This is pure titular titillation – a strategy that backfires with this dated, laboured and distinctly unsexy piece. “Serious” writer Olivia (Emilia Fox) at one point bemoans the fact that her failed first novel was falsely marketed as a chick-lit … Continue reading
Once upon a time… Storytelling is an integral part of all human cultures, and a central pillar of an enlightened education. Some children get the hang of it quickly – they are, as the phrase has it, natural storytellers. This … Continue reading
The play’s the thing, once again, in the latest backstage comedy, an affable if limited dig at luvvie pretensions. Noises Off still reigns supreme in this genre, with successors unable to match the bravura precision of Michael Frayn’s masterful multitasking … Continue reading
Writing about writers: exploring what you know, or the very definition of stifling egoism? Either way, it can be a terrible trap for the playwright, with craft becoming not just the subject of a work, but its defining feature. Hugh … Continue reading
Fresh from global domination with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, currently garnering rapturous reviews on Broadway, inexhaustible playwright and adaptor Simon Stephens has swapped Mark Haddon for Anton Chekhov and a new version of The Cherry Orchard, … Continue reading
Writing is not a spectator sport. Theresa Rebeck’s wryly cynical 2011 play sets out to disprove that fact by focussing on the hoopla surrounding the act of putting pen to paper, from battling personal demons to the grim pragmatism of … Continue reading
Sonali Deraniyagala’s Wave is not an easy read. I’ll say that again (it definitely bears repeating): Sonali Deraniyagala’s Wave is not an easy read. It is, however, an important one. An exceptional one. And a profoundly moving one. We often … Continue reading
