Tag Archives: acting

The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse

Posted on March 5, 2020 by mkmswain

There’s concept on top of concept in this revival of Jason Robert Brown’s beloved 2001 musical, which charts the ebb and flow of a relationship by juggling timelines: aspiring actress Cathy’s story is told in reverse chronological order, while aspiring writer Jamie’s moves … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actor musician, actress, broadway, jason robert brown, jewish, jonathan o'boyle, london, love, marriage, musical, new york, novel, review, romance, southwark playhouse, the last five years, theartsdesk, theatre, writer | Leave a comment

BWW Interview: Sally Cookson

Posted on September 24, 2017 by mkmswain

The director discusses her adaptation of Jane Eyre, which is returning to the National Theatre. Read my full BroadwayWorld interview here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actor, adaptation, book tickets, bristol old vic, broadwayworld, charlotte bronte, cheap tickets, children, christmas, deal, devised, devising, director, discount, drama, family, film, gender balance, interview, jane eyre, kids, lamda, madeleine worrall, mike akers, movie, mr rochester, nadia clifford, national theatre, orson welles, play, sale, sally cookson, save, the lion the witch and the wardrobe, theatre, tom morris, tour, visit london, west yorkshire playhouse, young | Leave a comment

Brutus and Other Heroines, Harriet Walter

Posted on December 8, 2016 by mkmswain

One of the big theatre stories of 2016 is women reclaiming Shakespeare, from Gillian Bevan’s Cymbeline and Michelle Terry’s Henry V to Glenda Jackson’s Lear and Phyllida Lloyd’s landmark all-female trilogy starring Harriet Walter. Read my full BroadwayWorld review here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actress, book, broadwayworld, brutus and other heroines, christmas, donmar, equality, feminist, gift, guide, harriet walter, kings cross theatre, phyllida lloyd, review, shakespeare, shakespeare trilogy, women | Leave a comment

Ten great plays within plays

Posted on August 26, 2015 by mkmswain

To coincide with the opening of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good at the National Theatre, here are 10 great examples of the play-within-a-play, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy to groundbreaking work from Stoppard, Pirandello, Weiss and Brecht. Read my full National Theatre article here

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged absurdist, act, acting, alan bennett, apartheid, australia, best, brecht, britten, caucasian chalk circle, chekhov, communist, convict, criminal, de sade, drama, epic theatre, farce, farquhar, fugard, great, guard, hamlet, kyd, marat, marat/sade, metatheatre, michael frayn, national theatre, noises off, our countrys good, peter weiss, pirandello, play, play within a play, plays within plays, restoration comedy, revenge tragedy, revolution, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, shakespeare, six characters in search of an author, soldier, south africa, Stoppard, the habit of art, the island, The Recruiting Officer, the seagull, the spanish tragedy, theatre, timberlake wertenbaker, top 10, w h auden | Leave a comment

Bold Chekhov for our times

Posted on July 3, 2015 by mkmswain

Art imitates life in Chekhov’s tale of parasitic creatives, and on opening night in Regent’s Park, the reverse also came to pass when a resident moorhen waddled over to greet the dead seagull. It’s a compliment to Matthew Dunster, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actor, actress, adaptation, book, celebrity, chekhov, famous, ham and high, hamlet, hampstead and highgate express, janie dee, jon bausor, london, mirror, north london, novel, open air, park, play, regents park, review, russia, russian, seagull, shakespeare, star, the bard, the seagull, theatre, torben betts, writer, writing | Leave a comment

An Oak Tree, National Theatre

Posted on June 24, 2015 by mkmswain

The play I have just seen is not the play you will see. Of course, one of the draws of live performance is that no two nights are the same, but that idea is taken to a mesmerising extreme in … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actor, an oak tree, anniversary, art, artist, conceptual, conor lovett, dad, daugther, death, die, drama, father, grief, guest, hypnosis, hypnotist, loss, magic, michael craig-martin, national theatre, performance, play, power, review, stage, suggestion, text, the arts desk, theartsdesk, theatre, tim crouch, transformation | Leave a comment

Stop! The Play, Trafalgar Studios

Posted on June 4, 2015 by mkmswain

The play’s the thing, once again, in the latest backstage comedy, an affable if limited dig at luvvie pretensions. Noises Off still reigns supreme in this genre, with successors unable to match the bravura precision of Michael Frayn’s masterful multitasking … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged acting, actor, actress, art, artist, backstage, banksy, behind the scenes, chaos, comedy, director, disaster, drama, farce, london, michael frayn, noises off, parody, play, play within a play, playwright, protest, reduced shakespeare company, rehearsal, review, sex, sketch, stand-up, stop the play, the arts desk, the play that goes wrong, theartsdesk, theatre, trafalgar studios, writer, writing | 1 Comment

10 Questions For Actress Pippa Bennett-Warner

Posted on May 18, 2015 by mkmswain

At just 26, Pippa Bennett-Warner has already achieved many actors’ goals, from treading the boards at the National and having a part written specially for her to sharing scenes with luminaries like Derek Jacobi and Eddie Redmayne. She debuted aged … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre, TV | Tagged abi morgan, acting, actor, actress, black, colour blind casting, comedy, corset, costume drama, derek jacobi, diversity, doctor who, drama, eddie redmayne, farquhar, female, feminism, hamlet, interview, king lear, london, love, michael grandage, national theatre, olivier, part, patrick marber, period, pippa bennett-warner, play, race, rada, restoration comedy, richard ii, river, role, romance, royal court, samuel barnett, school, shakespeare, south bank, susannah fielding, the beaux stratagem, the lion king, theatre, tis pity shes a whore, tv, women | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: acting

The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse

BWW Interview: Sally Cookson

Brutus and Other Heroines, Harriet Walter

Ten great plays within plays

Bold Chekhov for our times

An Oak Tree, National Theatre

Stop! The Play, Trafalgar Studios

10 Questions For Actress Pippa Bennett-Warner

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