Trying to write about Chris Goode’s latest Ponyboy Curtis show vs. is like trying to fit a hurricane into a canning jar. The energy, love and freedom on the Yard’s stage is irrevocably alive and unrestrained, and trying to pin this one-of-a-kind butterfly onto a page kills it a little, or a lot.
PUNTS – Theatre503
Deciding what is best is a tricky thing to do. It’s particularly difficult if you’re trying to do what is best for someone else. How do you know if you’re doing the right thing? Is your aim and end admirable but your means slightly suspect?
WOYZECK – Old Vic
It’s a radical rewrite. Gone is a lot of the mystery and the poetry of the original. In their place is a contemporary, accessible version which emphasises realistic psychology (a lot of backstory detail) and social realism (a lot of childcare detail).
OH YES OH NO – Camden People’s Theatre
Louise Orwin is asking big questions about female sexuality and desire, but she doesn’t have the answers. There are no definitive answers anyway, just individual experiences. To make Oh Yes Oh No, she interviewed dozens of women around the country and found some disturbing patterns.
THE TREATMENT – Almeida Theatre
The Treatment has often been ignored, perhaps on account of its large cast, or because of its large scale. Now that the Almeida Theatre has decided to stage this story of how art cannibalises life we have the chance to judge its relevance some 25 years after its premiere.
DON JUAN IN SOHO – West End
Updating the classics is not without its pitfalls. How can a modern audience, which has a completely different set of religious beliefs, relate to a 17th-century morality tale in which the lead character behaves badly, and I mean really badly, but gets his comeuppance by being roasted in hell fire?
THE MUTANT MAN – Space Arts Centre
Contemporary pop culture is awash with true crime stories: NPR’s Serial, HBO’s The Jinx and Netflix’s Making of a Murder are just a few titles that have recently gripped public imagination. It is therefore not surprising that two plays about the life of Harry Crawford, born Eugenia Falleni in 1875, have been dramatised in the last few years.
DARK VANILLA JUNGLE – Theatre N16
Andrea isn’t very well. In solitary confinement at some sort of secure facility, she has no one to talk to other than those who briefly visit and those who live in her head.
A PROFOUNDLY AFFECTIONATE, PASSIONATE DEVOTION TO SOMEONE (-NOUN) – Royal Court
There are loads of jokes and stereotypes about life within a heterosexual relationship – women talk too much, men don’t understand the difficulties of pregnancy, LTRs feel like a burden, and so forth. Of course each relationship has its unique aspects, but there are common elements that often make generalisations about love ring true.
BUNNY – White Bear Theatre
Katie is a fairly average eighteen-year-old living a life busy with A-levels, uni applications and her older boyfriend, Abe. She’s not sure what she wants to do with the rest of her life, but she’s enjoying the here and now of Luton in the springtime.
A PROFOUNDLY AFFECTIONATE, PASSIONATE DEVOTION TO SOMEONE (–NOUN) – Royal Court
Love, we know, will tear us apart again. And again. And yet again. It will shred our nerves and rip through our guts; it will fill us with anguish, and then douse us in regrets.
LIVING A LITTLE – Vaults
Rob and Paul are best mates, albeit total polar opposites. They share a cozy bachelor pad where they engage in typical mid-20s, male behaviour – drinking, weight lifting, discussing women in graphic detail and fighting off zombies.
Text of the Day: Low Level Panic
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
THE WILD PARTY – The Other Palace
This revival of Michael John LaChiusa’s musical The Wild Party unfortunately lives up to its original reception. Dripping with sex, booze and jazz, there are some great tunes but little substance.
LOW LEVEL PANIC – Orange Tree Theatre
The late Clare McIntyre’s Low Level Panic has a great title for a 1980s feminist drama. In three words she presents the emotional landscape of her play: uncertain, edgy, angsty.
SEE ME NOW – Young Vic
Verbatim theatre always raises theatrical and ethical issues. The use of the words spoken by real-life, as opposed to fictional, people always argues in favour of authenticity (which is not the same as truth).
SEE ME NOW – Young Vic
Verbatim theatre always raises theatrical and ethical issues. The use of the words spoken by real-life, as opposed to fictional, people always argues in favour of authenticity (which is not the same as truth).
LA RONDE – The Bunker
‘Wheel of Fortune’ gimmick and great performances distract the audience from the pedestrian storylines. This play must have been bold and daring in its 1920 premiere but for a 21st century audience it fails to shock.
Text of the Day: Sex with Strangers
Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk.
SEX WITH STRANGERS – Hampstead Theatre
New American drama about literary ambition is neat, but not nearly disturbing enough.