As it’s the first of the month, we’re taking a brief moment to remind ourselves of the most popular contributions from our 20+ syndicate Mates bloggers from the month just closed. What were the reviews and other blogs that got readers clicking most? Any surprises? Our Top 25 Mates Blogs from October 2016 (including gaggles of reviews for our most read-about shows) are listed below with summaries and links to read more.
Watch out too for our Top 10 News Stories and our Top 15 Ticket Recommendations. FYI, all three are bundled together in our new, monthly Top 50 Bumper Email newsletter, which you can get direct into your inbox.
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Top 25 Mates Blogs – October 2016
The Globe’s PR crisis: How the industry reacted to Emma Rice’s departure
Terri Paddock: My first gut response to yesterday’s news that Emma Rice was leaving Shakespeare’s Globe, announced after less than a year – and only one summer season in post – was simply “Oh my God!”
mytheatremates….
#Phantom30th – West End
Ian Foster & Emma Clarendon: At the gala, we were treated – after being given a glass of free fizz to cover the waiting time – to special guest performances from Michael Ball, flirting and duetting with all and sundry…
SIDE SHOW – Southwark Playhouse
Jonathan Baz, Caroline Hanks-Farmer, Johnny Fox & Ian Foster: With book and lyrics written by Bill Russell and music by Henry Krieger, Side Show has managed two abortive runs on Broadway since premiering in 1997, so it makes sense for Southwark…
THE TEMPEST – Donmar at King’s Cross
Johnny Fox & Ian Foster: Shakespeare 101: muck/fuck about with it all you like, the poor sod’s well out of copyright, but the acid test for any modern rendering is ‘if you hadn’t seen this play before, would…
What are you prepared to do for revolutionary change?’
Howard Brenton: In my play MAGNIFICENCE, a group of squatters, occupying the room of an empty house in protest against homelessness, write a slogan on the wall: ‘What are the weapons of…
Celebrating Arnold Wesker at the Royal Court
Aleks Sierz: I was extremely glad to attend the Wesker Celebration, which was organised by playwright David Edgar, professor Pamela Howard and publicist Anne Mayer, at…
Book review: ROYAL CENTRAL – A Collection Of Memories
Helen McWilliams: What first struck me about this book, which has been so thoughtfully compiled by Ian Closier-Hawkins, is just how many individuals he has obtained quotes from, whose names are familiar to…
Why aren’t more drama schools teaching puppetry?
Susan Elkin: It’s gone ubiquitously mainstream. And don’t anyone say it’s “the War Horse effect”. The passion for puppetry across the industry has been growing rapidly for at least twenty years. It…
Setting sail with Moby Dick in an over-saturated Off-West End
Andrew Wright: When my next project Moby Dick comes up in conversation most people ask one question…… Why on earth are you doing it?! They all enjoy stating what a flop it was in the nineties and why…
REVIEW ROUND-UP: The Red Barn at the National Theatre
Emma Clarendon: Robert Icke directs this new play by David Hare, starring Mark Strong, Hope Davis and Elizabeth Debicki. It officially opened at the National Theatre on 17 October 2016 and continues until…
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre
Emma Clarendon: Thom Southerland directs this new production of the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, which runs at Charing Cross Theatre until 10 December 2016. But does it still fit with the times or…
THE GRINNING MAN – Bristol Old Vic
Ian Foster: Written by Carl Grose and directed by Bristol Old Vic AD Tom Morris, The Grinning Man is a deliciously dark fairytale of a show, sharing DNA with the likes of Kneehigh and The Light Princess in its…
Press Pass: Everything you need to know about Murder Ballad
Terri Paddock: As a vehicle for the combined – and considerable talents – of Kerry Ellis, Ramin Karimloo, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Norman Bowman, Murder Ballad is made to order. In this sung-through…
OIL – Almeida Theatre
Libby Purves, Aleks Sierz, As Yet Unnamed London Theatre Podcast (AYULTP): Ella Hickson’s play is essentially two concerns; Oil and family. It’s the question of why we feel we have the right to be warm when it’s cold outside.
THE SECRET LIFE OF MIA – Liverpool
Vicky Anderson: The Secret Life of Mia is a promenade performance aiming to its audience on an intimate journey into the secret world of women starving for beauty. It runs from 6 to 10 October in Liverpool…
Podcast: Talking Berkoff with Nigel Harman + Lunch & Bow stars
Terri Paddock: Two rarely seen short plays by Steven Berkoff are professionally performed together for the first time in this much-anticipated West End premiere. LUNCH and, written 20 years later, its…
MURDER BALLAD – Arts Theatre
Caroline Hanks-Farmer, Jonathan Baz, Emma Clarendon: Sara is freewheeling but needy; she falls for Tom who is sexy but untrustworthy. With clever use of minimal props and the stage’s revolve, we watch the trajectory of a relationship play out through song and choreography.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Floyd Collins at Wilton’s Music Hall
Emma Clarendon: Adam Guettel and Tina Landau’s award-winning musical is based on the true story of Floyd Collins, a cave explorer who dreamt of finding fame and fortune deep underground. But what have…
FEATURED SHOW: Dario Coates in punk-rock play SID
Have you seen the myriad five- and four-star reviews for our Featured Show, the London transfer of Leon Fleming’s punk-rock one-man play SID, which continues its limited season at Above…
THE RED BARN – National Theatre
Libby Purves, Aleks Sierz & Ian Foster: The much-awarded star director Robert Icke rashly gave an interview last week saying how a lot of other people’s theatre is “boring” , so he often leaves at the interval. Ironic that he promptly socks us an underpowered 110-minute gloomfest
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS – Touring
Ian Foster: The Wind in the Willows’ charms are gentle, befitting any iteration of the beloved children’s novel by Kenneth Grahame. Julian Fellowes’ adaptation is faithful to that story and though…
Love’s Labours Lost / Much Ado About Nothing – Chichester
Matt Merritt: A couple of years ago the Royal Shakespeare Company paired Love’s Labours Lost with Much Ado About Nothing (renamed Love’s Labours Won) in a gorgeous setting amidst the Great War to much…
Did you know? 10 facts about London’s West End
Helen McWilliams: Quite apart from being one of the top tourist attractions in London, the West End is part of the fabric that holds the ‘Big Smoke’ together. For centuries the West End has held a pivotal…
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