-
Valued Friends at the Rose Theatre Kingston ***
Valued Friends Rose Theatre Kingston, 8th October 2019 I am all for revivals of modern plays that have something to say to us right now. Assuming the play was good enough in the first place. And that the director and creative team have a clear idea of how they craft…
-
Faith, Hope and Charity at the National Theatre review ****
Faith, Hope and Charity National Theatre Dorfman, 8th October 2019 I didn’t catch the first two plays in Alexander Zeldin’s trilogy, Beyond Caring (zero hours contracts) and Love (a homeless hostel), about life for the disadvantaged in modern Britain. In fact worse that that I didn’t even know about them.…
-
Seraglio at the Hackney Empire review ****
Seraglio Hackney Empire, 4th October 2019 Or to give it its full name Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail or The Abduction from the Seraglio. Here though Seraglio, not just to reflect the fact that this English Touring Opera production is sung, (and spoken), in English following a colloquial translation by…
-
Two Ladies at the Bridge Theatre review *
Two Ladies Bridge Theatre, 2nd October 2019 Well on the plus side the new season just announced at the Bridge looks to be a humdinger. A revival of Caryl Churchill’s A Number, directed by Polly Findlay with Roger Allam and Colin Morgan as Salter and son(s), Nick Hytner taking on…
-
Peer Gynt at the National Theatre review ****
Peer Gynt National Theatre Olivier, 1st October 2019 I know what I need. A bit more Ibsen. There are reasons why theatre-makers keep returning to the master and the slew of high profile productions in London this year alone is a reminder of why. I would probably plump for Ian…
-
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. review at the Royal Court Theatre *****
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. Royal Court Theatre, 30th September 2019 Caryl Churchill is the greatest English language living playwright and, IMHO, the greatest playwright since Shakespeare. Now I know that many of you would disagree, and that the vast majority of people on the planet couldn’t give a f*ck, but…
-
The Last King of Scotland at the Sheffield Crucible review *****
The Last King of Scotland Crucible Sheffield, 28th September 2019 The Tourist generally agrees with all those smart people paid to review theatrical productions. That is a) because they now what they are doing, they are experts with experience and should be listened to, rather than some halfwit with his/her…