
Month: May 2011
The Four Stages of Cruelty
Adapting William Hogarth’s coruscating vision of a vice-filled London is an attractive proposition. Substitute crack for gin, and his depiction of broken families and corrupt politicians could be ripped from today’s headlines. But Adam Brace and Sebastian Armesto’s interpretation for the stage of ‘The Four Stages of Cruelty’ reveals that … Continue Reading The Four Stages of Cruelty
Interview: Tamzin Paskins on the Gaea Theatre Festival
From August to November 2011, Giant Olive Theatre Company will be celebrating women playwrights, performers, directors and designers as part of the Gaea Theatre Festival at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre. The Festival’s dynamic and innovative programme also re-launches the Kentish Town venue as a major player on the London independent … Continue Reading Interview: Tamzin Paskins on the Gaea Theatre Festival
Lord of the Flies
Since its publication in 1954, Lord of the Flies has lost some of its shock value. At a time when our headlines are filled with stories about teenage gangs and knife-crime, its tale of British schoolchildren who descend into savagery comes across as prescient but unhappily commonplace. And in a post-9/11 world … Continue Reading Lord of the Flies
Interview: Kamaal Hussain and Drew Ballantyne on Public Interest
The Lady of Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi, guest director of this year’s Brighton Festival, has been such a potent absent-presence in the public imagination that it’s almost jarring at the start of The Lady of Burma to find her given voice. But thanks to the beautiful concision of Richard Shannon’s writing, Owen Lewis’s careful direction … Continue Reading The Lady of Burma
Interview: RoAm Productions and Madison Theatre Company
Midsummer
The lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are surely among the most irritating characters in theatre. Self-important and humourless, they’re a cringe-worthy reminder that love’s young dream really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Midsummer, written and directed by David Greig with music by Gordon McIntyre, borrows a name, Helena, and the solstice … Continue Reading Midsummer
Kingdom of Earth
There’s an exquisite cruelty to Tennessee Williams’s work; a lacerating nostalgia for a seamy and corrupted South that pities no one. The rarely-performed Kingdom of Earth, which condenses this sneering despair into a claustrophobic three-hander, offers as little respite to the audience as the pile of earth on stage does to … Continue Reading Kingdom of Earth
Brighton Festival: Speaking out
Interview: James Haddrell
Between Tuesday 24 May and Saturday 4 June, Greenwich Theatre will be showcasing the work of a number of very different companies and performers as part of its inaugural Emerging Artists season. Little Soldier will be reviving their first production, Pakita (following a successful run at the Hampstead-based New End … Continue Reading Interview: James Haddrell