With its emphasis on political corruption Shakespeare’s complex comedy is very much a play for today. Michael Attenborough’s modern-dress production is clear, coherent and very good on individual psychology, although it doesn’t pursue the contemporary resonances as rigorously as [...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
February 23rd, 2010 - 7:00 am § in Reviews
Heaven
I had assumed Simon Stephens would have reworked his short two-hander since the summer when the Traverse gave it a breakfast reading on the ÂEdinburgh fringe. But here it is in a fuller but still bare-bones production for A Play, a Pie and a Pint, the lunchtime theatre season, with the same oddba[...]
January 16th, 2010 - 6:24 am § in Reviews
Legally Blonde strays badly away from the movie
At first glance the Jerry Mitchell production of Legally Blonde in the West End seems to follow the story line of the film, as Elle Woods enrols in Harvard Law School to get her ex boyfriend back. From here she is humiliated and then learns to succeed in her own special way, but after [...][...]
January 6th, 2010 - 6:51 am § in Reviews
The Last Stand to Reason
Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen won rave reviews in their performance of The Last Stand to Reason at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show is a wide mixture of comic ideas as they take off on a train journey that is crazy enough to capture the same comedic tastes that made Airplane! and Stagecoach huge hit[...]
December 21st, 2009 - 8:49 am § in Reviews
Pamela Anderson pops out in panto
With Pamela Anderson playing the genie in the new production of Aladdin at the New Wimbledon Theatre many people wonder if she will pop out in some of the lingerie from her new cruelty-free line. However, even though she will be wearing a modest bathing costume she should still be a vision for man[...]
December 20th, 2009 - 2:19 pm § in Reviews
Maybe Keira Knightley should stick to movies
In the film world Keira Knightley may be a gem, but it turns out that on the stage she is not quite as impressive, at the opening of Le Misanthrope and her character turned out to be a little dull. Knightley may have a gorgeous face, but for anyone stuck in the theatre her performance is [...][...]
December 16th, 2009 - 7:04 am § in Reviews
Griff Rhys Jones picks an ovation or two
Griff Rhys Jones is the latest comedian to take on the role of Fagin in the beloved theatre classic Oliver based on the Charles Dickens novel. Jones took the role on last night at the West End production on Drury Lane at the Theatre Royal and was almost hard to recognize given his beard, grey hair[...]
December 8th, 2009 - 4:44 am § in Reviews
Kiera Knightley shines in Misanthrope
Academy nominee Kiera Knightley made her debut in the West End in the latest version of The Misanthrope this past weekend with its official opening scheduled for Dec. 17th. The Moliere play is currently at the Comedy Theatre and is a revised version with a screenplay from Martin Crimp. Also in th[...]
November 26th, 2009 - 5:22 pm § in Reviews
Felicity Kendal shines in Mrs. Warren’s Professional
The revival show of Michael Rudman’s Mrs. Warren’s Professional features both great performances and has great wit, with Felicity Kendal taking on the lead role with supporting actress Lucy Briggs-Owen playing her daughter Vivie. The play explores the relationship of the two that money and mor[...]
September 30th, 2009 - 8:42 am § in Reviews
Review Breakfast at Tiffany?s
Breakfast at Tiffany?s may be a jewel of pop culture, and especially more so, since it was lifted off the page?s of Truman Capote?s short novella and into the silver screen world by Audrey Hepburn, but on stage the theme is hard to portray effectively. This may be in part due to the dual personali[...]
August 31st, 2009 - 9:20 am § in Reviews
Unsettling Caryl Churchill play Sleepless Nights
An old play by Caryl Churchill which has not been seen since the 80?s will be new to most audiences who venture out to see it at the Lyttleton Theatre. The play reeks of minimalism, all of the way from the simple set design to the limited ten performances that it will run. The set is simply [...][...]
August 18th, 2009 - 9:07 am § in Reviews
Hello Dolly back in the West End
Open Air Theatre?s Hello Dolly! Previewed to critics this week which is the first time that Hello Dolly! Has been performed on stage since 1982 when it ran at the Prince of Wales Theatre. The title role of match maker is played by Samantha Spiro who also played in Funny Girl earlier this year and[...]
July 31st, 2009 - 10:40 am § in Reviews
Rachel Weisz as West End’s Blanche DuBois
Rachel Weisz who has won an Oscar for her performance in “The Constant Gardener” has also recently won the approval of theatre critics in London for her performance in “A Streetcar Named Desire” as the affable Blanche DuBois. Weisz also got a four star review from New York Times critic Matt Wo[...]
July 29th, 2009 - 5:14 am § in Reviews
Jerusalem in the West End
Jez Butterworth is premiering a new play on the West End stage called Jerusalem that is set in the calm lands of England against the sings of pagan times and self-indulgence. Common themes throughout the play include the lack of safety and health regulations alongside the mismanagement of plea[...]
July 19th, 2009 - 5:08 am § in Reviews
Un Ballo in Maschera at Royal Opera
The Royal Opera House will be premiering the Un Ballo in Maschera production this summer an opera that focuses on the assassination of Sweden’s King Gustav III in 1912 at a masquerade ball. The play was first produced by Mario martone in 2005 and was set in a Boston setting instead of the Swedis[...]
June 15th, 2009 - 5:25 am § in Reviews
Fine Performances In Been So Long
A fine combination of talents serves to make this musical remake of the 1998 play Been So Long an evening of very satisfying entertainment. Directed by Che Walker, the “laureate of Camden Town”, with music by Arthur Darvill, it allows a lot of scope for songs performed by Omar, the widely acclaimed[...]
June 12th, 2009 - 12:39 pm § in Reviews
Interactive Kursk At The Young Vic,
Worth a visit this summer, is the production spectacle of Sound & Fury, a London theatre company, who have recreated the story of the doomed Russian submarine Kursk so that the performance is an interactive audience experience.[...]
June 9th, 2009 - 12:38 pm § in Reviews
Jerry Hall Reveals All As A Calendar Girl
Calendar Girls, the breakaway success film starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters is set to hit the stage this summer on the West End Stage with Jerry Hall posed to bare all as the lead Miss September.[...]
June 1st, 2009 - 2:49 am § in Reviews
Naked Boys Singing! – Don’t worry, it’s theatre!
This show premiered in the UK back in 2001 at Madame JoJo’s, following its successful Off-Broadway opening in 1999. If the title of the show tells you what to expect, Wilmott springs a surprise. The cast of the show begin with a promise that “Tonight, we throw inhibition away/ Why even bothe[...]
May 30th, 2009 - 2:58 am § in Reviews
The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Sinks
After nearly fifty years, Meredith Wilson's 1960 Broadway musical has finally made its way to London. However, now that it has, it is sad to discover that it was perhaps not worth it. [...]
