Monthly Archives: February 2011

SNAKE IN THE GRASS The Print Room, London W2

Posted on February 26, 2011 by tanitch

Alan Ayckbourn’s 90-minute ghost-thriller, which was premiered in Scarborough in 2002, gets its London premiere in a small fringe theatre. It doesn’t feel like an Ayckbourn play. It’s the sort of thriller that might interest a French film director such … Continue reading →

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THE HERETIC Royal Court Theatre

Posted on February 26, 2011 by tanitch

Should you want to see a play about climate change the worst scenario would be to see the boring Greenland at the National Theatre. Richard Bean’s play is infinitely preferable. For a start it’s a play, the characters are more … Continue reading →

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PENELOPE Hampstead Theatre

Posted on February 26, 2011 by tanitch

Penelope waits for the return of her husband who, you will remember, has been on a business trip to Troy for the last 10 years. During his absence she has had over 100 suitors; but she has remained famously faithful. … Continue reading →

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SHOES Peacock Theatre

Posted on February 26, 2011 by tanitch

Time, as somebody says, wounds all heels. Shoes is a musical dance show by Richard Thomas and Stephen Mear aimed at a very young market. Thomas is best known for the notorious Jerry Springer, The Opera; Mear’s witty choreography has … Continue reading →

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London Stage in the 20th Century

Posted on February 19, 2011 by markd

LONDON STAGE IN THE 20th CENTURY 330 pages. Lavishly illustrated chronicle covers all the major theatrical productions and performances of ten decades, year by year, day by day. A fascinating and witty record of the way popular and critical taste … Continue reading →

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THE CHILDREN’S HOUR Comedy Theatre

Posted on February 18, 2011 by markd

The reputations of two teachers are ruined and the boarding school they have founded is destroyed when one of their pupils falsely accuses them of being lovers. The girl’s grandmother alerts the other parents who withdraw their children. The teachers … Continue reading →

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CLYBOURNE PARK Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on February 18, 2011 by markd

Bruce Norris’s award-winning American comedy has got its well-deserved transfer from the Royal Court to the West End. I enjoyed it even more the second time round. Clybourne Park, a fictional suburb of Chicago, is an all-black community. A white … Continue reading →

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BY JEEVES Landor Theatre

Posted on February 18, 2011 by markd

The Alan Ayckbourn/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical had a disastrous first night back in 1975 and barely ran five weeks. Now considerably revised, and wisely reduced in scale to fit into a tiny fringe theatre, it relies entirely on the silliness … Continue reading →

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