Posted by Matt on 2 November, 2010 · Leave a Comment
I didn’t enjoy the Lyric Hammersmith’s revival of Blasted – but you’d think I was sick if I said I had, right?
Filed under Daydreams · Tagged with @lurkmoophy, a younger theatre, aleks sierz, carousel of fantasies, charles spencer, diana damian, dominic kent, eoghan o'neill, fourth wall, hannah stratton, honour bayes, ian foster, jake orr, lyric, matt trueman, michael billington, michael coveney, paul taylor, quentin letts, sarah kane, sean holmes, the guardian, the independent, the mail, the public reviews, the stage, the telegraph, theartsdesk, theatre thoughts, there ought to be clowns, west end whingers, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 29 September, 2010 · Leave a Comment
The Shadow of Sean O’Casey; “Britain’s most provocative playwright”; “Get dressed. The big fellah’s on his way.”
Filed under Daydreams · Tagged with a younger theatre, aleks sierz, carousel of fantasies, charles spencer, jake orr, lyric, matt trueman, matt wolf, max stafford-clark, michael billington, michael coveney, pirate dog, richard bean, rob walport, the guardian, the stage, the telegraph, theartsdesk, tyro theatre critic, west end whingers, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 11 July, 2010 · Leave a Comment
The first and final scenes of this open-air Comedy of Errors feel dashed off, as if director Philip Franks couldn’t be bothered to do much with them. This isn’t as big a problem as it might be in a different play: The Comedy of Errors is mostly middle.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with abi johnson, british theatre guide, broadway world, charles spencer, evening standard, henry hitchings, howard loxton, ian foster, islington tribune, john thaxter, kate kellaway, londonist, maxwell cooter, michael billington, michael coveney, music omh, philip franks, quentin letts, regent's park open air, sam smith, shakespeare, the guardian, the independent, the mail, the observer, the stage, the telegraph, there ought to be clowns, what's on stage, zoe j griffiths
Posted by Matt on 11 April, 2010 · Leave a Comment
It’s fair to assume that few people watch porn for the plot, and it’s best to take the same approach to Porn – the Musical.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with abigail guan, barry honeycombe, benedict nightingale, boris cezek, british theatre guide, kris spiteri, malcolm galea, michael billington, paul robinson, paul vale, the guardian, the stage, the times, theatre 503, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 1 February, 2010 · Leave a Comment
There’s nothing wrong with a partially recycled plot, especially when it’s embedded in a refreshing new context, or accessorised with interesting peripheral events. But in Plan D the context is deliberately obscured, with only Designer Paul Burgess’s generically Middle Eastern costumes to hint at the Palestinian setting.
Posted by Matt on 24 September, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Like a glass-panelled clock, Deborah Warner’s Mother Courage and Her Children doesn’t just choose not to conceal its inner workings, it displays them, inviting the audience to marvel at the way the pieces fit together.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with benedict nightingale, bertolt brecht, charles spencer, deborah warner, evening standard, fiona mountford, heather neill, london theatre blog, michael billington, michael coveney, music omh, national, stephen crowe, the guardian, the stage, the telegraph, the times, tony kushner, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 21 September, 2009 · 2 Comments
As an examination of the overly simplistic adult tendency to classify teenage behaviour as the direct result of easily identifiable causes like alcohol, pornography and violent media, Punk Rock delivers.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with british theatre guide, curtain up, evelyn curlet, evening standard, henry hitchings, kat brown, lizzie loveridge, london theatre blog, lyric, michael billington, music omh, natasha tripney, philip fisher, sarah frankcom, simon stephens, the guardian, the london paper, the stage
Posted by Matt on 31 May, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Perhaps under other circumstances having ’solved’ All’s Well would be enough of an achievement, but this is the National we’re talking about; it’s perfectly justifiable to demand more.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with benedict nightingale, evening standard, heather neill, henry hitchings, jon massey, london theatre blog, marianne elliott, michael billington, national, shakespeare, simon edge, sunday express, the guardian, the stage, the times, wharf
Posted by Matt on 8 May, 2009 · Leave a Comment
If anthropogenic climate change is the greatest challenge currently facing mankind, then right now Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan at the Bush Theatre is the most important artwork in the country.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with aleks sierz, british theatre guide, bush, charles spencer, evening standard, fiona mountford, jane edwardes, london theatre blog, michael billington, michael coveney, michael longhurst, philip fisher, steve waters, tamara harvey, the guardian, the stage, the telegraph, time out, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 8 April, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Though Death and the King’s Horseman was programmed well before England People Very Nice opened and the accusations began, in context it feels like a comforting reassurance that the National Theatre does not condone racism.
