London Archives - Page 33 of 150

19Feb

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Three Sisters – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

The Shakespeare Globe hosts the first Chekhovian play the Three Sisters directed by Caroline Steinbeis, produced and reworked narrative supplied by Rory Mullarkey. This play has been remastered in such way that makes it plausible and translatable to viewing audiences. The story revolves around the emotional lives of the ‘Three Sisters’ and their bother whom following the death of their father found themselves relocated to a town outside of Moscow. A place that lacked variety of life, opportunity and the people lacked self-worth, in their opinion. The sisters Michelle Terry ‘Olga’ was archetypical of a school mistress, although she never wished to be working let alone burdened with the responsibility of role, she found herself in. Irina the youngest sister portrayed by Ruby Thompson adde...

Outlying Islands – Jermyn Street Theatre

16Feb

By Sadie PearsonNo Comments

London

Outlying Islands – Jermyn Street Theatre

What is human nature? How similar are our needs to those of the animals around us? Is society a force of refinement, or restriction? These are some of the questions posed by David Greig’s play Outlying Islands. August 1939, a prelude to the Second World War. Arriving on a remote Scottish island to a pagan chapel they will call home for the next month, Robert, (Bruce Langley) and John (Fred Woodley-Evans) are sent from London to undertake ministry-ordered observational research into the island’s seabird inhabitants. But this is not all that will be observed. Chaperoned by island owner Old man Kirk (Kevin McMonagle), accompanied by his young niece Ellen (Whitney Kehinde), the events which unfold offer a complex exploration of human nature. Our desires, when free from the shackles of socie...

14Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Animal Farm – Stratford East

George Orwell's Animal Farm was published in 1945, in a world radically different from the modern political scene. Much may have changed in that time, but the themes of human nature, the lure of power and greed remain scarily relevant. Tatty Hennessy's revised working of Orwell's iconic novel highlights the changing work landscape, the loss of an industrial base, the realities of factory farming, and the roles of equality and fairness in society. On the run-down Manor Farm, owned by cruel farmer Jones, the animals long for a world in which they can be equal, free and happy. Major, the elderly and respected boar, calls on the animals to work together to overthrow the farmer. On Major's death, Napoleon and Snowball, two young pigs, assume the informal leadership of the group and org...

14Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

More Life – The Royal Court

More Life is an exceptional and bold production, taking an ambitious and complex story and realising it expertly on stage. The play takes us inside the research lab of Edius, who are trying to upload the consciousness of dead people back into new, robotic bodies. After many failed attempts, Bridget is uploaded, and the promising signs she displays lead Victor (Marc Elliott) into a spiralling obsession with making her ‘work’, no matter her suffering and despite the objections of his lab assistant, Mike (Lewis Mackinnon). This torment leads Bridget (Alison Halstead) to break free of her captivity, running to the only place she can, the house of her former husband, Harry (Tim McMullan), and his wife Davina (Helen Schlesinger). Through this, the play explores the ethics of this search for ‘...

14Feb

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

Ordinary Madness – Riverside Studios

“There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out, but I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke.” Bukowski’s famous poem opens Ordinary Madness, the latest literature-based production from international ensemble company Art Theatre London. Cleverly staged into a series of sleek vignettes, the production attempts to stitch together Bukowski’s short stories and poems, but something crucial fails to connect. Bukowski’s world is dirty, grim, and visceral — his words make you taste the cigarette smoke, smell the sweat, and inhale the sensual perversion of our human condition. Here, under Anya Viller’s direction, the show too often feels like a sleek Drama Center showcase of its best and brightest: too safe, too clean, too polished. The young, dynamic cast struggles to capture ...

Boys From The Blackstuff – Richmond Theatre

13Feb

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Boys From The Blackstuff – Richmond Theatre

James Graham is one of the most celebrated playwrights working in the UK today, and Boys From The Blackstuff is one of the newest jewels in his crown. Starting off at Liverpool’s Royal Court in 2023 before transferring to the National Theatre and the Garrick Theatre last year, Boys From The Blackstuff is now embarking on a UK tour to treat more audiences across the country to its masterful blend of brilliant writing, heartbreaking characters, and deeply evocative depiction of 1980’s Liverpool. Based on Alan Bleasdale’s era-defining BBC drama of the same name, Boys From The Blackstuff weaves together the stories of five men: Dixie (Mark Womack), Chrissie (George Caple), Loggo (Jurell Carter), Yosser (Jay Johnson), and George (Ged Mckenna). As we watch them navigate life in a city plunged...

12Feb

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

The Screen Test – Seven Dials Playhouse

Bebe Cave’s one-woman show The Screen Test is a bonkers, non-stop romp offering a vivid glimpse into the tragicomedic life of fictional Betsy Bittersly—a neurotic, self-absorbed actress struggling to make her mark in 1930s-40s Hollywood. In a desperate bid for stardom, Betsy bends over backwards to meet every soul-crushing demand of a man-dominated, consumer-obsessed industry, even rebranding herself (from Betsy Bittersly to the cocktail-sounding Betsy Bitters) in an effort to be instantly palatable. Writer and performer Bebe Cave takes us on a wild ride from her very first screen test to her final one. Over the course of an hour, the ever-delusional Betsy encounters — and entertains, with a big, unflinching smile — every variety of perv and power player the industry has to offer. H...

10Feb

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Years – Harold Pinter Theatre

This is a very engrossing and imaginative dramatisation of Annie Emaux's partly autobiographical book. It charts the progress of a woman's life chronologically from 1941 to 2006. The woman is unnamed, as are all the men and women that she comes into contact with. The play uses five actresses of different ages to sequentially play the different periods of her life as she experiences childhood, adolescence, early sexual encounters, including a rather horrific abortion, and then moves through marriage, motherhood and divorce. The changing social mores, political events, technological changes and the evolving consumer society of those 80 years are the accompaniment to the changes in her own life. The Years was formerly presented at the Almeida Theatre to great critical acclaim. The stagi...

8Feb

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Heaven – Southwark Playhouse

Of all the events in the social calendar, there are few with such potential to cause rifts, drama, and an onslaught of confusing emotions as a family wedding. In Eugene O’Brien’s Heaven, it’s this event that offers us a lens through which to observe the floundering marriage of long-time spouses Mal (Andrew Bennett) and Mairead (Janet Moran). While both characters are featured throughout, we never see them interact, instead hearing their differing accounts of Mairead’s sister’s wedding through a series of alternating monologues in which both characters speak candidly to the audience. As well as painting a colourful picture of the wedding, dancefloor scraps and dodgy speeches included, Mairead and Mal give the audience highly personal and often vulnerable insights into their lives and ...

5Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Vanya Is Alive – Omnibus Theatre

Vanya is alive is a unique play, telling the story of political censorship and the realities of war in Russia today. In its current form, it is calling out for a more complete staging, with moments of excellence not translating into a production that fully explores its own potential. The play focuses on Alya, whose son Vanya is captured and killed in the war, and her journey of political awakening that follows this. This tragedy is explored through a central conceit, namely that in Alya's society, the sentence that began this paragraph is not permissible, indeed it doesn't even exist. Instead, Aliya is told that her son is "absolutely free". In this way characters speak and emote through antonyms. It is an interesting idea, and at times can be incredibly moving. We are told how Alya ...