Friday, November 22

Tag: Oli Higginson

Othello – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
London

Othello – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Director Ola Ince rendition of Shakespeare’s dark tragedy   The authentic Shakespearean Othello ‘Moorish’ features as a top ranking detective police officer in the London metropolitan force, which offers up the notion that this is not your ordinary version of Othello. The opening scene introduces the characters Othello Ken Nwosu’s and Poppy Gilbert as his wife, Desdemona entwined in love a marriage vows. Shakespearean enthusiasts will recognise the familiar characters of the devious hateful Iago portrayed by Ralph Davis and Cassio played by Oli Higginson. References to police dialogue and officers switching from uniformed police, in body  armour  merges at times quite clumsily with the Shakespearean text, which at times feels wrong but as the sequence of events un...
Lava – Soho Theatre
London

Lava – Soho Theatre

A small asteroid hitting London is the context for James Fritz new play now showing at the Soho Theatre.   Rather than causing global annihilation, it is a relatively local event although causing significant death and the large-scale displacement of populations.  It throws together 4 characters whose relationships are the substance of the play. The central character is Vin played by Don Parr who appears to have been struck dumb by the grief caused by the event.  His mother Vicky (Kasey Ainsworth) and friend and workmate Rach (Bethany Antonia) struggle to understand and maintain their relationships with him, especially when the more charismatic and certainly more voluble Jamie (Oli Higginson) arrives. The setting was simple on a bare stage with a large circular well in the middle...
The Last Five Years – Garrick Theatre
London

The Last Five Years – Garrick Theatre

Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years comes to the West End a year after its sold-out London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse. The show originally premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and has been produced in Northern America and internationally ever since. The musical takes us through five years in the relationship of New Yorkers Jamie and Cathy, an emerging author and actress respectively, and the toll their demanding professions take on their lives as they fall in and out of love. The action follows a non-linear approach with Jamie's story told in chronological order, starting at the first encounter between the two, whilst Cathy’s story plays out in reverse chronological order, starting just after their marriage has ended. Their individual timelines play out i...
The Last Five Years to Transfer to the West End
NEWS

The Last Five Years to Transfer to the West End

After a critically acclaimed run at Southwark Playhouse last year and a highly successful worldwide stream with stream.theatre, Jason Robert Brown’s Drama Desk Award-winning musical, The Last Five Years, will play a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre, previewing from 17th September, with an opening night on 23rd September and running until 13th October 2021.  Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson will reprise their roles as Cathy and Jamie.  This will be the first time the musical will have had a significant run of length in the West End. The production at Southwark Playhouse was nominated for eight Offie Awards and won two for Best Director and Best Musical Production.  Oli Higginson was nominated for a Stage Debut Award for his performance as...