September 2020 and the pandemic was quietly raging. So too was Maureen Lipman in Hope Mill Theatre’s online production of Martin Sherman’s intense monologue Rose; her performance was routinely recognised as a tour de force. The piece won many plaudits including an Off West End Offie and featured as one of my 20 For 2020. Since then it has been restreamed more than once and also appeared on Sky Arts – indeed it is still available on their catch up channel Now TV. But for the real undisputed deal, and if you’re near enough, head to the Park Theatre in Islington where the production is playing until mid-October.
‘An unforgettable evening’: ROSE – Park Theatre ★★★★★
Martin Sherman’s 1999 masterpiece Rose is an immense monologue – two halves, each over an hour – and Maureen Lipman tackles it with pin-sharp timing, humour, and controlled feeling, sitting on her bench remembering. Her extraordinary performance was streamed during the Covid years but to see it live in front of you in this intimate theatre is different, startling and personal, heroic. With the best will in the world any screen showing fades into being just more TV, more Holocaust history. This does not.
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20 of the things that inspired, moved, amused & delighted John Chapman in 2020
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‘Online theatre preserves & does so beautifully’: Martin Sherman discusses the recent online production of his play Rose
John Chapman asks Martin Sherman, the author of online hit Rose, a number of impertinent questions.
‘Some things haven’t changed at all’: ROSE – Hope Mill Theatre (Online review) ★★★★★
With a thought-provoking script at its heart and a flawless performance from Maureen Lipman, Rose is an important and powerful production which proves essential viewing.
‘Maureen Lipman gives a magnificent performance’: ROSE – Hope Mill Theatre (Online review)
Magnificently played and realised by Maureen Lipman, Martin Sherman and Scott Le Crass, Rose is well worth viewing.
‘A complex play which will make you laugh & cry’: ROSE – Hope Mill Theatre (Online review)
Martin Sherman’s intense play is revived by Hope Mill Theatre with an absorbing performance from Maureen Lipman as the 80-year-old recounting the events of her life.
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