Tuesday, November 5

Tag: Emily Burns

The Comeback – Noel Coward Theatre
London

The Comeback – Noel Coward Theatre

Is it a play? Is it a series of sketches? Is it stand-up comedy?  The answer in the case of Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen's new play now resumed at the Noel Coward Theatre following the Covid interruption is…. Yes…. to all of them. The storyline which runs through the piece is of two aspiring comics, Ben and Alex, starting out as the warmup tour for an ageing well known duo, Sid and Jimmy, who are trying to re-establish their former glory in a production in the mythical town of Diddington.  Both comic pairs are played by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen who have established their name as comics on the BBC radio series The PIn.  Their debut play demonstrates them as accomplished live performers.  They set up an immediate rapport with the audience, many of whom appeared to b...
Romeo & Juliet – The National Theatre
REVIEWS

Romeo & Juliet – The National Theatre

Faint heart never won fair lady, so it is only right that under the direction of Simon Goodwin, the National Theatre, following in the wake of Zeffirelli’s 1968 tour de force and Luhrmann’s wonderful 1996 translation, have boldly reimagined Shakespeare’s classic tale of love to serve up a Romeo & Juliet fit for the 21st Century. Filmed over seventeen days in an empty Lyttelton Theatre, the contrast between scene and unseen spaces offers the perfect parallel for a play which whilst on the surface is a love story, at its heart is riddled with tension, twists, and turns. The Prince (an assured Adrian Lester) provides the authoritative voice of calm and reason after Tybalt (David Judge) and Benvolio (Shubham Saraf) clash before the respective heads of their families, Lord and Lady Ca...