Tag Archives: communist

ANNA, National Theatre

Posted on May 22, 2019 by mkmswain

The audience plays surveillance state in this pioneering collaboration between playwright Ella Hickson and sound designers Ben and Max Ringham. We experience the action through individual sets of headphones, corresponding to a hidden mic on our protagonist Anna – listening … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged 60s, anna, ben and max ringham, berlin, book tickets, broadwayworld, cold war, communist, east berlin, ella hickson, germany, headphones, national theatre, phoebe fox, review, sound design, spy, thriller | Leave a comment

Young Marx, Bridge Theatre

Posted on October 29, 2017 by mkmswain

Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr’s enterprise is certainly an historic one: The Bridge is London’s first new wholly commercial theatre in 80 years. If its opening play isn’t the same landmark work, it’s nevertheless an auspicious start to a promising … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged bridge theatre, broadwayworld, children, class, clive coleman, comedy, communist, engels, family, farce, german, london, marriage, marx, nicholas hytner, nick starr, oliver chris, play, politician, politics, refugee, review, revolution, richard bean, rory kinnear, sex, socialism, soho, the bridge, theatre, victorian, visit london, young marx | Leave a comment

The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…, Hampstead Theatre

Posted on October 31, 2016 by mkmswain

It’s not just the title (The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures) that’s daunting in Tony Kushner’s exhaustive three-and-a-half-hour epic, which tackles everything from socialist history, belief systems and family dysfunction to maternity … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged broadwayworld, communist, hampstead theatre, london, michael boyd, review, socialism, tamsin grieg, the intelligent homosexuals guide, theatre, tony kushner | 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

Crisp winters tale of family

Posted on December 12, 2014 by mkmswain

London-based Croatian writer Tena Štivičić’s National Theatre debut keeps it in the family, with 70 years of history refracted through one Zagreb house and one bloodline. Ambitious, exquisitely constructed 3 Winters shifts seamlessly between three time periods: 1945, birth of Communist … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged 3 winters, capitalism, child, civil war, communism, communist, croatia, drama, eu, europe, european union, family, london, marriage, national theatre, parent, play, politics, review, revolution, theatre, war, wedding, yugoslavia | Leave a comment

Listed: Wall Flowers – The Best of Berlin

Posted on November 8, 2014 by mkmswain

It divided a city, but the Wall produced great stories, dramas and films. We pick our favourites. Read the full post on theartsdesk

Posted in Art, Fiction, Film, Journalism, Theatre | Tagged america, anniversary, berlin, berlin wall, book, cold war, communism, communist, david bowie, David Hare, drama, east, fiction, film, germany, good bye lenin, heroes, ian mcewan, iron curtain, israel, john le carre, ken loach, mark ravenhill, music, palestine, play, royal court, russia, song, spy, stasiland, story, the lives of others, theatre, west | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged a bright room called day, aids, america, angels in america, arthur miller, berlin, brecht, communist, drama, germany, hitler, life of brian, london, monty python, nazi, new york, play, reagan, review, southwark playhouse, stalin, the arts desk, the crucible, theatre, tony kushner, trotsky | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged a bright room called day, aids, america, angels in america, arthur miller, bargain theatreland, berlin, brecht, communist, drama, germany, hitler, life of brian, london, monty python, nazi, new york, play, reagan, review, southwark playhouse, stalin, the crucible, theatre, tony kushner, trotsky | Leave a comment

A womb of one’s own

Posted on March 11, 2013 by mkmswain

It’s not often you find yourself sympathising with both Communist and Nazi social policy, but that’s the unusual position one might be forced to take when viewing the compelling A Time to Reap at the Royal Court. Burgeoning Polish playwright … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Theatre | Tagged a time to reap, abortion, america, brideshead revisited, catholic, communist, debate, drama, election, europe, international woman's day, law, london, nazi, play, poland, royal court, socialism, the end of the affair, theatre, vote | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: communist

ANNA, National Theatre

Young Marx, Bridge Theatre

The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide…, Hampstead Theatre

Ten great plays within plays

Crisp winters tale of family

Listed: Wall Flowers – The Best of Berlin

A Bright Room Called Day, Southwark Playhouse

Playing politics

A womb of one’s own

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