REVIEW: Heather, Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe ✭✭✭✭
Grippingly directed by Valentina Ceschi, it effectively shifts tone and perspective and, by the end, leaves us questioning how much we really want to know about the authors we love.
Mark Ludmon
REVIEW: Buried – A New Musical, Edinburgh Festival Fringe ✭✭✭
The tunes in Buried are catchy and you’ll find yourself humming them afterwards even though the lyrics come from a more blood-soaked context.
Globe brings to life plays before Shakespeare
On a winter’s day in London in 1582, the court of Elizabeth I celebrated Christmas and New Year with a play packed full of bickering gods, magic spells and romantic intrigue. No records remain of further performances of The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune for another 435 years until it was revived in a staged reading at Shakespeare’s Globe this year. Despite its framing device of a debate between Venus, representing love, and a personification of fortune, the cast and director John Hopkins reveal this play, by an anonymous author, to be surprisingly entertaining and lively with plenty of opportunities for comedy. It was one of four one-off performances as part of the latest Read Not Dead season running at the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, co-ordinated by James Wallace from The Dolphin’s Back and devised in collaboration with the Before Shakespeare project. This research project focuses on the … Read more
REVIEW: The Burial Of The Rats, Edinburgh Fringe Festival ✭✭
There is no doubt a germ of a good show in this bold re-interpretation of Stoker’s story but this production unfortunately falls short of achieving it.
REVIEW: Twilight Song, Park Theatre ✭✭✭
While Twilight Song lacks the power of My Night With Reg, it is an enjoyable piece of drama that sharply portrays people – both gay and straight – who feel trapped by their circumstances and seek an escape that risks making their misery even worse.
REVIEW: Apologia, Trafalgar Studios ✭✭✭✭
Stockard Channing is outstanding as Kristin in Apologia, urbane and bitchy but covering up intense emotions that she can barely understand.
Casting announced for stage adaptation of The Knowledge
The cast has been announced for the world premiere of a new stage adaptation of Jack Rosenthal’s classic British film, The Knowledge. Steven Pacey, Celine Abrahams, James Alexandrou, Jenna Augen, Louise Callaghan, Ben Caplan, Michael Chance, Alice Felgate and Fabien Frankel have joined the show which runs at Charing Cross Theatre from 4 September to 11 November. It will be directed by Maureen Lipman who not only played one of the lead roles in the film but is also the widow of Jack Rosenthal. It has been adapted for the stage by Simon Block. The 1979 movie, which also starred Nigel Hawthorne, follows the hilarious struggles of four Londoners as they attempt to better themselves by attempting the fearsome “Knowledge” – the process of becoming a London black cab taxi driver. Standing between them and the coveted Green Badge is the eccentric Mr Burgess, the examiner, also known as “The Vampire”, … Read more
REVIEW: Queers Part 2, Old Vic Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Queers Part 2 The Old Vic Theatre 31 July 2017 Four stars In the first set of monologues curated by Mark Gatiss under the banner of Queers at the Old Vic, we were given insights into the gay lives of three men and a woman over the past century as they sought happiness against the odds. In the second set, we go down the pub to meet four more people who each show us other aspects of being gay over the past seven decades, with several again finding unexpected pleasures in spite of society’s disapproval and hate. In The Safest Spot in Town, Fredrick tells us how he became part of the hedonistic bohemian world of Bloomsbury and Soho before World War Two after arriving from the West Indies. Keith Jarrett’s monologue gives us a glimpse of the underground world of London where gay men could have some semblance of … Read more
