The Park Theatre has been absolutely buzzing with two sell-out shows, including in Park 90, Tom Wright’s debut play My Dad’s Gap Year, which has nearly sold out the rest of its run too. What’s the secret alchemy between Wright and his director Rikki Beadle-Blair?
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.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS, QUEEN OF HEAVEN – Manchester
The sweet powdery scent of incense wafts past as the doors swing open at St Chrysostom’s Church in Manchester. Framed by beautiful arches and stained glass windows, smiling faces welcome the audience in for an alternative service – The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven by playwright and performer Jo Clifford. This thoughtful and engaging solo show re-imagines the Gospels with a transgender Jesus.
TEDDY FERRARA – Donmar Warehouse
Five years ago, Tyler Clementi, a bespectacled 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey jumped off the George Washington Bridge. His room-mate Dharun Ravi had set up a video camera to secretly record Clementi’s tryst with another male student and broadcast it on the internet. Thanks to New Jersey’s muddled legislation on hate crime, Ravi served only 20 days of his sentence.