You are getting sleepy, very sleepy, your eyes want to close, when you open them you’ll be in the enchanted world of illusion, a Victorian-era time warp where carnival barkers beckon, magicians saw women in half and Harry Houdini is about to perform a death-defying feat. Welcome to Bells and Spells, Aurélia Thierrée’s captivating piece […]
CANDIDA by Bernard Shaw at Orange Tree Theatre | Review
In 1894, the much respected Irish playwright, and staunch socialist, George Bernard Shaw debuts his play, Candida, to a Victorian era audience. It is a play about a love triangle that develops between a clergyman, his wife and a poet. Initially, not well received, it went on to gain great popularity and was performed at […]
Thread by Freya Alderson at the Hope Theatre | Review
Playwright Freya Alderson’s Thread is a challenging play. Under the guidance of director Veronica Quilligan it presents the audience with a dilemma concerning allegations of rape against an aged family member and whether it is ever justified to shield a loved one from prosecution for a past crime. Vivian (Christina Balmer) and Margo (Maya-Nika Bewley) […]
A Prayer for Wings at the King’s Head | Review
Poverty grinds you down. It blights the future, limits the space you occupy in the world and condemns you to a monotonous existence. In a new production of Welsh writer and director Sean Mathias’ 1985 play, A Prayer for Wings, he ensures these themes are drummed into the viewer by its two female protagonists who […]
Translations by Brian Friel at the Olivier Theatre | Review
In 1979 Brian Friel wrote a modern classic, Translations, about the first Ordnance Survey in Ireland carried out in 1834 by the British Army for the purpose of redrawing the map of Ireland and translating the local Gaelic place names from Irish into English. This 19th century military-led manoeuvre proves to be an unwelcome endeavour […]