Tag Archives: murder

A Very Expensive Poison, Old Vic

Posted on September 6, 2019 by mkmswain

How theatre should, or should not, be addressing Brexit is a constant topic of conversation. But while Lucy Prebble’s phenomenal new work – a combination of horror, espionage thriller, love story and satire, with dazzlingly theatrical framing – doesn’t centre … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged a very expensive poison, alexander litvinenko, book tickets, brexit, broadwayworld, comedy, fake news, government, london, lucy prebble, murder, old vic, play, poison, police, politics, putin, reece shearsmith, review, salisbury, satire, succession, theatre, trump | Leave a comment

Chicago, Phoenix Theatre

Posted on April 19, 2018 by mkmswain

Chicago‘s hit West End revival - which featured a constant revolving door of big names – closed in 2012 after almost 15 years. Now, it returns with the requisite stunt casting (Cuba Gooding Jr), but also with a cast of … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, Theatre | Tagged all that jazz, book tickets, broadwayworld, cheap tickets, chicago, cuba gooding jr, dancing, ebb, jazz, kander, lawyer, london, murder, musical, phoenix theatre, review, ruthie henshall, singing, theatre, ticket deal, visit london, west end | Leave a comment

Picasso, Lady Bird, Mary Stuart and West Cork

Posted on March 12, 2018 by mkmswain

On my March MoveTo Town and Country Arts page: Exhibition Pablo Picasso’s ‘year of wonders’ graces Tate Modern Film The mother-daughter relationship deftly captured by Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird Theatre Robert Icke’s Mary Stuart presents history as a modern political thriller Commuter corner The latest must-binge true … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Film, Journalism, Theatre | Tagged art, arts, audible, commute, commuter, duke of yorks theatre, elizabeth i, exhibition, film, greta gerwig, juliet stevenson, lady bird, lia williams, london, magazine, mary queen of scots, mary stuart, moveto, moveto town and country, murder, picasso, picasso 1932, play, podcast, review, robert icke, Saoirse Ronan, tate modern, theatre, true crime, visit london, west cork, west end | Leave a comment

Obsession, Barbican

Posted on April 26, 2017 by mkmswain

“Everybody wants passion,” says Ivo Van Hove in the programme interview for his latest show, but in both tone and aesthetic, his take on this doomed romance is less red-hot fire of ardour, more the cold, grey ash left in … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged barbican, broadwayworld, ivo van hove, jude law, london, love, murder, obsession, passion, review, romance, sex, theatre, thriller, visconti | Leave a comment

Stylish, witty and lurid tale

Posted on March 4, 2016 by mkmswain

In 1933, French society was rocked by Christine and Léa Papin’s brutal murder of their employer. The incident loosely inspired Jean Genet’s 1947 play, which uses that power struggle to starkly challenge identity constructs. Jamie Lloyd’s suitably unflinching revival benefits … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged andrew upton, class, drama, gender, ham and high, jamie lloyd, jean genet, laura carmichael, london, maid, murder, play, review, servant, sister, the maids, theatre, trafalgar studios, uzo aduba, west end, zawe ashton | Leave a comment

The Maids, Trafalgar Studios

Posted on February 29, 2016 by mkmswain

“Murder is hilarious,” quips Zawe Ashton’s scheming maid, and in Jamie Lloyd’s high-octane, queasily comic revival of Jean Genet’s radical 1947 play, it really is. It’s also lurid, strange, bleak and powerfully transcendent, as befits a piece that locates hunger … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged class, crime, downton abbey, drama, existentialist, gender, jamie lloyd, jean genet, laura carmichael, london, maid, murder, play, race, review, sex, sisters, the arts desk, the maids, theartsdesk, theatre, trafalgar studios, uzo aduba, west end | Leave a comment

Hangmen, Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on December 8, 2015 by mkmswain

Just what constitutes reasonable behaviour in an enlightened society? Not long ago, the death penalty fell under that umbrella in Britain, and state-sanctioned killing as punishment for the crime of, well, killing is just the kind of twisted irony that … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged capital punishment, crime, david morrissey, death, drama, farce, hang, hanged, hangmen, johnny flynn, justice, london, martin mcdonagh, murder, oldham, pierrepoint, pinter, play, pub, review, royal court, sixties, the arts desk, theartsdesk, theatre, thriller, west end | Leave a comment

Macbeth, Young Vic

Posted on December 4, 2015 by mkmswain

Events have overtaken this Macbeth, dramatically heightening its queasy topicality. Not just brutal beheadings and torture, but the cost and collateral damage of conflict without end, and the scourge of a tyrant slaughtering his own people, strike one anew in … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, Theatre | Tagged anna maxwell martin, carrie cracknell, dance, death, drama, john heffernan, king, london, lucy guerin, macbeth, movement, murder, play, review, shakespeare, the arts desk, the scottish play, theartsdesk, theatre, war, young vic | 2 Comments

Listed: The 100 Funniest Things about Downton Abbey

Posted on October 24, 2015 by mkmswain

As the series draws to a close, we list its mostly unintentional hilarity, from the entail and the Turkish corpse to the death-by-political-correctness of Isis the dog. Read the full theartsdesk article here

Posted in Journalism, TV | Tagged 100 funniest things, alien, america, american, anna, aristocracy, bates, blackmail, branson, butler, carson, change, child, children, class, daisy, death, doctor, dog, dowager countess, downstairs, downton, downton abbey, drama, entail, first world war, funniest, funny, his lordship, history, hospital, hugh bonneville, irish, isis, isobel, itv, julian fellowes, lady, lady edith, lady mary, last series, lord, lord grantham, love, maggie smith, maid, matthew, miscarriage, mr pamuk, mrs hughes, murder, period, pigs, review, romance, servant, sex, soap, soap opera, sybil, television, the queen, thomas, titanic, turk, turkish, tv, upstairs, war, ww1 | Leave a comment

Ticking, Trafalgar Studios

Posted on October 12, 2015 by mkmswain

There’s nothing like a death to bring a family together. In Simon’s case, that death is his own – impending execution by firing squad in an unnamed Asian country, unless he can win a reprieve from the Prime Minister, President … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Theatre | Tagged anthony head, british, brothel, campaign, child, comedy, condemned, death, death row, deirdre barlow, drama, english, execution, family, father, firing squad, gallows humour, jail, justice, london, marriage, middle class, mother, murder, niamh cusack, parent, Paul Andrew Williams, play, prison, prostitute, review, secret, The Sun, theatre, therapy, ticking, tom hughes, trafalgar studios, west end | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: murder

A Very Expensive Poison, Old Vic

Chicago, Phoenix Theatre

Picasso, Lady Bird, Mary Stuart and West Cork

Obsession, Barbican

Stylish, witty and lurid tale

The Maids, Trafalgar Studios

Hangmen, Wyndham’s Theatre

Macbeth, Young Vic

Listed: The 100 Funniest Things about Downton Abbey

Ticking, Trafalgar Studios

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