Monthly Archives: June 2016

Lancashire playwright Harold Brighouse’s Hobson’s Choice is far and away the most enduring and loved of all the plays of the Manchester school of sentimental realism. Initially it was turned down by the London theatre managers who had a prejudice … Continue reading →

Robert Taylor and David Wood’s musical adaptation of L P Hartley’s classic novel is not a West End musical; it’s a chamber drama and much nearer to opera There is only one musician: a pianist at a grand piano on … Continue reading →

Alexei Kaye Campbell’s play, directed by Simon Godwin and well cast, is an entertaining critique of American intervention and also those who take advantage of it. A young playwright and his actress wife (Sam Crane and Pippa Nixon) are holidaying … Continue reading →

This Broadway musical is for audiences who only go to the theatre once a year and see a pantomime. The stage version, much inferior to the Walt Disney animated movie, is tacky but in an extremely expensive way. The dazzling … Continue reading →

Greek tragedies are short. Krzysztof Warlikowski’s touring production for Odeon Theatre de L’Europe lasts three-and-a-half hours. Isabelle Huppert, an actress of the first rank, has undeniable presence and stamina. But why stage this boring hodgepodge by three modern authors when … Continue reading →

When I heard Shakespeare’s Globe was going to stage The Taming of the Shrew with Irish actors, it seemed a really good idea. The Irish are very adept at mixing tragedy and farce. Caroline Byrne has set her production in … Continue reading →

The story of RMS Titanic, one of the great modern tragedies, and a classic case of hubris, has been told many times: in book, notably by Walter Lord in A Night to Remember, and on film and in theatre. Thom … Continue reading →

Jesse Eisenberg, best known as an actor and for his performance as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, makes his London stage debut in a play he has written with a whacking leading role for himself. Eisenberg has made a … Continue reading →