Monthly Archives: June 2011

Arnold Wesker’s Chicken Soup with Barley, written in 1958, and notable for its compassion and humour, is the first part of a trilogy based on his own life. The action takes place between the mid-1930’s and the late 1950’s and … Continue reading →

It is not very often you get a chance to see any play, let alone three, by John Maddison Morton (1811-1891), the long-forgotten author of Box and Cox, one of the most popular farces of the 19th century. The prolific … Continue reading →

Audiences coming to see Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s latest play, because they enjoyed The Brothers Size at the Young Vic may be disappointed by this raucous, vulgar, vacuous romp, a series of sketches, in which a gay, black American hustler (Tunji … Continue reading →

The merry war has been going on for well over 400 years and Shakespeare’s comedy is as popular with audiences as it has always been. “Comparisons are odorous,” says malapropist Constable Dogberry; but with two productions of Much Ado opening … Continue reading →

Carlo Goldoni wrote A Servant for Two Masters in 1742 specifically for Antonio Sacchi, the foremost commedia dell’arte comedian of his day, and when he published the play ten years later he incorporated the improvisations, comic business and slapstick Sacchi … Continue reading →

In 1914, the year Bernard Shaw’s play premiered, The Daily Express took a flower girl to see it. She was evidently shocked by the language. The Theatre Management Association asked Shaw to delete the offending word. “Not bloody likely!” he … Continue reading →

A party of schoolchildren, the only survivors of an aeroplane crash, are stranded on a desert island. Left to their own devices and without any rules of conduct, they quickly descend to savagery. No theatre can compete with Regent’s Park … Continue reading →

Franz Kafka’s stories, most notably Metamorphosis and The Trial, have often been staged and filmed. Kafka’s A Report to an Academy is something new. The report is made by an ape that was born in Africa, captured by big game … Continue reading →