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 17 November, 2009 · 2 Comments
At first glance, Public Property is a boilerplate Trafalgar Studio 2 production. On closer inspection, however, this is something of a rare find: a play about three gay men in which the characters’ sexuality is almost incidental, an extra thematic layer rather than the piece’s raison d’être.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with benedict nightingale, brian logan, british theatre guide, catherine usher, dominic cavendish, evening standard, hanna berrigan, henry hitchings, jane edwardes, karen fricker, michael coveney, sam peter jackson, the guardian, the stage, the telegraph, the times, time out, trafalgar studios, variety, west end whingers, what's on stage
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 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 20 March, 2009 · Leave a Comment
James Farwell is, first and foremost, an attorney and political consultant. The Murder Game is his first foray into playwriting and he’s sticking to what he knows: the legal community of his native New Orleans.
Posted by Matt on 12 March, 2009 · 3 Comments
It’s all too easy to remain detached from the subject of Iraq. Stovepipe aims to pick us up off the sidelines and deposit us bodily into the midst of the relief effort.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with adam brace, aleks sierz, british theatre guide, bush, caroline mcginn, christopher hart, london theatre blog, michael billington, michael coveney, michael longhurst, national, philip fisher, the guardian, the independent, the stage, the times, time out, west 12, west end whingers
Posted by Matt on 18 February, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Incest is a theme that can’t help but eclipse all others in its power to raise a reaction. This play is going to offend some people – and isn’t that the litmus test for vital art?
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with aleks sierz, benedict nightingale, british theatre guide, in-sook chappell, lisa goldman, london theatre blog, michael billington, michael coveney, philip fisher, soho, the guardian, the stage, the times, what's on stage
Posted by Matt on 12 February, 2009 · 1 Comment
The play does a great job putting the problems of today’s multicultural London in perpsective, as each generation of immigrants eventually integrates into British life and then takes its turn oppressing the next.
Filed under Reviews · Tagged with benedict nightingale, british theatre guide, charles spencer, evening standard, london theatre blog, michael billington, michael coveney, music omh, natasha tripney, national, nicholas de jongh, nicholas hytner, philip fisher, richard bean, the guardian, the stage, the telegraph, the times, what's on stage, william mcevoy
