To the credit of Kwame Kwei-Armah and Idris Elba – and maybe Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley – you can feel the urge to find a healing of all sides in a conflict between black and white South Africans that persists to this day.
‘A strong & generously immersive piece that wraps around you’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
If a student disco is your personal nightmare, look away now. Tree starts and ends with a throbbing onstage party to wish the audience is persuasively invited. The last time this many Waitrose customers grooved awkwardly to African beats was on Paul Simon’s Graceland tour.
‘The start of something really powerful’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre
There is much to applaud in Tree but it feels like a play that is more about the spectacle and experience than a substantial exploration of meaty issues which is fine to a point.
NEWS: Young Vic’s highly acclaimed production of Death of a Salesman will transfer to the West End
The highly acclaimed, sold-out Young Vic production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman will transfer to the Piccadilly Theatre from 24 October 2019 to 4 January 2020, with a press night on 4 November 2019.
How the Mates Rate: Death Of A Salesman at the Young Vic Theatre
Directors Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell have brought their unique vision to one of the greatest plays of the 20th century by Arthur Miller, seen through the eyes of an African American family. So what did the Mates think of this Young Vic production of the American drama classic?
NEWS: Cush Jumbo makes her Young Vic debut as Hamlet in Kwame Kwei-Armah’s 2020 Young Vic season
Highlights of Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah’s programme for 2020 include Cush Jumbo making her Young Vic debut as Hamlet and Academy Award-nominee Ruth Negga as Portia in Marina Carr’s haunting play Portia Coughlan.
Best of the Blogs: Death of a Salesman, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Orpheus Descending & more
As part of a new series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out seven of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (29 April-6 May 2019). Amidst her choices are two more West End productions of classic American drama: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic (Emily Garside) and Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending at the Menier Chocolate Factory (Libby Purves).
‘Once more shaking the bones of theatreland’: DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Young Vic
This production of Death of a Salesman will become the stuff of legend, hopefully setting a precedent for future ‘classic’ revivals.
NEWS: Cast announced for Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s show Tree at MIF & Young Vic
Manchester International Festival (MIF), the Young Vic and Green Door Pictures have announced the full cast for Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s collaboration, Tree, which will receive its world premiere at Manchester International Festival, before transferring to London’s Young Vic.
‘It’s more than enough that this eye-opening production exists at all’: DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Young Vic
It’s Marianne Elliott’s impressionistic approach that yields considerable insight into the themes of Death of a Salesman, the characters’ attachment to material possessions as indicators of success, and most especially to the physical home that contains their family history, which they have spent decades slowly paying-off.
‘The joy is in meeting the characters’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic Theatre
The joy of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train is in meeting his characters: watching them perform to each other; hearing their patois and verbal brio; exude a charisma which they know gives them power.
‘Small but hugely powerful’: THE JUMPER FACTORY – Young Vic
For 45 minutes the audience may be gripped, stimulated and entertained in The Jumper Factory but this remains the everyday experience of all the men who contributed to the show, and it slightly changes our mindset to have this made clear at the start.
‘Riveting & engrossing from start to finish’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★
Originally directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and performed by LABrynth Theatre Company, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Olivier-nominated Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, returns to London in a striking revival directed by Kate Hewitt.
‘The debates are enthrallingly staged’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic Theatre
This revival of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train is a layered story of two violent criminals, the system they hope can save them and the redemptive power that comes from confession.
‘Gripping from start to finish’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic Theatre
Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train is gripping from start to finish, laced with black humour and a play that will have you questioning your reactions and beliefs.
‘Compelling exploration of guilt, goodness & godliness’: JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN – Young Vic
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train is a compelling exploration of guilt, goodness and godliness as Angel, incarcerated in New York’s infamous Rikers Island, confronts his emphatic public defender, a sadistic prison guard and a charismatic, born-again Christian serial killer.
NEWS: Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance & gender-swapping Company are the big winners at the Critics’ Circle Awards
Matthew Lopez’s epic two-part drama The Inheritance was the big winner at the 2018 Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards held today at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London’s West End, hosted by Critics’ Circle Drama Section chairman Mark Shenton.
Nine plays Rev Stan is particularly looking forward to seeing in 2019
Starting off 2019 with plenty of theatre in the diary, these are the nine plays Rev Stan is particularly looking forward to seeing.
‘It’s hard to fault this fabulous production’: THE CONVERT – Young Vic Theatre
The Convert, at the Young Vic Theatre, a thrilling revival of Black Panther Danai Gurira’s 2012 play about Christianity and imperialism is a heartfelt cry for justice.
Are we in the middle of a golden age of Shakespeare productions?
So what can be done to make Shakespeare less boring, or prove that Shakespeare isn’t boring (depending on how you look at it)? It does feel to me that we’re in the middle of a golden age of Shakespeare productions.