Cindy Marcolina - Page 19

Same household, five decades. Starting from 1965, playwright Beth Steel accompanies the Websters as they live and die in a Britain that’s not on their side. From Harold Wilson’s Labour all the way across Thatcher’s Tories to Brexit, the Websters see their Nottinghamshire home turn to ruins.

“According to my mum, I’m always doing something wrong and giving the wrong impression” we meet a quiet, lonely young woman. Except when she drinks and Maggie comes out. Her circumstantial friendship with Trixie has become co-dependency, and she’s been seeking refuge in the alcoholic numbness and social ecstasy she finds when they go out together.

Rakes never go out of style. They are especially in fashion these days, with the likes of “capital R rake” Anthony Bridgerton being the latest gateway fantasy of millions across the world. Now, one of the most famous libertines has taken up debauched shop at The Vaults

“He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life” writes Virginia Woolf in her novel Orlando: A Biography. The fictional life of her gender non-conforming hero has been hailed as a feminist masterpiece, a subversive classic, and an impressive love letter.

Joe Stilgoe’s new album is an ode to theatre itself. After an overture worthy of the most exquisite Golden Age musical, the jazz wizard goes into a warm, rich love letter to show business. Read our BWW critic's review.

She charmed Daniel Craig’s pants off in Spectre, was rather bored in the Matrix, and accompanied Christ to the cross in The Passion Of The Christ. A sex symbol in the 90s and noughties, now she is Maria Callas in her one-night-only West End debut. An icon plays an icon, both with colossal reputations they can’t shake.

“Leave it vague leave it dark” says Samuel Beckett’s character Pim in How It Is. Now, after two years of delay and Zoom rehearsals, Irish theatre company Gare St Lazare bring Part 2 to the Coronet Theatre accompanied by the Irish Gamelan Orchestra. 

Young people all over the country are fighting an enduring battle against circumstances they aren’t equipped to change. Created following a meticulous research into the dedication of youth workers in Leeds and London, The Sh*t highlights the efforts of all those who dedicate their lives to keep others off the streets and out of the grave.

The world is isolating. While everyone is panic-buying loo roll, students have gone back to their accommodations with the promise of an uninterrupted education. Overnight, a fence goes up right outside a flat that’s more like a microcosmos.

Stop the press! The most renowned victims of the romanticisation of violence have taken up residence in London. The Arts theatre - former home of the worldwide hit Six - is now housing the West End debut of Bonnie and Clyde.

And then there were three. The last Mike Bartlett-penned show has opened in London. Scandaltown joins Marianne Elliott’s revival of Cock and the Trumpian drama The 47th spearheaded by Bertie Carvel under Ruper Goold. Directed by Rachel O’Riordan, this one’s a cheeky, boisterous contemporary comedy of manners. Read our critic's review.

When a group of friends from university get together after years of being apart, their reunion swiftly descends into a dinner from hell. They’ve grown up, some quicker than others, and now all have real jobs and responsibilities.

“For heaven’s sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings” Richard II famously says. The first part in Shakespeare’s Henriad follows a king who’s quite poetic, vain, and adores adulation.

One for the money, two for the show. The second play written by Mike Bartlett has now opened in London. With a revival of Cock running at the Ambassadors and Scandaltown opening in Hammersmith next week, the playwright is quite the rarity, one of the very few to’ve had multiple productions on at the same time in the capital.

Richard Myers has helped thousands of people achieve their dream of becoming parents. The IVF pioneer is now receiving a lifetime achievement award, and his own family have gathered around him to celebrate their patriarch.

In a world where the metaverse is starting to take over our everyday lives from professional meetings to social gatherings, it’s only fair that theatre and dance also get an update. While “hanging out” online isn’t a new thing, with forums and social platforms having existed now since the early 2000s, the notion is still quite foreign when performing arts are concerned.

On a summer day in 2014, Hadley Fraser pulled a Taylor Swift and dropped his first EP Just Let Go out of the blue. Now, eight years later, it feels like a treat to receive a new album (announced in a timely fashion this time) from the thespian, who's joined by Will Butterworth on piano this time.

The concept of a submarine has long fascinated writers across media. Jules Verne captivated his readers through Captain Nemo’s Nautilus and, more recently, Suranne Jones was trapped in one for a murder investigation on the BBC.

“The memories are imprinted in my mind like ink that spreads”. This is Mark’s story. New at school, his Year-10 classmates ignore him and the highlight of his day is going back home to play with his dog Barney. Then, he meets Darren. A lads’ lad and part of the local bully group, he chooses Mark as his target-slash-buddy. Mark, starved of friendship and constantly seeking approval, cautiously follows him through petty thievery and other malarkey until he realises his feelings for the boy.

Just a few days after it was announced that Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance was found in near-perfect conditions off the coast of Antarctica after it sank in 1915, a play about another tragic, marginally more famous shipwreck opens at the Park Theatre.