Monthly Archives: April 2013

Alex Jennings’s affectionate impersonation of Alan Bennett, without a trace of caricature, is so accurate, vocally and physically, it could well be Alan Bennett himself on stage recounting two stories from his autobiography. The recollections, beautifully written, melancholy and funny, … Continue reading →

Molière’s greatest comedy, premiered in 1666, a satire on the vanity, the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of fashionable society, castigates the heartless indifference of mankind to truth, virtue and justice. The mouthpiece for his attack is Alceste; uncompromising, intolerant, incapable … Continue reading →

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the authors of South Park and Robert Lopez, author of Avenue Q, joined forces to write a musical whose satire is so gentle that the Mormons have taken advertisements in the theatre programme. The Mormons … Continue reading →

A 28-year-old peroxide blonde murders her brutal lover and offers no defence. There was a massive public outcry when Ruth Ellis was hanged in 1955. Amanda Whittington’s 90-minute play, somewhat hysterically performed, with a lot of shouting, keeps her lover … Continue reading →

Alice is Alice Liddell, the child who inspired Lewis Carroll to create Alice in Wonderland. Peter is Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of five brothers, who inspired J M Barrie to create Peter Pan. American playwright John Logan imagines what might … Continue reading →

Dominic Cooke takes his leave as artistic director of the Royal Court with Bruce Norris’s fable on free market economics and cut throat capitalism. The satire, which also deals with slavery, is set in America in the 18th century. The … Continue reading →

An illustrious middle-aged Edwardian painter dies and is buried with full honours in Westminster Abbey. Only he doesn’t die. His valet dies and he takes on the valet’s identity. Jule Styne and E Y “Yip” Harburg’s Broadway musical is based … Continue reading →

Cervantes’ epic novel is an unlikely subject for a ballet; yet this has never deterred choreographers. The Marius Petipa/Alexander Gorsky version, dating from 1902, is easily the most popular; but it is silly to go on pretending there is a … Continue reading →