The first thing we see is Anna Fleischle’s Fifties-tastic giant doll’s-house set: each period-perfect room bathed in a different twinkling hue, flowers painted onto the brick wall, and jaunty music setting the tone. But Katherine Parkinson’s Judy is able to open the … Continue reading
On my June MoveTo Town and Country Arts page: Exhibition The British Museum explores Rodin’s relationship with Ancient Greek sculpture Film An unflinching look at motherhood in Tully Theatre Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband – with double the Foxy charm Commuter corner Michelle Dean’s Sharp: The Women Who Made … Continue reading
Back in 2009, Alexi Kaye Campbell followed up his bold first play The Pride with Apologia, which takes the well-trodden path of a fraught family reunion where past grievances stalk the present. If more conventional, it’s still an enjoyable combination of big ideas, sharp … Continue reading
The actress talks Doctor Who, Sense8 and making her West End debut in Apologia. Read my full BroadwayWorld interview here
Neat freaks beware: Touch is your ultimate nightmare. This latest offering from DryWrite, the company that launched the now stratospheric Fleabag, centres on another woman with a chaotic personal life – this time, mirrored by the symphony of filth that is her cramped … Continue reading
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. … Continue reading
On my May MoveTo Town and Country Arts page: Pick of the month: Cutting a fine figure Giacometti’s full body of work revealed in a major Tate Modern retrospective Don’t miss: Making waves The British Museum goes beyond Hokusai’s iconic print Commuter corner Paula Hawkins’ Into the Water … Continue reading
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
I hope there’s a time when we don’t feel that Alice Birch’s bold, blackly funny, uncompromising battle cry of a play is a necessary intervention. A time when we’re not reeling from – among many others – sexist Olympics commentary, … Continue reading
Australian theatre’s ‘enfant terrible’ Simon Stone, whose 2014 version of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck at the Barbican memorably starred a live duck, has returned to take on Lorca’s 1934 “tragic poem”. If some of the elemental lyricism has been lost … Continue reading
