David Auburn's Proof, on at The Tabard in Turnham Green, premiered in 2000, transferred to Broadway and the following year won the Pulitzer drama prize. It is a study in love, ambition, mental health and genius. Sebastien Blanc's production takes us gently in its grip and catches fire in the second half. One of the stars is the fine, intricate and just beautiful set design by Michael Leopold, perfect for the intimacy of The Tabard. I've been many times to that theatre and the stage has never … [Read more...]
Review of Indelible Images at Canal Cafe Theatre – Camden Fringe
Every now and again a one-off fringe production can spark fantastic excitement in an audience as a thrill runs through a theatre that comes alive with the knowledge that they might be seeing, perhaps, a future star or two. This was the case with Indelible Images, the three new one-act plays put on during the Camden Fringe at the Canal Cafe Theatre in Little Venice, London. All three were good but the centre-piece was outstanding. Liam McCarthy’s A Talent for Lying has matured since it had its … [Read more...]
Review of The Hideout – Theseus and the Minotaur
Haste Theatre’s retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur is among the top recommended fringe productions on the circuit at the moment. I was fortunate to catch it at the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham. It is devised and acted, snogged, tap danced, sung and clowned through by five female company members, each of whom dazzles, Twenties-style and in their own way. I love it that theatre, even in the West End, is discovering the merits of brevity. The Hideout comes in at about an hour with no … [Read more...]
Charlotte Moore shines in The Audience at the Apollo Theatre
The Audience starring Kristin Scott Thomas and previously Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II is due to close soon. I’ve seen both productions several times and was privileged to see a particularly special performance shortly after the General Election. The often unsung heroes of theatre are the understudies, and most West End shows have regular understudy runs. I caught Scott Thomas’s understudy in The Audience and also the understudy’s understudy. Sadly, neither are nominated but with voting … [Read more...]
Review of The Seagull at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
As the sell-out To Kill a Mockingbird opens at the Barbican after a ten-month UK tour, the run of incredible theatre at Regent’s Park continues with The Seagull. This is the Open Air Theatre’s first venture into Chekhov and director Matthew Dunster is doing for this playwright what this theatre has become so well-known for doing for Shakespeare. Working with this new version by Torben Betts, Dunster has made Chekhov into edge-of-seat entertainment, accessible, enjoyable and profoundly … [Read more...]
Review of Hippolytus at the Hope Theatre
Just as the original Greek tragedy was rewritten by Euripides, this is Hippolytus reimagined, to be fascinated and challenged by the moral questions it poses. Catharsis Theatre, with director Justin Murray, have taken these huge subjects of chastity, religion, revenge, seduction, murder and love and reworked them into the small space of The Hope Theatre in Islington. The play, rewritten to incorporate elements of modern life, shows us a modern university lecturer who finds himself engaging in … [Read more...]
Review of INIGO at the Pleasance Theatre
Catholicism has not had a good press recently, with the paedophile scandals and then its utter rejection of gay marriage, with the Irish vote described as a “defeat for humanity” by the Vatican’s top diplomat. It is probable that at the Vatican itself, in the process of reforming its entire communications strategy under the counsel of our own Lord Patten of Barnes, they still have absolutely no idea what a PR disaster that pronouncement was. Countering these long-running problems is the … [Read more...]