Tag Archives: aids

The Normal Heart, National Theatre

Posted on October 4, 2021 by mkmswain

It is astonishing to think that Larry Kramer’s largely autobiographical play debuted in 1985, right in the midst of the AIDS crisis. No wonder it feels like a missive from the battlefield, blood and shrapnel clinging to every word.  Read … Continue reading →

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Falsettos, The Other Palace

Posted on September 6, 2019 by mkmswain

William Finn and James Lapine’s musical – which combines two linked one-acts, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, set in late 1970s/early 1980s New York – picked up Tony Awards in 1992 for its book and score, and was nominated again in 2016 for an acclaimed revival. Yet the UK … Continue reading →

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BWW Interview: Andrew Burnap

Posted on October 29, 2018 by mkmswain

The actor discusses his role in landmark play The Inheritance. Read my full BroadwayWorld interview here

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Angels in America, National Theatre

Posted on May 5, 2017 by mkmswain

Tony Kushner’s landmark two-part play begins at a funeral, with a rabbi solemnly naming a woman’s surviving relatives; partway through the interminable list of grandchildren, he stops and sighs. It’s a witty opener for a piece that’s epic in every … Continue reading →

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The messiness and painfulness of love examined

Posted on August 15, 2014 by mkmswain

“What’s a night between friends?” That’s the question posed by this incisive study of desire and deception when it transpires the eponymous Reg – personifying Dionysian chaos and carnal abandon – has captured any number of hearts and loins. Reg … Continue reading →

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A Bright Room Called Day, Southwark Playhouse

Posted on July 29, 2014 by mkmswain

The pivotal early 1930s period in which Herr Hitler overcame strong if fractured left-wing opposition should make for meaty drama, but the sluggish polemic currently occupying Southwark Playhouse will leave carnivorous viewers unsatiated. American playwright Tony Kusher is rightly celebrated … Continue reading →

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Playing politics

Posted on July 26, 2014 by mkmswain

It seems almost unnecessary to criticise Tony Kushner’s insufferable polemic when he does so regularly within the text of A Bright Room Called Day. Characters rebuke one another for their “bad romantic posturing”, “elegant despair” and “carefully constructed but immobile” … Continue reading →

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