Charlie Fairbanks (Adam Gillen) quietly commands the stage in Radio, a somewhat intense and introspective look at an era half a century ago - at a time when the Moon landings were considered by some to be a mere conspiracy by the American Government of the day to take away the focus from the war effort in Vietnam (and, although not explicitly mentioned, the Cold War too). Fairbanks tells his own story with confidence, even if the narrative meanders from time to time. For instance, there’s a … [Read more...]
Arcola Theatre Off West End London E8 3DL
Arcola presents major artists alongside cutting-edge work from some of the most exciting emerging companies.
Arcola has been a launch pad for artists including Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Alecky Blythe (who had their first plays produced here), Lyndsey Turner, Lucy Kirkwood and Joe Sims.
World-renowned playwrights including Bonnie Greer, Frank McGuinness and Sam Shepard have premiered work at Arcola.
Arcola’s programme is locally engaged and internationally minded. They 'believe that diversity makes for better art, and for a more flourishing arts scene.'
Every year through ArcolaLAB, the Arcola 'provide 26 weeks of free rehearsal space to emerging theatre-makers and artists of colour'.
Two-thirds of the productions in the Arcola's last season 'were led by women as writers, directors and producers, and one-third of our productions are led by diverse artists.'
Arcola Theatre
24 Ashwin Street, Dalston,
London, E8 3DL
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/
The Arcola Theatre is just 2 minutes’ walk from both Dalston Kingsland and Dalston Junction stations, on the London Overground.
Riot Act: Created and Performed by Alexis Gregory | Review
It’s Pride Month and that means that London is full of building flying rainbow flags and the theatre scene is gayer than ever with a plethora of LGBT+ themed shows hitting the stages of the capital. Some are just OK, some are good and a small number are absolutely awesome. I was lucky enough to get to experience the latter type of show as Alexis Gregory’s Riot Act arrived at the Arcola Theatre, This one-man show is a verbatim portrayal of conversations Alexis has had with three gay men, whose … [Read more...]
Review of The Daughter-in-Law at the Arcola Theatre
There is often a good reason why a particular play hasn’t been put on very often – put simply, it’s not very good, or otherwise, it is good, but not as good as the plays that are more popular. If you were to take a look at the script for The Daughter-in-Law (it’s on Project Gutenberg online if you don’t fancy purchasing a copy), it’s immediately noticeable that much of it is written phonetically. At the very first glance, or so I thought to myself, I might as well be trying to read Chaucer. A … [Read more...]
Cast announced for the Arcola’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Joining the Arcola’s exciting and empowering production of Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, Patrice Naiambana (Barbershop Chronicles, National Theatre; The Caretaker, Bristol Old Vic), Jumoké Fashola (Inspirit, BBC Radio London’s Sunday Breakfast Show; Dirty Little Secrets, London Festival of Cabaret), Christina Oshunniyi (Ife, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Africa Center; One Session, First Star Studios), Layo-Christina Akinlude (The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare’s Globe; The … [Read more...]
Review of Not Talking at Arcola Theatre, London
Defibrillator’s never-seen-before-onstage adaptation of Mike Bartlett’s 2005 radio play Not Talking is a storming success. Simply designed, small cast, smart direction: Not Talking barely puts a foot wrong. The story of Bartlett’s lesser known, early radio play examines the mysterious circumstances of the much-publicised deaths at Deepcut army barracks. The army and the jury declared the deaths to be the result of suicides, but the bigger picture seemed to be of bullying and manipulation … [Read more...]
Review of Moormaid at the Arcola Theatre, London
Part way through Moormaid, a brief play, albeit one with an interval, I began to associate the religious prayers of the Islamic faith with extremism. Almost immediately, I took umbrage with myself for making such a connection so automatically: the two are not, of course, mutually exclusive. As the play continued to unfold, it became clear my initial instinct was correct, at least for the particular set of circumstances in this play. I was nonetheless sympathetic to Mehdi (Moe Bar-El), … [Read more...]
Mike Bartlett’s Not Talking at the Arcola Theatre
LondonTheatre1 were invited to watch a rehearsal of Defibrillator Theatre Company’s new adaptation of Not Talking, written by Mike Bartlett (Albion, Doctor Foster, King Charles III). Afterwards we had a quick chat with the team behind the process. Not Talking was originally written in 2005 and performed as a radio play on BBC Radio 3, but the themes of communication and power seem even more prescient in 2018. The narrative follows two, separate storylines, which deal with social structures … [Read more...]