Young Vic

CRITIC’S CHOICE 2016 : Danny Coleman-Cooke

Off West End, Reviews, West End
Cuttin' It at Young Vic

We asked our reviewers to take a look at 2016 and to nominate some stand out productions for 2016. Danny Coleman-Cooke replied with the following:- Guys and Dolls, Savoy Theatre This revival did great justice to one of theatre’s finest ever musicals – the all-star cast included David Haig, Jamie Parker and Sophie Thompson. Infused with stunning choreography from Andrew Wright and Carlos Acosta, it fully deserved its critical acclaim and resulting UK tour. Cuttin It, Young Vic A fantastic play tackling the important issue of FGM, Cuttin It starts as a good-humoured tale of childhood friendship but turns into something much darker. Simple yet powerful in its staging, it was the most emotional production I saw all year, provoking floods of tears from the audience. Richard Gadd: Monkey See Monkey Do, Soho Theatre My previous experiences of Richard Gadd had left me fairly cold, finding him a bit crude … Read more

REVIEW: Ah Wilderness!, Young Vic, ✭✭✭✭

Off West End, Reviews
George MacKay and Dominic Rowan in Ah Wilderness at the Young Vic Theatre in London

Ah, Wilderness! Young Vic 4 stars In his 1932 play Ah, Wilderness, Eugene O’Neill returns to familiar themes such as family life, alcoholism and thwarted idealism but it stands out among his work for having a lightness of touch and event moments of comedy. Set in Connecticut on July 4 in 1906, it is a nostalgic family drama that is said to be O’Neill’s reinvention of his own less than happy childhood brought up by a distant, drug-addicted mother. In Ah, Wilderness!, the central character of 17-year-old Richard Miller is roughly the same age that young Eugene would have been in 1906. But, instead of a dysfunctional family, there is a sweet, loving mother and a father who is stern but a big softy underneath, both proud of their poetry-loving son. The play’s charm is beautifully captured in a new, trimmed-down production directed by Natalie Abrahami at the Young Vic. … Read more

West End Transfer For Young Vic’s View From The Bridge

News, West End
The cast of A View From The Bridge. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

Mark Strong will lead the cast as Eddie Carbone in the West End transfer of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. Ivo Van Hove’s five star Young Vic production will open at the Wyndham’s Theatre on 16 February 2015 with previews from 11 February 2015 and play for a strictly limited eight week season to 11 April 2015. Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, A View from the Bridge opened at the Young Vic in April where the production enjoyed an extended sell-out run. Arthur Miller confronts the American dream in this dark and passionate tale. In Brooklyn, longshoreman Eddie Carbone welcomes his Sicilian cousins to the land of freedom. But when one of them falls for his beautiful niece, they discover that freedom comes at a price. Eddie’s jealous mistrust exposes a deep, unspeakable secret – one that drives him to commit the ultimate betrayal. Strong is joined … Read more

REVIEW: The Cherry Orchard, Young Vic ✭✭✭✭

Off West End, Reviews
Young Vic present The Cherry Orchard

Set firmly in the present, this version lacks languid notions about the past, does not spend too much time on the intricacies of character and prefers shock and blatant slapstick to more gentle ways of making points. There is little sense of old versus new Russia, little sense of the changing of traditions and times and less complexity about everything. But it is radiantly bleak, full of brittle, awful people leading duplicitous and untruthful lives. In that way, it is a compelling re-imagining of Chekhov’s masterpiece.