REVIEW : Thérèse Raquin, Studio 54 ✭✭✭✭

Thérèse Raquin at Sudio 54 on Broadway starring Keira Knightley

Cabnet’s clear and perceptive direction is sound for the most part, and there is an emphasis on visual aspects of the production which make it something special. Thérèse, alone on a rock, contemplating escape; the awkward, near inept, murder of Camille followed by the images of the sodden lovers, breathless on dry land; Madame’s hand creeping into view, just as the stroke fells her; the restless sense of Camille’s spirit having possessed the bedroom where Thérèse and Laurent cuckolded him. Using silence as expressively as sound, Cabnet presides over a production rich in detail and incredibly tense to experience.

Dogfight in Concert at St James Theatre

Dogfight in Concert at the St James Theatre

Exactly a year after Dogfight’s acclaimed European premiere season ended at Southwark Playhouse, the original cast and creative team are to reunite for a special concert version of the musical in the main theatre at St James Theatre on Sunday 11 October. Dogfight was showered with praise by the critics and the production was nominated Best Musical and Laura Jane Matthewman named Outstanding Emerging Talent in the Evening Standard Awards. Dogfight also received three Off West End Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Female and Best Male, and it was shortlisted Best Off West End Production in the Whatsonstage Awards. Producer Danielle Tarento said today: “Dogfight was such a special project for everyone involved. Now we have a wonderful opportunity to reunite the Dogfight family to once more sing the magical score by Pasek and Paul and relive again the heartbreaking love story between Eddie and Rose. As the lyrics … Read more

OPINION: Do We Need More Dogfights?

Dogfight at Southwark Playhouse

There are questions to be asked about Dogfight. Any attempt at a review really ought to address those questions rather than simply parroting the plot and blurting out an opinion. Is it any good? Well, first let me declare an interest – I am fortunate enough to represent two clients appearing in the show, Cellen Chugg Jones and Samuel J Weir. It would be remiss of me not to mention this, and while I thought both were outstanding performances, it doesn’t really have any bearing on what I thought of the show. Suffice to say both men did me proud, turning in dazzlingly focused and nuanced performances. As Boland, right-hand man to Jamie Muscato’s thrilling Eddie, Chugg Jones gives a performance of raw masculinity and power. I probably would say that though, wouldn’t I? Weir, like all the marines, balances virility with vertiginous vocals. No On The Town-esque mincing for … Read more