REVIEW: Mosquitoes, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Slickly directed by Rufus Norris, Mosquitoes entertains and enlightens although, if I may use one of its metaphors, it lacks bite.
Slickly directed by Rufus Norris, Mosquitoes entertains and enlightens although, if I may use one of its metaphors, it lacks bite.
Full casting has been announced for Mosquitoes at the National Theatre. Alice is a scientist. She lives in Geneva. As the Large Hadron particle collider starts up in 2008, she is on the brink of the most exciting work of her life, searching for the Higgs Boson. Jenny is her sister. She lives in Luton. She spends a lot of time Googling. When tragedy throws them together, the collision threatens all with chaos. Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood will have its world premiere in the Dorfman Theatre in July with Rufus Norris directing. The cast is Amanda Boxer, Olivia Colman (Jenny), Cait Davis, Vanessa Emme, Yoli Fuller, Paul Hilton, Joseph Quinn, Sofia Stuart and Olivia Williams (Alice). Designed by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Paule Constable, music by Adam Cork, sound design by Paul Arditti and video design by Finn Ross & Ian William Galloway. Mosquitoes will play at the National … Read more
Barker’s play is extraordinary, especially given that it was written over a century ago and revised by him in the late 20’s, the original having been banned from performance. The notions and complex philosophies which underline the narrative are as fresh, vital and important now as then. The need to invest in the future, to educate the young properly. The hopelessness of political cabals. The marginalisation of women. Double-standards in public life. The dirty compromises of party politics. The terror a true rebel with a proper cause can create in the complacent and borne to rule.