Category: London
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Caroline, or Change at the Hampstead Theatre review *****
Caroline, or Change Hampstead Theatre, 18th April 2018 How many exceptions does it take before the rule is unproven? I don’t, as a rule, like musicals, as I have oft repeated on these very pages. I absolutely adored this though. That might be because it isn’t your classic show tunes,…
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The Country Wife at Southwark Playhouse review ***
The Country Wife Southwark Playhouse, 17th April 2018 I haven’t seen that many Restoration comedies. In fact if I take the list of notable examples of the genre offered up by Wiki I see it is a grand total of one, in the form of the NT’s Beaux Stratagem from…
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Macbeth at the National Theatre review ***
Macbeth National Theatre Olivier, 14th April 2018 Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more This was frustrating. No way of hiding it. It promised so much. A Macbeth. With Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff,…
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The Marriage of Figaro at the ENO review *****
The Marriage of Figaro English National Opera, 12th April 2018 It isn’t easy to think of a better opera than the Marriage of Figaro. And, as we culture vultures know, when opera works there is scarcely any entertainment to match it. It is just a shame that opera so rarely…
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Isle of Dogs film review ****
Isle of Dogs, 12th April 2018 Many, many years ago, just after the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up in 1981 I had cause to visit the Isle of Dogs, the real one, as part of my academic studies. It was a desolate sh*thole then, with all due respect…
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Humble Boy at the Orange Tree Theatre review ***
Humble Boy Orange Tree Theatre, 11th April 2018 Sometimes it can be tricky to put your finger on exactly why a play doesn’t quite work for you. Other times it is easy. This was one of the latter. For me, writer Charlotte Jones lavishes so much attention on shoehorning in…
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Bryce Dessner and the London Contemporary Orchestra Soloists at Queen Elizabeth Hall review ***
London Contemporary Orchestra Soloists, Galya Bisengalieva (violin), Rakhi Singh (violin), Robert Ames (viola), Oliver Coates (cello) – Bryce Dessner (electric guitar) Queen Elizabeth Hall. 10th April 2018 Bryce Dessner – Aheym for string quartet Mica Levi – You belong to me for string quartet Steve Reich – Electric Counterpoint for…