Friday, December 5

Tag: Jack Butterworth

Extraordinary Women – Jermyn Street Theatre
London

Extraordinary Women – Jermyn Street Theatre

In post-First World War Italy, a multi-national group of women are enjoying a bohemian lifestyle on the fictional island of Sirene off the coast of Naples, with new-found freedoms and relationships.  The island's calm is maintained by a group of four sirens who watch over the island and its inhabitants.  It's an idyllic set-up, until the arrival of the penniless Rosalba upends the island's serenity. Flirting with everyone, manipulating relationships, and enjoying creating chaos and mayhem, she causes distress and jealousy to her lover Aurora, who has sunk her money into buying a villa as their intended home.  Friendships and relationships are formed and shattered as Rosalba romps through the group like a human Vesuvius, egotistically declaring how extraordinary she is. Every...
Kiss Me, Kate – Barbican
London

Kiss Me, Kate – Barbican

What rhymes with Coriolanus? Kiss Me, Kate is one of Cole Porter’s musical and lyrical triumphs with each melody seeming catchier than the last and every turn of phrase pushing the envelope further. Although its source material, Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew is hardly considered radical, Porter’s daring sense of humour and lecherous joy in lewd lyricism give this show an undeniable boldness. Its characters are imperfect. Not only are their love lives tempestuous, but every aspect of their personal lives is magnificently messy. Director Bartlett Sher in this production attempts some half-hearted tidying of the grand imbroglio that is this play within a musical within a musical but achieves much the same effect as using a dab of Purell to clean up mud-caked hands. Adrian Dunbar is ...