Cognitive Strategies for Analysing & Evaluating Theatre Performances
Josey De Rossi 
Look at how much the children are enjoying what they’re doing. They delight in what they’re doing…in doing their best. They’re not following what someone said, they know what they’re doing. They own what they’re doing! Even the mistakes were beautiful mistakes. They are glorious. They are proactive.
I have just viewed a great production of Shakespeare’s Tempest. I don’t say that lightly since the last time I viewed the play was in London’s Middle Temple Hall on the 400th Anniversary of the play in 2011. On that occasion, I thought I ‘died and gone to heaven’ as I reviewed Antic Disposition’s much-lauded … Read more
Our reviewer Josey takes eight-year-old Henry to Told By An Idiot’s latest production, a collaborative adventure-cum-panto-cum-circus show, with a giant egg sandwich thrown in. Marketing itself as “this year’s alternative Christmas treat”, Told by an Idiot’s Get Happy is positioned to achieve a distinctive style of children’s theatre. Having experienced the show with my co-reviewer Henry (aged … Read more
Our reviewer takes Alannah (aged ten) and James (five) to a new version of The Jungle Book, with wonderful wild animals and a pretty convincing jungle above a pub. At the Lion and Unicorn Theatre.
This play, which tells the story of Albert Namatjira, the first indigenous Australian painter to win international acclaim, premiered in Alice Springs in late 2009 and has since toured Australia. Now, this fascinating story comes to London. At the Southbank Centre
Julia Donaldson’s story about a little mouse on an epic journey returns to the West End stage, with lively performances all around. Eight-year-old Henry helps our reviewer dish out the stars for this recommended Christmas treat for young families.
Theatre historian Josey De Rossi, who has studied the effects of European cultural imperialism on indigenous art forms, guides us through some of the themes raised by this unusual cross-arts project. At the Bargehouse.
Mario Pirovano’s welcomes the audience to his one-man performance of Francis, the Holy Jester as a politician on the hustings. Launching the show with the promise of overturning centuries of misconceptions, he springs into the story of Francis, emphasizing that the real stories of the thirteenth century Italian saint are uniquely wonderful because they show how it is Francis the ‘holy fool’ who realises his life as friend of the poor, champion of the persecuted and heroic worker for peace and justice.
Katie Hims’ Billy the Girl presents superbly drawn characters, faced with the paradox of living ordinary lives through times of big change. Direction, design and sensitive portrayals of difficult characters combine in a moving story of about starting again.
This story of race, gender and hair will see you laugh, cry and fume, as an unflinchingly honest portrayal of black women dissipates the myth that we live in a post-feminist age. Explosive drama. At the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.