Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Manchester School of sentimental realism flourished at the Gaiety Theatre under the auspices of Annie Horniman and was just as important in the history of the early 20th century British theatre as London’s Royal Court had been under Harley … Continue reading →

Noël Coward wrote his cycle of nine one-act plays as acting, singing, and dancing vehicles specifically for Gertrude Lawrence and himself. Blanche McIntyre’s production for English Touring Theatre is the first time, since their premieres in 1936, that all nine … Continue reading →

Anne Washburn’s “post-electric play” is set in a post-apocalyptic America. A small group of survivors sit by a campfire in the dark moaning about the loss of civilisation and remembering The Simpsons’ parody of Cape Feare. There is nothing more … Continue reading →

Reza de Wet’s miniature one-act drama feels as if it has been adapted for the stage rather than a stage piece in its own right. The script is a series of letters and diary entries, which are exchanged between two … Continue reading →

Published in 1861, Ivan Turgenev’s great novel is a confrontation between the ancien régime of the 1840s and the modern intelligentsia who want to create a better society in the coming 1860’s. Lindsey Turner’s revival of Brian Friel’s adaptation, well-cast … Continue reading →

It costs only £5 to stand at the Globe in the area directly in front of the stage and if you are a male you might even get kissed by the Queen of Egypt, no less. There is a downside, … Continue reading →

Gordon Brown always felt Tony Blair had usurped his throne: “Every hour of him was an hour less of me.” Kevin Toolis’s 80-minute monologue tells the tale of the most successful Chancellor of the Exchequer in British history who longed … Continue reading →

Nicholas Wright’s 80-minute play is about the capacity for evil and the possibility of forgiveness. South African psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela interviews Eugene De Kock, a South African police officer, who was a paid assassin for the Apartheid regime during the … Continue reading →