‘Consent’ is the buzzword of contemporary theatre right now. Evan Placey’s 2015 play has been revived by NYT Rep Company, directed by Pia Furtado, with ever more relevance than before. Post-Weinstein, the systemic issues of rape and sexual control have resurfaced with paramount … [Read more...]
Romeo and Juliet at The Barbican, London | Review
Romeo and Juliet is, despite its popularity, a tricky play. There are a number of difficulties in the script which mark out better performances from, well, bad ones. First, Romeo’s arrival at the Capulet’s party is engineered by an illiterate letter postman. So what if someone can’t read, you might … [Read more...]
Macbeth – RSC at The Barbican Theatre | Review
The RSC’s production of Macbeth comes at an apt time. Greed for power at any expense is the universal feature of politics and business, living as we do in this bizarre mix of entertainment and reality. Time is obviously important in Macbeth, and Fly Davis’ decision to plant a massive digital … [Read more...]
Review: Drip Feed – written and performed by Karen Cogan
Dark and cheery, drunk and teary, Drip Feed is eventful, to say the least. Karen Cogan’s non-stop, no-pity delivery of a day in the life of ‘Brenda’ renders what might otherwise be a genuinely dark story into a sort of comedy routine. Perhaps apt considering the material: Brenda is gay, Irish, works … [Read more...]
Review: Deafinitely Theatre’s 4.48 Psychosis at New Diorama Theatre
Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis is difficult to stage. There are no indications as to staging, location, cast or even who speaks. For some, this is a fascinating examination of the emptiness and despair of depression and psychosis; for others, it’s pretty confusing. Deafinitely Theatre neatly dovetails … [Read more...]
Brave New World at Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford
Cool. Weird. Fun? Creation Theatre’s adaptation, reimagination and reinvention of Huxley’s 1931 classic is kind of awkward, kind of funny, kind of awesome. Staged in the middle of Oxford’s new Westgate Shopping Centre, this is truly a 21st-century project. As the audience watch the play, unknowing … [Read more...]
Review of Torben Betts’s Monogamy at Park Theatre
Torben Betts’ new play, Monogamy is a comedy. Or a tragedy. Both. Neither? Not sure. It is funny, though. I think? Caroline Mortimer (Janie Dee) is the nation’s second-favourite TV cook, showing viewers her perfect cooking and idyllic life. But, a little predictably, when the cameras tune in on … [Read more...]
Review of The Yellow Wallpaper at Omnibus Theatre, London
The Yellow Wallpaper is a feminist classic by Charlotte Gilman, right? After seeing Another Soup’s ‘interpretation’, I had to reassure myself. The narrative of Gilman’s tense, an allusive short story is of a woman restrained by her husband and doctor and forced to sleep in a yellow-walled … [Read more...]
Act and Terminal 3 at the Print Room at the Coronet | Review
The bar at the Coronet in Notting Hill is on a tilt. Act and Terminal 3 is equally unbalanced. But in a good way. Both short plays are written by the relatively unknown (in Britain, at least) Lars Noren, and address perhaps typically Scandinavian existentialist ‘what the hell’s going on?’ kind of … [Read more...]