinderella to the Court: Mark Shenton reflects on another eventful week in the theatre calendar
The week began with Andrew Lloyd Webber being mentioned by Boris Johnson, as he extended the lockdown from the originally hoped-for ‘Freedom Day’ of 21 June to 19 July, at which point theatres may be able to reopen without social distancing in place;
‘The friendly chemistry zips off the screen’: FALLING STARS – Union Theatre (Online review)
Falling Stars, a loving musical tribute to the great songwriters of the first three decades of the 20th century, is now streaming for a second time on stream.theatre.
‘A richly rewarding experience’: FALLING STARS – Union Theatre (Online review)
Written and conceived by Peter Polycarpou, Falling Stars is a charming and fascinating exploration of composers, collaborators and publishers of the 1920s.
The Show People Podcast: A 4th anniversary special with Peter Polycarpou
This episode of was recorded in January 2020 – before Covid-19 changed everything. Host Andrew Keates shares an explanation about where The Show People Podcast has been for most of 2020 and celebrates the podcast’s fourth anniversary.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: A Very Expensive Poison at the Old Vic Theatre
We round up the reviews for the world premiere production of A Very Expensive Poison, Lucy Prebble’s reimagining of Luke Harding’s exposé of the events behind the notorious death of ex-FSB Officer Alexander Litvinenko.
‘Prefers buffoonery over analysis’: A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON – Old Vic
Lucy Prebble’s latest tells the story of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in A Very Expensive Poison, but prefers buffoonery over analysis.
‘Using theatre to entertain & appal’: A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON – Old Vic Theatre ★★★★★
Marina Litvinenko’s final address in A Very Expensive Poison, reminding us of our political cowardice and idly greedy tolerance of crooked Russian money in our capital city, will bring theatres to their feet in admiration for her and shame at our shabbiness. It needed telling.
‘Sums up perfectly the age in which we are currently living’: MAN OF LA MANCHA – West End ★★★
Man of La Mancha is a curious beast. Often dubbed as one of the classic “lost” musicals, it was last seen in the West End in the 1960s but is currently being revived at the London Coliseum.
‘It’s rather a case of a good cast in search of a better show’: MAN OF LA MANCHA – West End ★★★
Despite the best efforts of Kelsey Grammer in the lead role, this leaden and often down right confusing revival of Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum is unlikely to give the show new impetus on this side of the pond.
‘Celebrity stunt casting strips what could have been a majestic musical’: MAN OF LA MANCHA – West End ★★★
It has been 50 years since Man Of La Mancha last played in London’s West End and based upon this year’s offering from the ENO and co-producers Grade-Linnitt it is easy to see why.
‘The desire to mount this epic production is misguided’: MAN OF LA MANCHA – West End
One wonders which came first for the Grade/Linnit company – the misguided desire to mount an epic scale production of Man of La Mancha, a musical which hasn’t been.produced in London since 1968 for very good reasons, or the need to find a project for Kelsey Grammer?
NEWS: Peter Polycarpou will play Sancho Panza opposite Kelsey Grammer’s Don Quixote in ENO’s Man of La Mancha
Renowned stage, film and TV performer Peter Polycarpou will play Don Quixote’s squire, Sancho Panza in Man of the Mancha at the London Coliseum; the first West End production of this multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway musical for 50 years.
‘Provides a combination of dark humour & precisely honed language’: PINTER FOUR – West End
The fourth instalment in Jamie Lloyd’s consistently enjoyable season of Harold Pinter’s short plays contrasts plays from either end of the writer’s career.
‘Exploring how subjective memories can be’: PINTER FOUR – West End
Pinter Four serves up something of a difficult double bill at the Harold Pinter Theatre, but Bríd Brennan and Janie Dee are there to help us through the dark times.
‘Top drawer cast, top drawer production’: PINTER FOUR – West End
Like ripping off a dramatic plaster, now that I’ve done one show’s worth of Harold Pinter it’s time to plunge headfirst into another. Pinter Three down, Pinter Four to go.
NEWS: Further casting for Pinter at the Pinter season includes Janie Dee & Robert Glenister
The esteemed company of Pinter at the Pinter is joined by Bríd Brennan, Janie Dee, Tom Edden, Abbie Finn, Robert Glenister, Isis Hainsworth, John Heffernan, Katherine Kingsley, Eleanor Matsuura, Peter Polycarpou, Dwane Walcott and Al Weaver.
Album Reviews: Working / Bat Out of Hell / 42nd Street
A trio of West End cast recordings (well, one’s off-West-End…) show that it is sometimes hard to recapture the stage magic.
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