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Tag Archives: russia
Preludes, Southwark Playhouse
Where does music come from? That’s the vital question posed to Sergei Rachmaninoff in Dave Malloy’s extraordinary 2015 chamber work, as the great late-Romantic Russian composer – stuck in his third year of harrowing writer’s block – tries to relocate his gift. It comes … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged alex sutton, art, artist, chekhov, composer, concerto, dahl, dave malloy, depression, failure, hypnotherapy, keith ramsay, london, mental health, mind, music, musical, musician, pianist, piano, prelude, preludes, rachel chavkin, rachmaninoff, rebecca caine, review, russia, southwark playhouse, symphony, theartsdesk, theatre, therapy, writer, writers block
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Fiddler on the Roof, Menier Chocolate Factory
There’s a welcome alternative to panto hijinks in this gem of a Trevor Nunn musical revival – more attuned to the biting hardships of winter, and to the elegiac aspect of change, than to festive jollies. Which is not to say that there … Continue reading
Posted in Dance, Journalism, Theatre
Tagged andy nyman, dancing, daughter, faith, family, father, fiddler on the roof, if i were a rich man, immigrant, jew, jewish, judaism, judy kuhn, london, love, marriage, menier chocolate factory, musical, religion, review, revolution, russia, singing, theartsdesk, theatre, tradition, trevor nunn, tsar
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Describe the Night, Hampstead Theatre
American playwright Rajiv Joseph’s latest certainly doesn’t lack for ambition, spanning 90 years, three countries, and mixing history and fiction in its form to make a point about, well, mixing history and fiction. Storytelling through to the pertinent “fake news” … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged ben caplan, berlin wall, broadwayworld, david birrell, describe the night, drama, east germany, fake news, hampstead theatre, isaac babel, kgb, lisa spirling, london, moscow, nikolai yezhov, plane crash, play, poland, propaganda, putin, rajiv joseph, rebecca o'mara, review, russia, secret police, smolensk, soviet, spy, stalin, story, theatre
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Chess, London Coliseum
Chess, by Tim Rice and ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, hasn’t had a major West End revival since its Eighties heyday, but it’s back with a bang in a semi-staged production that features aerial silk acrobatics, cheerleading stunts and drunken Cossack dancing. But … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged abba, alexandra burke, america, book tickets, broadwayworld, cassidy janson, cheap tickets, chess, cold war, eno, london coliseum, michael ball, musical, review, russia, ticket deal, tim howar, tim rice, visit london, west end
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Cell Mates, Hampstead Theatre
Offstage drama infamously hijacked the 1995 premiere of Simon Gray’s play, with star Stephen Fry walking out mid-run – hastening the production’s early closing. Here, then, is a chance to put the focus back on the work itself in Edward … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged broadwayworld, cell mates, edward hall, escape, george blake, hampstead theatre, london, moscow, prison, review, russia, sean bourke, simon gray, soviet union, spy, stephen fry, wormwood scrubs
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Uncle Vanya, Almeida Theatre
After putting a modern spin on the Oresteia, with memorable results, director Robert Icke takes on another classic. No samovars here: Icke has stripped back, anglicised and revitalised Chekhov, obliterating the space between story and spectator. His zoomed-in vision offers … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged almeida theatre, chekhov, drama, ham and high, jessica brown findlay, london, paul rhys, play, review, robert icke, russia, theatre, tobias menzies, uncle vanya
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Three Days in the Country, National Theatre
A month in the country is shortened to 72 hours in Patrick Marber’s sardonic, hazily erotic 135-minute distillation of a Russian classic. The influence of Turgenev’s 1850s country-house tragicomedy on fellow countryman Chekhov is clear, with its aristocratic family suffering … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged a month in the country, chekhov, drama, ham and high, john simm, london, love, Mark Gatiss, marriage, national theatre, patrick marber, play, review, romance, russia, russian, sex, theatre, three days in the country, turgenev
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Ten great plays set in summer
To coincide with the opening of Three Days in The Country, Patrick Marber’s new adaption of Turgenev, I’ve rounded up 10 other great plays set in the summer, from bucolic romance and adolescent yearning to fiery conflict and family combustion. Read my … Continue reading
Posted in Journalism, Theatre
Tagged 10, A Midsummer Night's Dream, a streetcar named desire, adaptation, adolescent, all my sons, american dream, arthur miller, august osage county, best, chekhov, child, childhood, comedy, court, drama, Eugene O’Neill, family, fourth of july, hay fever, heat, hot, independence day, jury, law, love, lust, magic, Mark Gatiss, may day, meryl streep, national theatre, noel coward, parent, patrick marber, play, romance, romeo and juliet, russia, russian, sex, shakespeare, simon russell beale, summer, summer solstice, sun, teenager, tennessee williams, the cherry orchard, theatre, three days in the country, top 10, tragedy, trial, turgenev, twelve angry men, young, youth
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