It was one of those press nights where a couple of minor hiccups (so negligible, in the grand scheme of things, that they are really not worth providing too many details about) resulted in an audience being all the more supportive of the production and its actors. It’s rather pleasant when things turn out like that. In this trilogy of Samuel Beckett’s (1906-1989) … [Read more...]
Twelfth Night at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre | Review
A wooden box remains in position, dead centre stage, throughout this production of Twelfth Night, which is faithful enough to the Shakespeare text, and isn’t one of those overly abridged versions that shoots itself in the foot trying to be accessible so much that the details of the narrative fail to be fleshed out properly (such that the production becomes ironically … [Read more...]
Julius Caesar at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre | Review
I suppose this is Shakespeare for those with busy lives, condensing the five acts of Julius Caesar into 75 minutes - by contrast, the 2018 Bridge Theatre production lasted 120 minutes, while the 2017-18 Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Barbican Centre went on, including interval, for two hours and 52 minutes. There was even a production at the Barbican in … [Read more...]
Shackleton & His Stowaway at Park Theatre | Review
This recounting of the 1914-1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, or most of it (it stops short of seeing the entire rescue mission following the famous loss of the ship Endurance through to the very end) could well be criticised for not giving enough attention to all of the twenty-eight men who were part of the expedition. But consider the show’s title, … [Read more...]
Magic Goes Wrong at the Vaudeville Theatre | Review
Magic Goes Wrong is not going to win any new converts to the world of magic - or, if it does, it will do so inadvertently rather than deliberately. But whether one enjoys magic or not, there’s a decent amount of entertainment in this production, in the guise of a variety show put on as a charity fundraiser. Even the repeat visitors to Mischief Theatre’s productions … [Read more...]
Review of Tom Brown’s School Days at the Union Theatre
A cast of fourteen are, I don’t think, ever seen entirely together except at the curtain call - as the show’s title suggests, Tom Brown’s School Days is set in the youth of its principal character. This being a public school, the cast list has the schoolboys down by their given names (irrespective of whether they correspond to their actual surnames). The production is … [Read more...]
The Importance of Being Earnest – Played by Immigrants
The Importance of Being Earnest, as the show’s programme rightly points out, “does not need an introduction”. Nonetheless, there is a reason why this play is so often performed, in different guises and styles. This production proves it’s entirely possible to put on this play without a lavish set that leaves little to the imagination of the well-to-do lifestyles that … [Read more...]
A Christmas Carol is ‘an engaging and memorable production’
It’s the right kind of setting for a show like A Christmas Carol, the historic Middle Temple Hall, where (according to the show’s programme) Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night had its first performance in 1602 - and this production from Antic Disposition pulls out all the stops to make this an engrossing experience, even without any major surprises in the narrative for … [Read more...]
Review of Soho Cinders at Charing Cross Theatre
Certain productions of certain musicals have their principal cast members (and even the whole company) belting at full volume at a given point or two. What is less common is the situation that I witnessed at this Charing Cross Theatre production of Soho Cinders, where cast members were holding back. I’m still not sure what to make of it: was it simply the method by … [Read more...]