I’ve just gorged on the second series of Staged, the blissful second series of the actors-in-lockdown zoom show, directed and co-written by Simon Evans, with Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing (versions of) themselves.
‘You’ll be glad to share a bit of lockdown with Michael Sheen & David Tennant’: STAGED – BBC iPlayer (Online review)
As Simon Evans’ cheeky new comedy points out, when the Government finally gives the go-ahead, the best-prepared teams will have their pick of the playhouses and first dibs on an audience desperate to get back to live theatre.
‘Feels like no other venue enriches its audiences so much’: THE REALISTIC JONESES – Bath ★★★★
There is a sadness behind the sitcom-like deadpan of Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses that keeps its audience gripped while still holding it one step removed.
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.
‘Ensemble acting of this quality is rare’: A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★★
Don’t miss it A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Makes you laugh, makes you think. Makes you realise Toby Stephens is one of our finest.
‘It swells your heart & breaks it’: A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Peter Nichols’ 1967 comedy A Day In The Death of Joe Egg demonstrates both how far we’ve come in our treatment of and attitudes towards disability but equally how the moral dilemmas and struggles remain.
‘Issues raised remain vivid’: A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG – Trafalgar Studios
This sharp and starry revival of Peter Nichols’ taboo-busting fantasia A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is pretty magnificent.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at Trafalgar Studios
We round up the latest reviews for this new production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at Trafalgar Studios, directed by Simon Evans.
New post-show Q&A: Join Terri for stellar West End revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
As part of her ongoing post-show Q&A series, Mates co-founder Terri Paddock is back at London’s Trafalgar Studios on 7 October for the hotly anticipated West End revival Peter Nichols’ A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Got any questions for director and cast?
NEWS: Patricia Hodge joins the cast of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Olivier Award winner and Miranda star Patricia Hodge will join the cast of Peter Nichols’ A Day in the Death of Joe Egg opposite Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner, running at London’s Trafalgar Studios from 21 September to 30 November 2019.
NEWS: Toby Stephens & Claire Skinner will star in a West End revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner will make their long-awaited returns to the West End stage this autumn in Peter Nichols’ play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.
‘Subjunctives & everything’: Simon Evans: Genius 2.0 – Soho Theatre & Touring
At 53, Simon Evans isn’t so different from circuit comedians half his age – a rhetorical stream of invective squirted squarely at current events, with the exception that he speaks entirely in well-honed sentences, not an er, ah or um in sight
‘Frolicking, clever fun’: THE VANISHING MAN / THE EXTINCTION EVENT – Edinburgh Fringe
Simon Evans and David Aula have written and are performing in not one but two shows back to back at the Fringe: The Vanishing Man and The Extinction Event.
EdFringe interview: Simon Evans & David Aula on back-to-back vanishing men & extinction
Not content with performing one play at the Edinburgh Fringe director/performers Simon Evans and David Aula are performing two – back to back. The two plays – The Vanishing Man and The Extinction Event – are described as a ‘marriage of poignant theatre and spellbinding close-up magic’.
NEWS: Brendan Coyle will star in new production of Conor McPherson’s St Nicholas at Donmar Warehouse’s studio space
Brendan Coyle will star in the Donmar Warehouse production of St Nicholas, a chilling one-man play by Conor McPherson, directed by Simon Evans, marking the first time McPherson and Coyle have collaborated since The Weir, for which both received Olivier Awards.
‘Difficult to couch as either entertainment or art’: KILLER JOE – Trafalgar Studios ★★★
Arguably, the revival of a 25-year-old script is done for one of two reasons; either its excellent writing simply entertains, or it is pertinent to today’s societal trends. With Killer Joe, the rationale is unclear.
‘My nerves were effectively torn to shreds’: KILLER JOE – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Killer Joe is definitely not an easy watch but thanks to the solid chemistry and performances from the cast it is a compelling production to watch that leaves the audience feeling on edge. Gripping, thrilling and powerful from beginning to end.
‘A sharper, tenser, more violently entertaining night in the theatre you will not find’: KILLER JOE – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★★
For Tracy Letts’ first play, it is almost perfectly structured and paced. Each dark twist in Killer Joe is unravelled delicately, each scene is a steadily heating pressure cooker. And the dialogue! Cutting, mean-spirited and genuinely witty.
NEWS: Steffan Rhodri & Sophie Cookson among cast joining Orlando Bloom in Killer Joe
Details have been revealed of the full cast joining Hollywood star Orlando Bloom who will star as a cop who moonlights as a killer-for-hire in multi award-winning Tracy Letts’ blackly comic thriller Killer Joe in the West End.
NEWS: Orlando Bloom returns to West End to play Killer Joe for 13 weeks, TICKETS ONSALE
Orlando Bloom returns to the West End after more than a decade to star as a cop who moonlights as a killer-for-hire in a new production of multi award-winning Tracy Letts’ blackly comic 1993 thriller, Killer Joe. The production, directed by Simon Evans, will run at Trafalgar Studios 1 for 13 weeks from 18 May to 18 August 2018, with a press night on 4 June.