Christopher Isherwood is probably best known as the writer of the 1930s novel Goodbye To Berlin which forms the source for the musical Cabaret. He is a gay icon whose life and work continues to inspire people throughout the world. Leaving England in 1939 he escaped to America where he found work as a scriptwriter in Hollywood alongside Aldous Huxley. He became a US Citizen in 1946. During this post-war period, he experimented with drugs, became a Hindu and embraced the counter-culture. He wrote … [Read more...]
Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost at Southwark Playhouse
Tall Stories are a wonderful theatre company that clearly love everything about live performance. Founded 25 years ago Tall Stories was created by Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell. Unusually they both write and direct. They clearly have a very strong and dynamic relationship. During their 25-year partnership, they have created 31 shows, including five adaptations of books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Their latest production is a brilliant adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novella The … [Read more...]
The Caucasian Chalk Circle at The Rose Theatre Kingston
“Grub first, morals later”, is Brecht’s best-known line. It's pithy, profound and penetrating. I was expecting more of this at last night's Rose Theatre production of his 1944 work The Caucasian Chalk Circle - alas my hopes were unfounded. Why? Let me count the ways. First I got to my seat at 7.20 in good time for the 7.30 start, however, the start was delayed until 7.40 and the interval was at 9.20. That’s almost two hours without a break. I'm told the average time a person can sit without … [Read more...]
Noughts & Crosses at Richmond Theatre
Noughts & Crosses is a euphemism for blacks and whites. The Noughts are the whites and the Crosses are the blacks. In the world of the play, the Crosses are the dominant ethnic group wielding complete power over a subjugated white population: the Noughts. It's a fascinating and disturbing play which forces all of us to re-evaluate our fundamental assumptions about race and power. What would it be like to be white in a racist society where blacks formed the ruling elite? How would whites … [Read more...]
Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield at The King’s Head Theatre
The intimate space of the King’s Head theatre provides the ideal arena for Tanya Barfield’s compelling two-hander about a bi-racial lesbian relationship. Vicky (a black woman) and Erica (a white woman) both lesbians engage in an endless back-and-forth battle of wills which over twenty-five years goes from being work colleagues to lovers to separation, old age and ill health. It's an intimate portrait of a couple up close and personal and so the compact space and closeness of the audience (I was … [Read more...]
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw at The Tabard Theatre
As the pilgrims assembled at the Tabard Inn on the Old Kent Road in 1370 in preparation for the journey that became Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, so last night a group of contemporary theatre pilgrims mustered at the theatre at the Tabard in Chiswick just by Turnham Green Station. I was there to review Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, a writer who like Chaucer was a master storyteller. Written in 1912 Shaw’s Pygmalion has like the Canterbury Tales become a classic. Pygmalion has been made into … [Read more...]
The Tempest at Shakespeare’s Globe
The closest thing to time travel for any theatre lover must be the Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank. A spellbinding recreation of the original Globe it’s always a thrill to walk in on a summer night with hundreds of other pilgrims in awed anticipation of the play about to start. Last night's performance of The Tempest was sold out. The atmosphere was spine-tingling and the connection between the audience and the cast was electric. The audience wanted to enjoy themselves and the cast wanted … [Read more...]