WHAT IF IF ONLY – how many times must that have been said of a best beloved who has died. If only I had, what if this or that hadn’t happened?
‘Taut, economic, highly effective’: THE APOLOGISTS – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★
A 65 minute tour de force, The Apologists certainly deserves a longer life than the few performances at Omnibus.
‘Excellent precision delivery’: FAR AWAY – Donmar Warehouse
Churchill’s vision two decades ago in Far Away now seems even more prescient and accurate of planet Earth’s downhill spiral: endless wars and realignments, climate change, imminent environmental catastrophe.
‘Urgent, provocative & familiar all at the same time’: NORA: A DOLL’S HOUSE – Young Vic Theatre
Despite the challenges, and judging by the Young Vic’s typically youthful, mixed audience, Nora: A Doll’s House is a production to which they can relate and which, so far as I could see, kept them on the edge of their seats.
‘I came away eager for more’: PERSONA – Riverside Studios ★★★★
I loved precisely Persona’s sense of oddness, it’s sense of non-Englishness, Krige’s subtlety and wonder, Mngcwengi’s unspoken defiance and calmness.
‘Playlets of insistent intensity’: BECKETT TRIPLE BILL – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★★
Jermyn Street Theatre, London ****
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Review: of perf seen January 17, 2020:
© Robert Workman, James Hayes in Krapp’s Last Tape, recalling a moment of bliss on a tape thirty years ago…another haunting…
Krapp’s Last Tape…
‘Simply delicious’: SWIVE – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★
Natalie Abrahami makes Ella Hickson’s text and Elizabeth’s story pulsate with the sound of a young woman for whom insecurity runs in every fibre of her being.
‘It is Shaw at his mischievous, provocative best’: CANDIDA – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★★
The intimacy of the Orange Tree gives Candida the perfect setting for a discussion of moral, spiritual and political ethics.
‘It takes some guts’: FAIRVIEW – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
In Jackie Sibblies Drury’s case, Fairview is very much tied up with the method, the form. She blows the traditional form sky high, introducing repetition, caricature and a final twist.
‘Unusual & exceptional’: LAND WITHOUT DREAMS – Gate Theatre ★★★★
Land Without Dreams may be difficult, irritating, sometimes alarmingly ‘obvious’ but they also manage to dig further into what it is to be human, coming at us as it were from left-field.
‘Rhys Ifans is simply mesmeric’: ON BEAR RIDGE – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
In a mere 90 minutes On Bear Ridge creates a theatrical metaphor of unforgettable power and impact.
‘Driven by explosive characterisation & dialogue’: SHOOK – Touring ★★★★
Spectators will go away wiser and sadder from this encounter with Shook, but most of all they will go away remembering Samuel Bailey’s dialogue and Josh Finan’s barnstormer of a performance as Cain.
‘A triumph in so many ways’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Jemima Rooper, Kate O’Flynn, Zainab Hasan and Joanna Horton carry a lion’s share delivering the vitriol, pain and helplessness of struggling women in [Blank].
‘Delicious, clever & delectable confection’: THE WATSONS – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★
Like characters in a book who never die, Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Menier Chocolate Factory deserves to last forever.
‘A definitive production for many years to come’: BLOOD WEDDING – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
Now, in a daring and radical re-imagining, Marina Carr and Yaël Farber have transported Lorca’s Andalusian tragedy Blood Wedding to a deeply Celtic, Irish setting.
‘Measured, haunting production’: UNTIL THE FLOOD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★
A great memorial, an unforgettable, nuanced testimony, we have to pay attention to what Until the Flood tells us. Listen, feel, and learn. Do see.
‘Challenging to say the least’: AMSTERDAM – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★
Maya Arad Yasur’s Amsterdam had already had an illustrious reception before it hit Paul Miller’s pocket dynamo Orange Tree, Richmond.
‘Master craftsman at work’: Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★
Total immediate collective imminent terrestrial salvation. Quite a handful of a title to get hold of. But unlike much printed on the front of the bottle these days, it is what it says. It is a total immediate collective imminent terrestrial salvation – of sorts.
‘A thoroughly plausible, engrossing update’: HEDDA TESMAN – Chichester ★★★★
Cordelia Lynn’s Hedda Tesman renews Ibsen’s play in the light of today without in any way losing sight of the original. In this age of radical reinterpretations, that’s quite some achievement.
‘Fascinating stuff’: APPROPRIATE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★
Donmar Warehouse, London ***
Box office: 020 3282 3808 (No booking fees, £1 postage fee may apply) Telephone Mon-Sat 10am-6pm …