• Holy Sh!t at the Kiln Theatre review ****

    Holy Sh!t Kiln Theatre, 19th September 2018 Their exclamation mark not mine. Even at my age I get a vicarious thrill out of swearing to cause offence. A little bit of punk attitude remains I like to think. Actually, on the subject of manufactured offence, I gather there have been picket lines outside the newly…

  • The Lehman Trilogy at the National Theatre review *****

    The Lehman Trilogy National Theatre Lyttleton, 18th September 2018 So I gather this staging of Stefano Massimi’s play The Lehman Trilogy is a very different take from that lauded across Europe after its premiere in 2015 in Italy. No cast of thousands here. Just three amazing actors in Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles and Adam…

  • Britten’s Spring Symphony from the LSO at the Barbican review ***

    LSO, LSO Chorus, Tiffin Choirs, Sir Simon Rattle, Philip Cobb (trumpet), Gabor Tarkovi (trumpet), Elizabeth Watts, (soprano) Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor) Barbican Hall, 17th September 2018 Harrison Birtwhistle – Donum Simoni MMXVIII Gustav Holst – Egdon Heath Mark-Anthony Turnage – Dispelling the Fears Benjamin Britten – Spring Symphony Now here was an object…

  • The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Park Theatre review ****

    The Rise and Fall of Little Voice Park Theatre, 13th September 2018 Never has the truism “a hard act to follow” been more apposite than with The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Jane Horrocks. Jim Cartwright wrote the part for her after he heard her extraordinary vocal mimicry in rehearsal and, after transferring…

  • The Prisoner at the National Theatre review **

    The Prisoner National Theatre Dorfman, 12th September 2018 OK. I should have known better. Having been bemused by Battlefield at the Young Vic in 2016 I still signed up for The Prisoner despite knowing full well I was likely set for a repeat experience. Peter Brook, and long time collaborator Marie-Helene Estienne, are theatrical royalty.…

  • Allelujah at the Bridge Theatre review ****

    Allelujah Bridge Theatre, 12th September 2018 Yet again by the time the Tourist gets round to seeing a major London premiere and, worst still given his feckless nature, comments on it, it is as good as over. Mind you the good news is that, as far as I can see, Allelujah was an unqualified success…

  • Foxfinder at the Ambassadors Theatre review ***

    Foxfinder Ambassadors Theatre, 10th September 2018 I had not seen Dawn King’s feted breakthrough play Foxfinder but I can see why it caused such a stir when it appeared in 2011 and why it is being made into a film. A near(ish) post-war dystopia, where a shadowy authoritarian regime has taken power following economic collapse…

  • The Second Violinist at the Barbican review ***

    The Second Violinist Barbican Theatre 7th September 2018 Ok so I bought a ticket here on a bit of a whim and because it garnered some awards on its premiere in Ireland. Now I know from past experience that the playwright Enda Walsh is not a man who likes to give audiences an easy night…

  • Copenhagen at the Minerva Theatre Chichester review *****

    Copenhagen Minerva Theatre Chichester, 6th September 2018 Michael Frayn wrote the funniest stage comedy of all time. Noises Off. OK well maybe it is only is the funniest of those comedies that I have seen. And maybe the two productions that I have seen, the NT one from 2000/2001 directed by Jeremy Sams, and the…

  • The Height of the Storm at Richmond Theatre review ****

    The Height of the Storm Richmond Theatre, 5th September 2018 I can’t deny that Florian Zeller is a gifted playwright. I am just not sure his work is for me. I saw The Father at this very house in 2016 with Kenneth Cranham in the lead role. Centering on an old fella with Alzheimers allowed…

At Home He Feels Like A Tourist