If you’ve been starved of productions to make you think, Copenhagen at Mayflower Mast Studios, Southampton is an excellent way to ease yourself back into a stalls seat and re-engage your brain.
NEWS: The world premiere of Nina Raine’s Bach & Sons at the Bridge Theatre will star Simon Russell Beale
Simon Russell Beale will play JS Bach in the world premiere of Nina Raine’s Bach & Sons, directed by Nicholas Hytner at the Bridge Theatre from 23 June to 9 September 2021 with opening night on 29 June 2021.
NEWS: Nancy Carroll & Haydn Gwynne lead the casting announced for Theatre Royal Bath’s Welcome Back Season of plays
Casting has been announced for the first two plays in the Theatre Royal Bath’s WELCOME BACK Season this autumn, running from 14 October to 12 December 2020. Two of the country’s leading actresses, Nancy Carroll and Haydn Gwynne, are joined by a distinguished cast of experienced stage and screen performers.
NEWS: Theatre Royal Bath will reopen in autumn 2020 with classic plays by Pinter, Frayn & Mamet
Theatre Royal Bath will reopen its main house in autumn 2020 with the Welcome Back Season of plays, beginning with Harold Pinter’s Betrayal directed by Jonathan Church from 14 October to 31 October, followed by Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen, directed by Polly Findlay from 4 November to 21 November, and lastly David Mamet’s drama Oleanna directed by Nicole Charles which will run from 25 November to 12 December.
‘Feels particularly timely’: A NUMBER – Bridge Theatre
If the intimate play A Number feels a bit lost in the vast space of the Bridge, the performances are big enough to give it the required punch.
‘Short but superb’: A NUMBER – Bridge Theatre
A Number packs a lot of themes, meaning and ideas into just an hour of stage time in a production that asks big questions about scientific progress.
NEWS: Sherlock creators Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss collaborate in Chichester Festival Season packed with world premieres
World premieres in Chichester Festival Theatre’s Festival 2020 include first plays by Steven Moffat and Kate Mosse and new work by Suhayla El-Bushra and Christopher Shinn.
NEWS: New shows at Bridge Theatre star Roger Allam, Colin Morgan & Simon Russell Beale, plus The Book of Dust & They Shoot Horses, Don’t They
New 2020/2021 productions at London’s Bridge Theatre will begin with Polly Findlay directing Roger Allam and Colin Morgan in Caryl Churchill’s play A Number at London’s Bridge Theatre.
‘Worthy but certainly not revelatory’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre
Revival of Githa Sowerby’s 1912 classic of industrial patriarchy Rutherford and Son is worthy but rather cumbersome and inaccessible.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Rutherford & Son at the National Theatre
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Polly Findlay’s production of Rutherford & Son at the National Theatre starring Roger Allam.
‘Beautifully well-observed character study of a dynasty under threat’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre ★★★★
Githa Sowerby used her own upbringing as the daughter of a Tyneside glass-making family for her breakthrough play, Rutherford and Son, but whether her father was as cold, insensitive and bullying as patriarch John Rutherford is open to speculation.
‘If this show is saved at all, it’s by some of the acting’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre
Rutherford and Son is not my cup of tea. The acting does just about salvage it, or at least stop it from being a complete disaster, but it’s not enough.
‘A new-century’s howl of irritated perception at the imprisoning absurdities of society’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre ★★★★★
Psychology, social rage, human sadness and betrayal move in an elegant circle in Rutherford & Son at the National Theatre and Findlay’s direction doesn’t miss a beat of it.
NEWS: National Theatre announces new season including cast of 40 for stage adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island
Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Leah Harvey and Aisling Loftus lead the cast of Small Island, adapted by Helen Edmundson from Andrea Levy’s prize-winning novel, directed by Rufus Norris in the Olivier Theatre, as part of the National Theatre’s new season.
‘A great production of a chilling play’: MACBETH – Barbican Theatre
This is a Macbeth that emphasises the psychological horror of the story. It is a brutal and murderous play, but priority is given to the effects of the violence rather than the violence itself.
‘Falls a little flat in pivotal places’: MACBETH – Barbican Theatre ★★★
This Macbeth should be an absolute blinder with such a strong and perfectly brooding lead… but unfortunately, the production falls a little flat in pivotal places.
‘Scattershot invention includes some effective touches’: MACBETH – Barbican Theatre
In contrast to Rufus Norris’ Macbeth at the National, with Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff, the RSC’s current production is focused and direct. This ensures that it is more of a success, but also proves its weakness. Polly Findlay’s production is certainly the more coherent and features strong leads.
NEWS: National Theatre’s new season features Andrea Levy’s Small Island, Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls & Lenny Henry as Richard Pryor
Rufus Norris has unveiled the National Theatre’s plans for 2019 and beyond. Highlights include the world premiere of Small Island adapted by Helen Edmundson from Andrea Levy’s novel, directed by Rufus Norris.
‘Surely, this is the crème de la crème of Brodie adaptations’: THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE – Donmar Warehouse
Polly Findlay’s fluent production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie avoids the fluting exaggerations of some previous versions and tells the story with a fine appreciation of its grounding in the needy emotions of all concerned.
‘Eclipses any version of this story you may have seen before’: THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE – Donmar Warehouse
It’s a short run at the Donmar – take any available ticket, Polly Findlay’s splendidly-cast and nimbly directed production is a must-see. And let’s hope it has a longer life somewhere else.