Monthly Archives: September 2015

Nicole Kidman, who was last seen on the London stage 17 years ago in David Hare’s adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s notoriously erotic La Ronde, returns to act in Anna Ziegler’s play and to pay tribute to the English chemist and … Continue reading →

Matthew Warchus is the new artistic director at The Old Vic and his tenure gets off to a good start with Tamsin Oglesby’s debate on what sort of education we want for our children and how can we make it … Continue reading →

Dusty is a jukebox musical in which Dusty Springfield (1939-199p), the English pop singer and icon of the Swinging Sixties, appears on screen in archival filmed footage and as a hologram. It’s good to see and hear her sing; but … Continue reading →

Duncan Macmillan writes about addiction and the good work being done by the AA to help addicts to recover. Most of the action takes place in a rehab centre and some audiences at may find his play too upsetting. Jeremy … Continue reading →

A 34-year-old Danish banker returns home to attend the funeral of his brother who has died at 22 of a heart-attack. Simon Stephens’s play, written in a series of letters to his late brother, is, in part, a search for … Continue reading →

There are now two radical versions of Oresteia running in London at the same time, and both quite different. Of the two I prefer Rory Mullarkey’s adaptation, which is directed by Adele Thomas at Shakespeare’s Globe, to Robert Icke’s adaptation … Continue reading →

Sam Shepard has often said that one of the great tragedies of contemporary America is that families fall apart. His first-rate thriller has considerable power and is played out in flashbacks. The story is told in his familiar raw, American-Gothic … Continue reading →

Winston Churchill was deeply moved by Terence Rattigan’s play and much admired its understatement. It would have been very difficult for audiences in 1942 not to be moved. Rattigan was an air gunner in the RAF and the play, a … Continue reading →