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 […]
The Fantasist Genre: Physical Theatre Venue: Blue Elephant Theatre Bethwin Road SE5 0XT Low Down The term fantasist is used by the physical theatre ensemble Theatre Temoin/ Compagnie Traversiere in their latest collaborative production at the Blue Elephant Theatre to embrace several states of mind: a person with a mental illness, a visual artist gripped […]
Genre: Musical Theatre Venue: Union Theatre 204 Union Street, Southwark. SE1 0LX Low Down Sasha Regan’s vision for Patience at the Union Theatre deserves high praise for its use of imaginative design for stage, costumes and lighting, inventive choreography, and, above all, intelligent use of cross-dressing to highlight the punch in Gilbert and […]
Rocinante! Rocinante! Genre: Physical Theatre Venue: CLF Art Cafe, Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane London SE15 4ST (Peckham Rye) Low Down The pilgrimage through the light and dark crevices of the mind are beautifully evoked in Panta Rei Theatre’s Rocinante! Rocinante! Taking its subject matter from the originality of Cervante’s Don Quixote, the setting […]
Genre: Cabaret and Burlseque Venue: Leicester Square Theatre 6 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX Low Down Every element of Ty Jeffries’ performance of Miss Hope Spring is done in style: that is, in the style of cabaret, female impersonation and solo performer in the spotlight. The realisation of a […]
Freedom Genre: Drama Venue: Arcola Theatre 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL Low Down When I walked into the Arcola Theatre’s studio space to view Freedom, the stage seemed unusually disjointed from the hemisphere-shaped auditorium seating arrangement. The back wall of the set seemed very detailed yet at least half the seats […]
King John Genre: Classical and Shakespeare Venue: Union Theatre 204 Union St, SE1 0LX Low Down Invariably, the choice of whether a play is rarely or often staged both make the claim that the play is relevant for ‘our times’. Of course, that’s the point. As the audience lives in the […]
SPECIAL REPORT – UK’s Premiere Musical Production of Little Women Many achievements surround the staging of Little Women as a musical at the Lost Theatre from 12 December to 7 January. This report summarises the production’s critical reception and draws together what theatre reviewers suggest are the strengths and weakness of Little Women: The Musical. […]
Next Time I’ll Sing To You Genre: Comedy Drama Venue: Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2SA Low Down The Orange Tree staged many of James Saunders’s plays from 1973 onwards, including a production of Next Time I’ll Sing To You in 1974, a play in which he looked […]
Genre: Drama Venue: Blue Elephant Theatre, 59a Bethwin Rd, Camberwell, SE5 0XT Low Down Lazarus Theatre’s website clearly shows the depth of the young theatre company’s presentation of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama and Greek classics. The choice to stage Schiller’s 18th century classic Don Carlos is another milestone for the company. On viewing the […]