I’ve not been here with my usual weekly diary of a theatre addict for a month now. So today I’m catching up, not on a week, but on an entire month — during which time I’ve been to Edinburgh, Barbados, New York, Eastbourne and of course London. I’ve interviewed Andy Nyman, Sheridan Smith, Joe McElderry, composer Lucy Simon, Janie Dee and Diana Rigg.
Closing Review: THE DAZZLE – Found 111
I’m still not sure what to make of The Dazzle – in the least comfortable fringe theatre newly created in the West End, up 76 steps and with a padlocked lift the first mystery is how Westminster Council licensed it. It starts out as quite a tender portrait of a brother caring for his autistic, introverted concert pianist twin but in Act 2 turns in to Grey Gardens without the jokes, the music or the outré ways to wear a cardigan.
My theatre diary: 4000 Days, Hangmen, The Dazzle, Jane Wenham, The Long Road South
I’m well overdue for a theatre diary, aren’t I? So here goes with a quick one on more new plays I’ve seen in recent (and not-so recent) weeks that I’d recommend catching and haven’t yet managed to squeeze in to separate blogs.
Weekly Theatre Podcast: The Dazzle, Grey Gardens, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Every week, a group of regular, dedicated, independent theatre bloggers gather together for intelligent discussion “from the audience’s perspective” about plays and musicals they’ve recently seen in London. Lively, informed and entertaining. My Theatre Mates is delighted to syndicate the (still) As Yet Unnamed London Theatre Podcast (AYULTP). Shows discussed (with timings) in this edition’s podcast: The Dazzle – Found111, …
Critical Digest: Four 5* shows in London & Sheffield and a 1* Peter Pan
Review extracts from four shows that got 5-star reviews: The Lorax at the Old Vic, Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Donmar, Show Boat at Sheffield’s Crucible & The Dazzle at Found111.
THE DAZZLE – Found 111
Andrew Scott, farouche and “méchant”, a man-child oddity with a painfully fastidious musical ear, is the concert pianist Langley Collyer: David Dawson, already haggard with care and half-infected with his brother’s impossible mentality, is Lang’s brother Homer. We will watch their deterioration: not without laughs but ultimately with a disturbing pity.
NEWS: Joanna Vanderham joins The Dazzle cast, with Andrew Scott and David Dawson
Michael Grandage Company and Emily Dobbs Productions today announce the full company for their co-production of the UK première of Richard Greenberg’s The Dazzle at FOUND111, at the site of the old Central St Martins School of Art on Charing Cross Road. Joining Andrew Scott (Langley) and David Dawson (Homer) in Simon Evans’ production, is Joanna Vanderham as Milly.