REVIEW: Cell Mates, Hampstead Theatre ✭✭✭

Cell Mates review Hampstead Theatre

Cell Mates. Hampstead Theatre. 12 December 2017 3 Stars Book Now Cell Mates has become a curio over time mainly to the troubles surrounding its West End production in 1995. Star Stephen Fry walked out of the production suffering from a breakdown, and the tabloid frenzy that surrounded it overshadowed the play itself. Thankfully Fry made a comeback in more ways than one, and Edward Hall’s new production aims to reclaim the play itself, and there is much to admire in Simon Gray’s writing, even if the play now looks dated. Based on fact, it’s the story of spy, double agent, and some would say traitor George Blake, who, four years into a 42 year prison sentence for leaking some of the West’s most sensitive intelligence secretes to the Russians, hatched a plot to escape from Wormwood Scrubs. He enlisted Irishman Sean Bourke to break him out, and, following the … Read more

REVIEW: Firebird, Trafalgar Studios 2 ✭✭✭✭✭

Firebird at Trafalgar Studios 2

Firebird deals with pertinent weighty issues of race, class and child exploitation, but the writing shines with Phil Davies’ dark humour. It is punchy and savage, it’s stark grimy set underscored with intrusive dubstep during the scene changes. See this play for the three performances of the small cast, who possess an unbridled and searing energy that shakes you to the core.

Three days of Drama and Literature at Hampstead Theatre


Hampstead Theatre

Following last year’s success, Hampstead Theatre has confirmed that its second annual festival will take place on 18 – 20 March 2016. The Festival boasts over 30 unique events including workshops and panel discussions featuring Sir David Hare, Sir Matthew Bourne, Howard Brenton, Darcey Bussell, Tim Pigott-Smith, Deborah Moggach, Meera Syal and Kate Mosse. Hampstead Theatre’s artistic director Edward Hall and producer Issy van Randwyck have invited a wide variety of artists to share their stories and work processes. Hall said: “Hampstead Theatre is thrilled to be bringing back The Festival after its incredible success in 2015. “We hope this year’s programme will give attendees an opportunity to meet some of the most original thinkers in British culture today and discover new insights into the wonderful worlds these people work in.” The first Hampstead Theatre Festival was hosted in March 2015 and attracted a 2,500 audience footfall in just one … Read more

First Look At New Cast Of Sunny Afternoon

New cast for Sunny Afternoon starts on 5 October 2015

It has been announced today that the new cast of Sunny Afternoon, the musical based on the music of The Kinks, will start in the Olivier Award-winning musical on 5th October 2015. The new cast is Danny Horn (Doctor Who; The Dead Dogs), who will play Ray Davies, with Oliver Hoare (Antony and Cleopatra, Chichester) as Dave Davies, Tom Whitelock (Times Square Angel, Union) as bassist Pete Quaife and Damien Walsh (Dreamboats and Petticoats) as drummer Mick Avory. At certain performances, the role of Ray Davies will be played by Ryan O’Donnell (Romeo and Juliet, RSC; Quadrophenia). Cast includes: Jason Baughan, Niamh Bracken, Christopher Brandon, Harriet Bunton, Alice Cardy, Oliver Hoare, Danny Horn, Gillian Kirkpatrick, Jay Marsh, Megan Leigh Mason, Ryan O’Donnell, Stephen Pallister, Charlie Tighe, Gabriel Vick, Damien Walsh and Tom Whitelock. With a book by Joe Penhall, music and lyrics and original story by Ray Davies, and directed … Read more

REVIEW: Hello/Goodbye, Hampstead Theatre ✭✭

Miranda Raison and Shaun Evans in Hello/Goodbye at the Hampstead Theatre. Photo: Manuel Harlan

Shaun Evans demonstrates convincingly his skills as an actor – his enlivening of Alex is complex, rich in detail, and utterly beguiling. Capricious, selfish, shrill to the point of ear-drum splitting, cruel and sarcastic, Miranda Raison’s Juliet is spectacularly beautiful on the outside but ghastly on the inside. Raison, a gifted and compelling actress, does her best.