MARIANKA SWAIN ~ WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW

Queen Anne, Theatre Royal Haymarket

Posted on July 11, 2017 by mkmswain

Game of Thrones returns this weekend, but those hungry for political machinations and manipulations can also find a feast of them in Helen Edmundson’s 2015 stealth thriller about a little-known 18th-century English monarch and her courtly advisors’ jockeying for position. With plenty of resonance for 2017, it’s rich history with contemporary bite.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged book tickets, broadwayworld, game of thrones, helen edmundson, history, london, monarch, play, queen, queen anne, review, romola garai, royal, rsc, theatre, west end | Leave a comment

BWW Interview: Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary

Posted on July 10, 2017 by mkmswain

The musical theatre writing partnership talk The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ at Menier Chocolate Factory.

Read my full BroadwayWorld interview here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged 80s, adrian mole, book tickets, british musical, broadwayworld, composer, family, interview, jake brunger, kid, leicester curve, london, luke sheppard, music, musical, pippa cleary, play, playwright, singing, sue townsend, teenager, the secret diary of adrian mole, theatre, writer | Leave a comment

All Change Please, Lucy Kerbel

Posted on July 10, 2017 by mkmswain

Another week, another dispiriting gender equality statistic, as research by The Stage reveals 75% of West End musicals staged in the past decade had no women on their writing teams; removing jukebox shows from the equation, just 9% featured music by female composers. It’s hardly an historical problem, either, with not one new musical crediting a female writer or composer in 2014.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged all change please, book, broadwayworld, drama, equality, female, feminism, feminist, gender, girl, kids, lucy kerbel, musical, play, review, theatre, tonic theatre, west end, woman, women, youth | Leave a comment

The Tempest, Barbican

Posted on July 7, 2017 by mkmswain

It’s a brave new world for the RSC, collaborating with Intel and Andy Serkis’s Imaginarium Studios on a notably high-tech Tempest. But, for all the computer-generated trickery, it’s the human experience and rough magic of theatre that really impress in Gregory Doran’s production, now playing at the Barbican.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged andy serkis, ariel, barbican, broadwayworld, gregory doran, imaginarium, intel, london, motion capture, prospero, review, rsc, shakespeare, simon russell beale, the tempest, theatre | Leave a comment

The Mentor, Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on July 5, 2017 by mkmswain

Bath’s Ustinov Studio has become something of a European hub. Visionary director Laurence Boswell and ever-skilful translator Christopher Hampton, who first introduced us to Florian Zeller, are currently championing Daniel Kehlmann – a bestselling writer in Germany, where he published the first of 10 books when he was still a student.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged book tickets, broadwayworld, Daniel Kehlmann, Daniel Weyman, f murray abraham, london, play, review, the mentor, theatre, vaudeville theatre, west end | Leave a comment

Grand Designs

Posted on July 4, 2017 by mkmswain

Set designer Bunny Christie talks Curious Incident, People, Places & Things and Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy.

Read my full Oryx magazine interview here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged all female, backstage, bunny christie, design, designer, donmar warehouse, drama, ink, julius caear, kings cross theatre, london, national theatre, oryx magazine, people places and things, phyllida lloyd, play, set designer, shakespeare, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, theatre | Leave a comment

Committee, Donmar Warehouse

Posted on July 4, 2017 by mkmswain

A memorable 2015 parliamentary select committee hearing asked Kids Company CEO Camila Batmanghelidjh and chair of trustees Alan Yentob whether the organisation was ever fit for purpose. Tom Deering, Hadley Fraser and Josie Rourke’s new verbatim musical – think This House meets London Road – asks the same not just of the charity, but of the political system itself and the way we treat the most vulnerable in this country.

Read my full theartsdesk review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged alan yentob, Camila Batmanghelidjh, charity, children, committee, donmar warehouse, government, hadley fraser, josie rourke, kids, kids company, london, musical, parliament, politicians, review, select committee, social care, theartsdesk, theatre, tom deering | Leave a comment

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof leads July’s Top 10 new London shows

Posted on June 30, 2017 by mkmswain

From Tennessee Williams and Bob Dylan to royal politics and Adrian Mole.

Read my full BroadwayWorld article here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged a tale of two cities, apollo theatre, barbican, bob dylan, book tickets, broadwayworld, cat on a hot tin roof, charles dickens, comedy, f murray abraham, faye marsay, game of thrones, gielgud theatre, girl from the north country, jack o'connell, jez butterworth, jim cartwright, london, menier chocolate factory, michelle fairley, mosquitoes, musical, national theatre, old vic, olivia colman, play, queen anne, regents park open air, road, romola garai, royal court, rsc, sale, sam mendes, shakespeare, sienna miller, simon russell beale, sue townsend, summer, tennessee williams, the ferryman, the mentor, the secret diary of adrian mole, the tempest, theatre, theatre royal haymarket, ticket deal, ticket discount, vaudeville theatre, west end | Leave a comment

Ink, Almeida Theatre

Posted on June 28, 2017 by mkmswain

James Graham’s portrait of Seventies politics, This House, recently enjoyed a West End outing, and his latest epic venture into Britain’s past may well follow suit. If slightly weighed down by detailed research, it’s still a riveting depiction of the birth of The Sun as we know it, and the revolution it signalled in the way we tell our national story.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged almeida theatre, bertie carvel, broadwayworld, ink, james graham, journalist, larry lamb, newspaper, page 3, review, rupert goold, rupert murdoch, sex, tabloid, The Sun | Leave a comment

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on June 28, 2017 by mkmswain

One American great inhabits another in this superior cabaret, as the Broadway legend Audra McDonald slips into the skin – and unforgettable voice – of jazz icon Billie Holiday. The emotional sensitivity makes it far more than just an immensely skilful impersonation, and makes McDonald’s delayed West End debut well worth the wait.

Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged audra mcdonald, billie holiday, broadwayworld, jazz, lady day at emersons bar and grill, london, music, singer, singing, tony award, west end, wyndhams theatre | Leave a comment

MARIANKA SWAIN ~ WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW

Queen Anne, Theatre Royal Haymarket

BWW Interview: Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary

All Change Please, Lucy Kerbel

The Tempest, Barbican

The Mentor, Vaudeville Theatre

Grand Designs

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof leads July’s Top 10 new London shows

Ink, Almeida Theatre

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Wyndham’s Theatre

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