London theatre reviews and interviews
Beige is a powerful play but not an easy one to describe. Joy (Jessica Nlabu) is instructed in how to be and behave. Initially, it feels like an audition or interview conducted by a sharp-suited, stiletto-wearing Shannon Kurlander. But as the play progresses, Kurlander starts to feel more like the personified voice of a general […]
Sick Dog is the second play I’ve seen this summer about a young person with a terminal illness, and while Before I’m Dead focused on a relationship with a therapist, this centres on a relationship with a care robot. Scientist Winnie’s (Cara Crofts) illness is not revealed, but what is clear is that she is […]
What would you do if you were cast in a play only to discover that it was written by your ex and about your relationship? That’s the central premise of In His Words, and Esther (Heather Woodhouse) decides she’s going to stick it out and see how he ends the play. Meanwhile, her girlfriend Isabella […]
Video transcript: Did you know that there is a performance space at the back of the Calder Bookshop on the Cut, opposite the Young Vic? I didn’t until the brilliant blogger Lou Reviews asked me if I would join her for an Edinburgh preview performance of Krapp’s Last Tape, starring David Westhead and directed by […]
Video transcript: The Cherry Orchard at the Swan Theatre in Stratford. The Cherry Orchard isn’t a favourite play of mine, but the cast – Kenneth Branagh, Helen Hunt, Bill Pullman – that’s what got me up to Stratford-upon-Avon for this. And it was amazing to see the cast. That was a real highlight for me, […]
Tender is getting a second outing this time in the Bush Theatre’s larger space and is a play about a chance encounter that develops into something more. The encounter is between two women who are living with not wholly comfortable relationships. Ivy (Nadi Kemp-Sayfi) is living with her pushy boyfriend and has an equally pushy […]
Live From the Warehouse is a multimedia play set, as the title suggests, in a warehouse. Tanmay (Aryaman Krishna Aggarwal) and Riyan (Vrishab Wig) are hiding out after a school prank involving a gun goes wrong. With the police in pursuit, they contemplate their options and find ways to pass the time, flirting recklessly with […]
Video transcript: Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic Theatre sees the cast swap genders, so rather than it being an all-male cast, it becomes an all-female cast, and this is an interesting take on it. It somehow accentuates the aggressive masculinity of the play. They don’t swap any of the names; they use all […]
Lulla, presumably short for lullabies, which weave through this play, centres on 16-year-old Marin (Anna Marks Pryce), a queer 16-year-old who has bunked off school to get to know Dolores (Meg Wallis) more intimately The two are having a lovely time when her mum (Madeleine MacMahon) comes home early and catches them in a compromising […]
Ben Ockrent’s play Relics reminded me of Nachtland at the Young Vic from a couple of years ago. • Siblings reunite to divvy up their dead parents’ belongings. Tick. • A painting is found with a suspected dodgy history. Tick. • Said painting divides the siblings, causing arguments. Tick. Relics has a different comic tone, […]