Attenborough gives Hampstead Theatre Reasons to be Happy

Reasons To Be happy at Hampstead Theatre

Michael Attenborough directs the UK premiere of Neil LaBute’s romantic comedy, Reasons to be Happy, at Hampstead Theatre in March. Reasons to be Happy – a companion piece to Reasons to be Pretty, directed by Michael Attenborough in 2011 – follows the lives and loves of four friends as they desperately search for happiness and explores ‘unfinished business’ in relationships. LaBute’s other plays include Reasons to be Pretty, Bash, The Shape of Things, The Distance From Here, Autobahn, Fat Pig, Some Girls, This Is How It Goes and In A Forest Dark and Deep. His films include In the Company of Men, for which he won the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival. Reasons to be Happy is Michael Attenborough’s fourth collaboration with LaBute. The former artistic director of the Almeida Theatre returns to Hampstead Theatre following Luna … Read more

REVIEW: Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Minerva Theatre Chichester ✭✭✭✭

Someone To Watch Over Me at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester

There are many extraordinary moments from Keenan. Highlights include his improvisation of horse-racing victories; the powerful sequence which opens the second Act when Edward is openly defying his captors and refusing to eat; the absurd, but incredibly touching, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” scene, where he and David Haig’s Michael pretend they are flying over Europe, heading home; the silent, aching horror when he dresses to leave. All of these moments are superbly judged by Keenan, incisive and absorbing. The haunted look his eyes develop over the course of the play is quite remarkable, and will linger with you afterwards.