Hundreds of UK creatives have been making urgent appeals to the government, warning that our country’s rich cultural landscape could become a “cultural wasteland” by the end of the pandemic. The arts industries as a whole are struggling to keep afloat amid the crisis, but one of the worst affected will inevitably be theatres. Even […]Read More
Benedict Andrews’s A Streetcar Named Desire, the latest instalment of the National Theatre At Home series, is nothing short of a spectacle. Starring Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster and Vanessa Kirby, this modern take on the timeless classic by Tennessee Williams is a masterclass of everything that contemporary theatre stands for. The play follows Blanche Dubois […]Read More
NT Live’s Twelfth Night provides the perfect entertainment for Shakespeare’s 456th birthday in lockdown. Most notable for having the first female Malvolio in theatre history, Simon Godwin’s production is a farcical treat with a bittersweet ending. Music really is the food of love in this contemporary adaptation. Godwin’s choice of onstage musicians really draws attention […]Read More
Pterodactyls, written by Nicky Silver, was the most absurd piece of theatre I have seen in quite some time. Theatre Group’s talented cast of five delivered the dark comedy’s problematic themes with great maturity and comedic timing, bringing light to the harrowing occurrences of this play. Alice Fox, Emily Raven-Baker, Adam Ben, Tiago Ventura and […]Read More
As Oli very rightly states in Open Theatre’s production of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, “There are some things that you just can’t say in 140 words…”. He mentions wedding speeches and “epic poetry”, and I would now like to add theatre reviews to his list. After I had the ‘great’ idea to try and […]Read More
As a northern theatre student that finds themself surrounded by southern artists the majority of the time, I cannot tell you how incredibly refreshing it was to watch Two by Jim Cartwright, and directed by Tom Gibson, last week. Focusing on working-class life in a northern pub in the 1980s, Cartwright’s pub is a space […]Read More
After researching the horrifying truths behind the Dusseldorf Ripper, I was sceptical about how Anthony Neilson might have adapted the story into an engaging and ethical piece of theatre. Despite my inital quarms, Open Theatre’s Normal (directed by Eve Walton) managed to deliver a chilling yet charming performance that allowed the audience to penetrate the […]Read More
Considered one of the most successful musicals of all time, The Phantom of The Opera remains a favourite of theatre-lover far and wide- even 10,000 Broadway shows later. When I heard that Leicester’s Curve Theatre was to be graced with the music of the night, I knew that I had to get tickets. For a […]Read More
Despite being around 150 years old, Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Little Women, has never been more in the limelight. Regardless of its Oscar snubs, Greta Gerwig’s star-studded adaptation of the classic tale gained wide critical acclaim towards the end of 2019, and the year closed with Little Women being my favourite film of the year. […]Read More
Random Acts of Malice, written by Alan Fraser, and directed by his son, Lewis, was a warm and welcome break from Storm Ciara yesterday evening. As well as the weather performing as pathetic fallacy to the psychological thriller I was sitting down to watch, (and matching the storm taking place in Fraser’s script) the play […]Read More
Dear Evan Hansen… That was a brilliant production, and here’s why. Following the eponymous Evan Hansen after the death of a fellow student, Dear Evan Hansen is a stunning dive into depression and loneliness in a world dominated by social media. The musical effortlessly moves from comedic highlights to utterly devastating moments, handling the tragic […]Read More
Elevate, which showed at the Pyramid Theatre at Leeds University last week, made use of space and character in a bold and interesting way, with fantastic results. This should come as a surprise to nobody; the range of societies and groups putting on shows at the university are developing a well deserved reputation for their […]Read More
In an intense season of exams, deadlines, and all-round chaos, I made my way to The Library pub for a couple of hours of relaxation, as a break from the hectic few weeks in university before the Christmas holidays. I figured that a bit of comedy was exactly what I needed, and I certainly wasn’t […]Read More
“’Farce is dead’, I hear you say… When has it ever been more relevant?!” Being in the presence of Wright Off, written and directed by Luke Haywood, on Saturday evening was nothing but an absolute pleasure. Two hours of belly ache from laughing too much, and gasping for breath whilst whispering “WHAT is going on?!” […]Read More
Katherine Chandler’s Before It Rains, performed by Open Theatre in [email protected], was a divine concoction of brave and beautiful storytelling, and contemporary life’s raw happenings. Punctuated with humour and the tense extremities of humankind, this production is, quite simply, the best show that I have seen a society put on stage during my time at […]Read More
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