A review of Folk at London’s Hampstead Theatre. A ‘play with songs’ that goes to the heart of Englishness, tradition and preservation. Folk How fortunate that I was able to get a return ticket for Folk! I missed its first run as part of Hampstead Theatre‘s winter season, and initially missed out on tickets for […]
A review of Jitney, part of August Wilson’s ten play cycle on a century of Black life in America, and on now at the Old Vic. An Old Vic, Headlong and Leeds Playhouse co-production. Jitney Definition of jitney:1. An unlicensed taxicab2. Bus. Especially: a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a […]
A review of Sun & Sea, an opera about Climate Change which unfolds over several hours as the audience at the Albany look on. Strangely mesmerising, this is an atmospheric rather than didactic response to the Climate Emergency. Sun & Sea Sun & Sea, by all-female creative team Lina Lapelyte (visual artist and composer)̇, Vaiva […]
A review of Favour, an intergenerational drama by Ambreen Razia on now at the Bush Theatre. Powerful themes and strong performances from this all-female cast. Favour It has been a busy week for the Bush Theatre! Earlier in the week we saw Nikhil Parmar’s Invisible in their Studio space; today it’s Favour on the main […]
A review of Invisible, written and performed by Nikhil Parmar. This darkly comic one hour monologue is on at the Bush Theatre for a limited run. Invisible It’s perhaps fitting given the title, but Invisible is one of those plays where you don’t necessarily notice the change in tone until you find yourself wondering “When […]
A review of the reprise of Jerusalem at London’s Apollo Theatre. What can I add to the effusive praise of other reviewers? More of the same! Jerusalem Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem has had a long life in this format – directed by Ian Rickson, with Mark Rylance starring, supported by returning cast members Mackenzie Crook, Gerard […]
A review of Raphael at the National Gallery. A blockbuster exhibition highlighting the range of this Renaissance master. Raphael What did I know of Raphael before seeing this exhibition at the National Gallery? Reasonably little. I knew him as a real Renaissance man, had seen his frescoes in the Vatican. I had an idea that […]
A review of Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], a collaboration between Harry Hill and Steve Brown on now at London’s Park Theatre. Tony! I was intrigued enough to buy tickets when I saw the Park Theatre were putting on a rock opera all about Tony Blair, but I still wasn’t quite sure what to […]
A review of Anti-Gone, a new adaptation of the original Greek story performed by Russian-speaking theatre company Xameleon as an anti-Putin retelling. Anti-Gone I was intrigued to see Anti-Gone, performed by theatre company Xameleon. Based in London, Xameleon works with artists from countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain, and is thus primarily Russian-speaking. In a […]
A review of The World of Stonehenge, an epic historic exhibition on now at the British Museum. Fabulous loans and beautiful design combined with interesting subject matter. The World of Stonehenge I’m not exaggerating too much when I say that this is an epic exhibition. Epic in the broad sweep of (pre-)history it takes in. […]
