Despite – or perhaps because of - the decimation of Britain’s public swimming pools, swimming in the wild has becoming astonishingly popular, especially in the North of England. Inspired by this, the actor and theatre maker Liz Richardson created Swim, which premiered originally with a cast of three at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick in 2022. Swim was also inspired by Richardson’s move to the Peak District and her acceptance - immersion if you like - into a new community, very different from … [Read more...]
Bell, Book and Candle by John Van Druten – Theatre at the Tabard
Revivals sometimes work. Think of the National’s 1994 revival of Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford & Son (1912) or the Finborough’s more recent revival of Distinguished Villa (1926). Unfortunately, the Tabard’s new production of John Van Druten’s Bell, Book and Candle is not one of those revivals. The play proceeds on the assumption that witchcraft is real and that witches can fall in love, albeit at a cost. It was written in 1948 but not staged until 1950 when Lilli Palmer appeared as Gillian … [Read more...]
Othello: A Frantic Assembly production, co-produced with Curve
Like The Merchant of Venice, with its profound antisemitism, and the misogynistic Taming of the Shrew, Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most challenging plays for a contemporary audience. Racism is commonplace among the characters and there are lines that leave a deep sense of discomfort. Add to this, the perils of misinformation and kneejerk over-reaction to triggering and it is clear that Shakespeare’s play, more than 400 years old, is not only vitally relevant to our times but also, more than … [Read more...]
The Masks of Aphra Behn at the White Bear Theatre
For those who doubt that women have been side-lined by history, Aphra Behn is hard to deal with. She wrote poetry and several novels and, with 19 full-length works for the stage to her name, she was Britain’s first female playwright. While the details of her career in espionage are - inevitably - not wholly clear, what is clear is that she did have one. According to early eighteenth-century biographers, Behn was born and baptised in Wye, near Canterbury in Kent, on the 10th of June 1640 … [Read more...]
A Christmas Carol at the Rose Theatre Kingston
The best-kept secret in Kingston-upon-Thames is the Rose, an airy riverside theatre based on the design of the eponymous 16th-century venue where Shakespeare's plays were first produced. It is an ideal setting for this boisterous new musical version of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic. When the curtains open - metaphorically - we are in a ragged school where the children are bemoaning the meanness of their benefactor when, startlingly, they are interrupted by none other than Charles … [Read more...]
GOOD at the Harold Pinter Theatre
C. P. Taylor’s best-known play examines 1930s Germany from the perspective of one individual, John Halder, a professor at Frankfurt University. Halder’s mother is suffering from dementia and her decline into chaos - mirroring what is happening in the country - undermines Halder’s ability to focus on his career, and prompts him to write about the merits of euthanasia. But Halder’s personal problem will resonate with the politics of the new Germany, and it will drag him on a journey that leads to … [Read more...]
The Quality of Mercy at The Courtyard Theatre
Harold Shipman, known to his many patients, family and friends as ‘Fred’, was Britain’s worst serial killer. The official inquiry into his crimes found that over a quarter of a century he had been responsible for the death of more than 200 men, women and children and that there were likely to be many, many more victims. One of Shipman’s victims was Renée Lacey, whom he murdered on the 6th of June 1996 and in a powerful new play, The Quality of Mercy, Renee‘s grandson the writer and performer … [Read more...]