I could wax lyrical about the plausibility of a scenario like that of The Interview taking place in this day and age. We’re not told exactly when the play is set, although Love Island is referenced, so (yes, I did look this up) we’re talking 2005 at the earliest. There are all sorts of ethical issues that are brought up in the interview, in which Robert Croft (Joshua David Bartholomew) persuades Jane Sinclair (Katie-Emma Silverson) to - amongst other things - share a personal story about what … [Read more...]
The Two Character Play at Hampstead Theatre | Review
It’s convoluted, and not just because there’s a play within the play. Clare (Kate O’Flynn) and Felice (Zubin Varla) are siblings and are actors on tour. They play characters with those exact same names in a play written by Felice, except Clare isn’t entirely happy with the play as it has been written and seeks to force alterations through. This isn’t unreasonable, one supposes, until it becomes clear she wishes to make the changes during a live performance of their play, in which they really are … [Read more...]
Bigot by Hassan Govia at Camden People’s Theatre | Review
In a rigorous debate about everything and nothing, For (Hassan Govia) and Against (Jess Pentney) are at least willing to continue discussions with one another online, and with others, which is more than can be said for some who prefer to disengage by ‘blocking’ anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint. There is nothing in Bigot that criticises anyone who does use the block facility, and there is something almost admirable about the characters’ tenacity in pursuing their respective lines of … [Read more...]
12 Written by Henry Roberts – Greenhouse Theatre | Review
The Greenhouse Theatre had a previous season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019. Like many others, I enjoyed the Fringe that year, but the festival, as it was run in pre-pandemic times, used a huge amount of paper, not only through its insistence on paper tickets (one would hope the Fringe has discovered what a QR code is by now), but mostly on the sheer number of flyers for the 3,000+ plus productions being distributed throughout central Edinburgh. There are sections of the Royal Mile … [Read more...]
Every Seven Years by Jack Fairey at the Jack Studio Theatre | Review
I don’t watch a lot of television but even I have some familiarity with the Up documentary film series, following the lives of fourteen people (it’s less than that now, for various reasons) since the first film in the series, Seven Up! In 1964. This play, every seven years, doesn’t quite go as far as 63 Up – which would have been a bit much for a show without an interval – but nonetheless provides some interesting snapshots of the lives of Polly (Laura Hannawin) and Marcus (Jack Cameron). It is, … [Read more...]