Category: Fiction
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Jude at the Hampstead Theatre review ***
Jude Hampstead Theatre, 8th May 2019 I am guessing if you are the playwright responsible for The Churchill Play, Epsom Downs, The Romans in Britain, Pravda, Paul, 55 Days and Lawrence After Arabia you can get to write pretty much what you like. Especially if you plainly have a history…
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Billy Budd at the Royal Opera House review ****
Billy Budd Royal Opera House, 7th May 2019 The corruption of innocence, the struggle of good vs evil, Christ-like redemption and Pilate-like equivocation, the conflict between natural and legal justice, the outsider’s struggle for acceptance, repressed, scopophiliac, homosexual desire, the rational, scientific world contrasted with the mythic poetry of the…
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Creditors at the Jermyn Street Theatre review ****
Creditors Jermyn Street Theatre, 27th April 2019 I am still tiptoeing my way into Strindberg. A long history of ignoring him after an early dismissal many years ago was corrected with the companion piece to this, a version of Miss Julie, also translated by Howard Brenton, also directed by JST…
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Small Island at the National Theatre review *****
Small Island National Theatre Olivier If you know Andrea Levy’s Small Island either from the original 2004 book, (not me I confess), or the 2009 Two part BBC adaptation with script from Sarah Williams and Paula Milne and starring the inimitable Ruth Wilson and Naomie Harris then you will know…
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The Talented Mr Ripley at the Vault Festival review ****
The Talented Mr Ripley The Faction, Vault Festival, 14th March 2019 Having missed this on a couple of previous occasions the Tourist was delighted to see it pop up on the Vault listings and even more delighted that the SO deigned to come. Downfall or The Talented Mr Ripley. The…
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Berberian Sound Studio at the Donmar Warehouse review ****
Berberian Sound Studio Donmar Warehouse, 14th March 2019 I sort of stumbled across Peter Strickland second full length film by accident. Always keep half an eye on what’s coming up on Film 4. Record anything that I recognise as requiring a watch, (on the basis of pretentious film buff recommendations),…
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Alys, Always at the Bridge Theatre review ****
Alys, Always Bridge Theatre, 25th February 2019 Said it before and I’ll say it again. You have to be careful with adaptations of novels and/or films on stage. There may be enough in character and plot to justify the transfer but there may not always, (no pun intended), be enough…
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Don Quixote at the Garrick Theatre review ****
Don Quixote Garrick Theatre, 2nd January 2019 Finally the Tourist gets to see this. Took a chance that it would, after the mostly strong reviews, eventually find a home in London, and waited for the run to settle in to secure a fairly priced ticket. If you are of a…
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The Tell-Tale Heart at the National Theatre review ***
The Tell-Tale Heart National Theatre Dorfman, 21st December 2018 No panto for the Tourist and family. This year’s entertainment was to be Anthony Neilson’s adaptation of the (in)famous Edgar Allan Poe short story about a writer who, let us say, loses a little bit of perspective. Some concern from our…
At Home He Feels Like A Tourist 