Theatre of Realism

Theatre of realism is a deeply exacting style of performance that draws on the ‘significant detail’ of everyday life to highlight the challenges of seeking the truth about causes of injustice.

Autumn Fires

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Autumn Fires    Genre: Drama Venue: Finborough Theatre 118 Finborough Road London SW10 9ED   Low Down     The revolutionary nature of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre is well documented through plays by Sean O’Casey and his tackling of Irish Nationalism.  Perhaps less remembered is the nuanced ways in which social realism enabled Irish playwrights to … Read more

Blind Date & 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton

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Does advertising a play as “rarely performed” excite you or raise your suspicions about the play’s entertainment value? I have to say that for me the latter is sometimes true. I’m likely to respond more positively if the play is the work of a respected playwright, either an early or ‘forgotten’ work for example. For this reason, I applaud Make&Bake Production’s choice of Blind Date by Horton Foote & 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton by Tennessee Williams, though Williams is certainly better known that the Pulitzer and Oscar Award winning Foote. Nonetheless, perhaps the full-house I was part of in Studio 3 at Riverside Studios on Friday night indicates how the London fringe is key to widening an audience’s experience of the works of respected dramatists.

Of Mice And Men

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Of Mice And Men    Genre: Drama Venue: The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre 410 Brockley Road Brockley London SE4 2DH   Low Down   On seeing students at the matinee performance I attended of the Jack Studio Theatre’s Of Mice And Men, I reflected on Steinbeck’s text in classrooms all around the world: each encounter with … Read more

Lost Theatre’s One Act Festival

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The Lost Theatre’s twenty-six-year history of producing its one-act festival marks its importance as a company that has tirelessly supported the development of new writing and young performing artists.  The process that begins in March and leads onto the Winner’s Week in September is quintessential ‘fringe theatre’ in its nurturing of young talent.