At Home He Feels Like A Tourist

Tag: Hampstead Theatre

  • My top ten theatre shows of 2018 … and top ten to look forward to

    Right even by the standards of the drivel that the Tourist usually posts on this site this is an utter waste of your and my time. Weeks too late, built on flaky foundations of understanding and appreciation and precious little use to anyone. Except maybe me that is, as an…

  • The Humans at the Hampstead Theatre review ****

    The Humans Hampstead Theatre Main Stage, 3rd October 2018 Sometimes it can feel like the whole history of US theatrical drama is one long story of family dysfunctionality. Mind you you can see why. When it works, Miller, O’Neill, Williams, Albee, Shepherd, Wilson, Kushner, to name a few, it is…

  • Genesis Inc at the Hampstead Theatre review **

    Genesis Inc. Hampstead Theatre Upstairs, 25th June 2018 Sometimes less is more. A lesson that writer Jemma Kennedy and director Laurie Sansom here chose to, if not ignore, certainly bypass. Made even more frustrating because, at the kernel of this play, and in its execution, are some very good ideas.…

  • The Moderate Soprano at the Duke of York’s Theatre review ****

    The Moderate Soprano Duke of York’s Theatre, 7th June 1018 There are a couple of weeks to go in the run of David Hare’s The Moderate Soprano at the Duke of York’s Theatre. There are plenty of (discounted) tickets left. You could do a lot worse than seeing this if…

  • Describe the Night at the Hampstead Theatre review ****

    Describe The Night Hampstead Theatre, 23rd May 2018 In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Describe the Night hasn’t gone down too well with the London critics. The SO and I think they might have missed a…

  • The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre review *****

    The Phlebotomist Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 2nd May 2018 The Phlebotomist is sold out for the rest of its runs. So you had better hope that it pitches up elsewhere, ideally with the current cast and creatives, for it really is an excellent play. There are three almighty talents on show…

  • 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,…

  • Dry Powder at the Hampstead Theatre review ****

    Dry Powder Hampstead Theatre, 29th January 2018 At last a play about the world of “high finance” which does not wade in with both feet in some ham-fisted (I know, mangled metaphors), didactic attempt to explain to the audience why it is “evil”. Actually that is a little unfair as…

  • Cell Mates at the Hampstead Theatre review ***

    Cell Mates Hampstead Theatre, 10th January 2018 This was my first experience of the work of prolific playwright/novelist/diarist/academic Simon Gray whose stage texts were so adored by luminaries such as Peter Hall, Harold Pinter, (who directed many of his premieres), and Alan Bates, (who starred in them). Cell Mates, of…

  • The Firm at the Hampstead Theatre review *****

    The Firm Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 22nd November 2017 N.B. The Firm is returning to the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs for another run between the 3rd May and 8th June 2019. The Tourist goes to a lot of theatre in London and, trust him, there is no better value than a preview…

  • Slaves of Solitude at the Hampstead Theatre review ***

    Slaves of Solitude Hampstead Theatre, 8th November 2017 As this blog testifies I spend a lot of time in theatres, (too much I think), but the SO is far more circumspect in her choices. Occasionally, very occasionally, the SO’s desire to see a play, and her enjoyment thereof, outstrips mine. Slaves of…

  • Gloria at the Hampstead Theatre review ****

    Gloria Hampstead Theatre, 4th July 2017 Right. This might actually be a review of, albeit dubious, utility. There are 3 weeks or so left on the run and there are  a fair few tickets left. And this is a fine piece of theatre with an interesting premise, formal innovation, enough…