Monthly Archives: July 2013

Alice Walker, feminist and activist, was the first African-American woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for her novel. Published in 1982, it sold over four million copies. Steven Spielberg made it into a film. Marsha Norman turned it into a … Continue reading →

Patrice Lumumba was elected Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo in June 1960. Seven months later he was dead, allegedly murdered by the Belgian government in collusion with the CIA. Aime Cesaire wrote his play in 1966. Joe Wright’s … Continue reading →

Richard Greenberg has said that his play is a mixture of high comedy, social drama, melodrama and fairy tale. A rich Jewish widow (Diana Quick) has an eccentric young daughter (Emily Taafe) whom she protects, much to the daughter’s frustration. … Continue reading →

Herman Melville’s novella is a confrontation of Good and Evil set on board a man-of-war during the Napoleonic Wars. Billy, an exceptionally handsome young man with a stammer, has been pressed into the navy. Everybody takes an immediate liking to … Continue reading →

There are two stories in Oliver Cotton’s drama: one is about the Holocaust; the other is about lost love. It would have been better if he had cut the inappropriate comic dialogue. And stuck solely with the debate on what … Continue reading →

The aim of Les Saison Russes du XX1e Siecle is to restore and perform the ballets which Diaghilev and the made famous just over a hundred years ago. There were three programmes. I caught the last, all three pieces choreographed … Continue reading →

All-women plays are notoriously bad for the box-office. But Pam Gems’s highly acclaimed feminist play did very well in the West End on its first outing in 1976 and transferred to the West End. It was her first major success … Continue reading →

You will come out of the theatre wondering how you would cope if Spoonface Steinberg were your child. Lee Hall’s monologue was written for radio and aired in 1997. It became an instant classic and was repeated within a week. … Continue reading →