Following on from the instant success of National Theatre At Home streaming event, it’s got me thinking about all the other wonderful NT Live screenings that I’d love to come to the small screen as part of this series. I have narrowed it down to my top 10.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘Strip out the comic vignettes & the play feels flimsy’: STORIES – National Theatre ★★★
Nina Raine’s new play Stories is back to familiar territory: A woman desperately wants a kid. Unlike Yerma (Billie Piper was cracking in the Young Vic production two years ago) it’s not a physical problem, more of a partner problem.
‘Entertaining & impeccably acted’: STORIES – National Theatre
Ultimately, Stories might not necessarily be too profound or truly enlightening, but it does speak to the ways in which a plan for life can lead you most astray and I did find it entertaining and impeccably acted.
‘What a lovely issue-based play’: STORIES – National Theatre
At the National Theatre, Stories – Nina Raine’s follow-up to her very big hit Consent – is emotionally intelligent and often funny but rarely deep.
‘Strip out the comic vignettes & the play is left feeling flimsy’: STORIES – National Theatre
Nina Raine’s new play Stories is back to familiar territory: A woman desperately wants a kid. Unlike Yerma, it’s not a physical problem, more of a partner problem.
That was August in Theatreland – news, misses & celeb spots
August was dominated by Edinburgh for me but the London theatre wheels were still turning; here’s my round up of my favourite bits of news, my theatre hits and misses and few celeb spots…
Which three plays & musicals does Mark Shenton recommend this week?
Looking for theatregoing inspiration? MyTheatreMates co-founder Mark Shenton chooses his top three plays and top three musicals to book now.
‘From poignant to painfully funny’: BEGINNING – West End
The accurate reflection of contemporary society in Beginning at the Ambassadors Theatre is certainly a case of holding a mirror up to nature and the clarity of this reflection means the play has the makings of a modern classic.
‘Everything about it feels genuine’: BEGINNING – West End ❤❤❤❤
The West End transfer of Beginning, the heartwarming and engaging new play from David Eldridge, has plenty to keep the audience engaged and entertained throughout.
‘Will lift even the gloomiest of evenings’: BEGINNING – West End
David Eldridge’s Beginning at the Ambassadors Theatre is one of the best productions on in London, right now, and such an uplifting, life-reaffirming play that will lift even the gloomiest of evenings.
‘Beautiful’: BEGINNING – West End ★★★★
I was curious to see whether the intimacy of Beginning, David Eldridge’s two-hander originally at the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre, would survive transplantation to even this tiniest of West End proscenium houses, the Ambassadors. It does.
FosterIAN Awards for Best Actor
It is great news indeed that this Orange Tree production will be gaining further life in 2018 with a transfer to the National Theatre in the summer. I really hope that as much of the original cast comes with it, especially Nwosu.
BEGINNING – National Theatre & West End
It’s about three in the morning on a Saturday night in the living room of a one-bedroom flat in Crouch End. Laura is a 38-year-old managing director, and it’s the tail end of her housewarming party.
NEWS: David Eldridge’s NT ‘anti-romance’ Beginning follows Stomp into Ambassadors
David Eldridge’s latest play BEGINNING transfers from the National Theatre to the West End’s Ambassadors Theatre for a ten-week season in the new year. It will be the first production in the Ambassadors after Stomp ends its ten-year run at the theatre on 7 January.
BEGINNING – National Theatre ★★★★
Whereas Heisenberg celebrates taking a chance on love, even in one’s dotage, Beginning seems, sotto voce, to be saying something interesting about class.
BEGINNING, National Theatre ★★★★
David Eldridge’s new play is a tense, frustrating flirt. Laura and Danny (absolute champions Justine Mitchell and Sam Troughton) don’t know each other but, over an hour and forty minutes, dig an incredibly intense relationship.
BEGINNING – National Theatre
Both firmly middle-aged, the weight of Laura and Danny’s potential encounter is revealed to be ever more significant as they edge towards a truth that there might be more than just a quickie on the cards.
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2