At Home He Feels Like A Tourist

Category: Theatre

  • Killology at the Royal Court Theatre review ****

    Killology Royal Court Theatre, 8th June 2017 There are a few plays every year where I kick myself that I missed them. Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Stott from 2015 was definitely one of them. So I was determined to see Killology (pre-reviews) even though I wasn’t entirely persuaded by the…

  • The Island at the Southwark Playhouse review ****

    The Island Southwark Playhouse, 5th June 2017 The Island was written by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona, whose other major work is Sizwe Bansi is Dead, and first performed, illegally, by the writers to an integrated audience in Cape Town in 1973. It was devised and rehearsed in…

  • The Treatment at the Almeida Theatre review ***

    The Treatment Almeida Theatre, 24th May 2017 I didn’t really get on with this. The premise is interesting, the acting was accomplished (all the leads were new to me) and there were ideas to ponder upon, but I just didn’t find it that involving, either emotionally or intellectually. I had…

  • The Goat, or Who is Sylvia at the Theatre Royal Haymarket review *****

    The Goat, or Who is Sylvia Theatre Royal Haymarket, 25th May 2017 I love the theatre. It wasn’t always so. Until relatively recently I confess I didn’t have the time or, more importantly, the patience to really grasp what it was all about. Yes I would see a few plays,…

  • Occupational Hazards at Hampstead Theatre review ****

    Occupational Hazards Hampstead Theatre, 20th May 2017 You can learn a lot at the theatre. Rory Stewart is (actually was, given Parliament is dissolved) a junior minister at the Department of International Development. Apparently he has known the playwright here, Stephen Brown, since they were kids. Mr Stewart sounds like…

  • Woyzeck at the Old Vic review ***

    Woyzeck The Old Vic, 27th May 2017 One day soon the Old Vic under the aegis of its ambitious Artistic Director, Mathew Warchus, is going to come up with an absolute stonker. The strategy of taking a classic play, or new work from a top flight current playwright, stuffing it…

  • Don Juan in Soho at the Wyndham’s Theatre review ****

    Don Juan in Soho Wyndham’s Theatre, 22nd May Get this. The programme says that since a Spanish dramatist, Tirso di Molina, first brought Don Juan to the world in around 1620 he has appeared in at least 1,800 plays, operas, novels, films and poems. And I bet he appeared as…

  • Some ideas for the culturally inclined in London

    Here is a very brief round-up, (apparently I can drone on a bit so have tried to be disciplined), of the current and forthcoming major theatre and exhibition events in London that have caught my eye (and ear). I have a list of classical concerts which is still good to go…

  • The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Donmar Warehouse review ****

    The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Donmar Warehouse, 18th May 2017 I see a lot of theatre now. Which means I read a lot of press reviews. Which is about the only time I ever step out of my Guardian reading, liberal, metropolitan elite cocoon. And that means reading reviews…

  • The Cardinal at the Southwark Playhouse review ***

    The Cardinal Southwark Playhouse, 16th May 2017 Scary picture huh. Southwark Playhouse is a constant whirr of activity serving up all manner of delights across the theatrical spectrum. I just never know what to expect. I am not so shallow as to buy a ticket on spec based on a…

  • Othello at Wilton’s Music Hall review ****

    Othello Wilton’s Music Hall, 17th May 2017 I think Othello is my favourite Shakespeare tragedy. And it follows, therefore, that it is my favourite Shakespeare play since the tragedies generally kick the most arse. And it therefore also follows that it is probably my favourite ever play since no-one bests…

  • Obsession at the Barbican Theatre review ***

    Obsession Barbican Theatre, 13th May 2017 In retrospect there were warning signs. This was an adaptation of Luchino Visconti’s 1943 debut film, Obssessione, itself based on a book by James M. Cain, the Postman Always Rings Twice, which in turn was later made into an American film in 1946 (Lana…