I know we're in confident hands from the moment the National Theatre's The Father and the Assassin begins. From the ceiling of an elegantly empty set (designed by Rajha Shakiry), giant bullets, spotlighted, drop like bombs launching a war. There are three of them: representing the three fatal shots fired into Gandhi's chest by Nathuram Godse, the play's narrator and anti-hero. This choice of narration is a brilliant decision by Anupama Chandrasekhar, who has written a script filled … [Read more...]

A girl is missing. A party has descended into violence. And reports of levitating people and objects have the police questioning what substances the revellers might have taken. Police investigation is a well-trodden genre and yet is deployed to delightful effect in No One by Akimbo. It’s a framing device that works impressively well for a show that leans heavily on physical theatre and stage-fighting to provide fireworks and narrative propulsion. As the police turn their attention to events … [Read more...]

We’re in the crypt of a church, for the unveiling of a portrait… or is it a bar, or is it a theatre? There’s an excellent use of space in Midnight Circle Theatre Company’s production, and the painting, of course, is of one Dorian Gray, so we know we’re in for an inventive ride. This is an immersive production, so we can wander freely between rooms, which become an artist’s studio, a lord’s dining room, a lady’s boudoir and an actress’s, and her theatre. I choose to follow Dorian (an obvious … [Read more...]

A Little Life is one of those plays for which ‘did you enjoy it?’ feels the wrong question. It is also one so well staged it makes me ask why we go to the theatre in the first place. But answering whether this production is good is a far harder task than I might wish for. Jude St Francis (James Norton) is a successful lawyer, and friends since college with actor Willem (Luke Thompson), artist JB (Omari Douglas) and architect Malcolm (Zach Wyatt). This is all we know about him, including … [Read more...]

I’ve always shuddered at the thought of how difficult writing a whodunnit must be. The author knows who the killer is, so how can they possibly drop hints, clear enough to allow the reader to figure out the culprit, but still subtle enough that they don’t make it completely obvious? To me, it’s a very impressive skill, and one I can’t get my head around. At Cyanide at the Speakeasy, we’re dropped into the middle of a murder investigation. The owner of the illegal prohibition-era venue is … [Read more...]