David Greig’s much-lauded mountaineering survival story fails to reach the dizzy heights.
‘Too much of what occurs on stage is simply invisible’: TOUCHING THE VOID – West End
The true story behind Touching The Void and the endeavours and trials that befell mountaineer Joe Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates on the Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes has been recognised in both Simpson’s 1985 bestseller and Film Four’s acclaimed docu-drama released some 18 years later.
‘Lays down its comedy with a thud’: CYRANO – Bristol ★★★
It’s only when the location moves to the battlefield and the production is allowed to breathe and the poetry to sing that this production of Cyrano finally begins to come into its own.
‘Arresting & at times truly astonishing’: TOUCHING THE VOID – Touring ★★★★
There is a depth and grit to Touching The Void at the Lyceum that threatens to carry all before it.
‘A theatrical triumph’: TOUCHING THE VOID – Bristol
Touching The Void is a theatrical triumph. David Greig, Tom Morris and the team have created a piece of theatre that excels beyond mere adaptation.
WHAT SHADOWS – Edinburgh & London
Ian McDiarmid’s extremely fine performance as Enoch Powell is resentful, fidgety and frustrated, either from feeling overlooked earlier in life or from illness later on.
MISS ATOMIC BOMB – St James Theatre
It’s a rare and wonderful thing these days to see a brand new musical – not a revival, not a musical based on a movie, but a shiny, original, fresh-out-the-box show. Not that Miss Atomic Bomb, which opened this week at St James Theatre, is that new; apparently it’s been in development for five years. And was it worth the wait? I think so…
THE FUNFAIR – Home, Manchester
Manchester’s newest arts centre HOME thrust open its doors for its official HOMEwarming celebration last week. Following the merger between the Manchester’s Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company, the first theatre production at the new venue is perhaps a fitting fusion of old and new.