Lizzie Clachan Archives - North West End UK

16Jul

By Saloni SanwalkaNo Comments

London

The Oresteia – Bridge Theatre

The Oresteia begins with a 360-degree revolution of its stage—a two-story glass-walled house— and the slow reveal of its inhabitants. It is an arresting sight which instantly fixes the audience to their seats. Over the course of three and a half hours, writer and director Simon Stone brings Aeschylus’ eponymous trilogy to the modern day with a script that is intense and astonishingly funny. Coupled with an award-worthy ensemble performance, The Oresteia more than matches the scale of its ambition. The play centres on a wealthy British family— the Middeltons, standing in for the House of Atreus— and follows their violent unravelling across one decade. While the idea of adapting a story about double matricide to 21st century norms seems absurd, Stone succeeds in the endeavour with marvell...

19Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Lady From The Sea – Bridge Theatre

Simon Stone's extensive reworking of Ibsen's 1888 play relocates the action from the Norwegian fjords to Ullswater in the Lake District. In this idyllic setting, neurologist Edward (Andrew Lincoln) tries, and mostly fails, to be a good father to teenage daughters Asa (Gracie Oddie-James) and Hilda (Isobel Akuwudike). Now remarried to Ellida (Alicia Vikander) after the death by suicide of his first wife, Ed struggles to keep the peace within the family and particularly between his daughters and their stepmother. Ed's best friend, Lyle (John MacMillan) is a support for the family, although his involvement is not always regarded positively by Ed. Into this scenario comes Heath (Joe Alwyn), a young patient of Ed's who is awaiting the outcome of tests that will confirm whether his m...

13Dec

By Louise PennNo Comments

London

The Little Foxes – Young Vic

A rare revival for Lillian Hellman's play, set at the turn of the 20th century. With a title taken from the Bible's Song of Solomon, The Little Foxes is a family drama set in Alabama's cotton country. Regina, Ben and Oscar are siblings living closely together, a family who gained wealth and power when Oscar charmed and married Birdie, daughter of Southern aristocracy and rich plantation owners. They patronise their black servants and are driven by money. When Regina's husband Horace, sick and tired, fails o respond to a business deal, plans to gain the money with or without him. Lyndsey Turner’s production captures all the nastiness behind closed doors, particularly of the unsuccessful marriages at its heart. There are moments of both physical and emotional violence, and...

22May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Lucia Di Lammermoor – Met Opera

Producer Simon Stone provides a modern take on Donizetti’s classic opera and, putting the occasional embellishment aside, delivers one of the most complete operatic productions of the season. Fallen on hard times, Enrico (Artur Ruciński) has arranged an advantageous marriage for his sister, Lucia (Nadine Sierra), but Normanno (Alok Kumar) reveals that she is in love with Enrico’s enemy, Edgardo (Javier Camarena). As Lucia and Alisa (Deborah Nansteel) wait for Edgardo, Lucia reveals a recent dream which Alisa interprets as a portent of doom. When Edgardo arrives, he explains that he has to leave on a mission and he and Lucia exchange vows. Normanno obtains forged evidence to suggest that Edgardo is involved with another woman and when Enrico shows it to Lucia, she is heartbroken and a...

6Apr

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

The Fever Syndrome – Hampstead Theatre

Alexis Zegerman’s new play takes the form of a sitcom with heightened drama, raising thought-provoking questions about science, morality and sociology. The Myers family are united to witness their father receiving his lifetime of achievement award for his contribution towards IVF treatment. Dr Richard Myers suffers from Parkinsons disease and as his children co-habit under one roof, along with his new wife, tensions ensue as they grapple for his inheritance and as wounds of the past are reopened. The play is packed full of different topics for speculation, but perhaps the most pertinent and most interesting is the difference between parenting and raising a child and the physical ability to create new life. The set designed by Lizzie Clachan is grandiose, the interior of a three-storey h...