BWW Review: SWITZERLAND, Ambassadors TheatreNovember 20, 2018Directed by Lucy Bailey, the play is set in a remote house in 90s Switzerland where the elderly and mean Patricia Highsmith - eccentric writer of many psychological thrillers and creator of the famous murderous character Tom Ripley - receives a visit from a young man. Sent by her American publisher, Edward Ridgeway has the only goal of convincing her to write one last Ripley novel.
BWW Review: VOTES FOR WOMEN, National TheatreNovember 19, 2018The National Theatre end their series of rehearsed readings with Elizabeth Robins' Votes for Women. Written in 1907, the play dramatises the birth of the suffragette movement and, presented in 2018, shines a light on how slow the progress of equality has been.
BWW Review: BULL IN A CHINA SHOP, National TheatreNovember 18, 2018The National Theatre marks the 100th anniversary of women earning the right to vote in the UK with Courage Everywhere, a series of rehearsed readings and events celebrating the milestone. The talented list features Bryna Turner's Bull in a China Shop.
BWW Interview: Mitchell Cushman Talks SWEENEY TODD and THE EX-BOYFRIEND YARD SALENovember 20, 2018Mitchell Cushman is coming out of directing a secret production of Sweeney Todd in an abandoned building as part of the bigger international immersive project The Curious Voyage. He's also directing Haley McGee's autobiographical play The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale, which is running at Camden People's Theatre from the end of November. We met up to discuss site-specific shows, the importance of contemporising older shows, and the cost of love.
BWW Review: LOVE-LIES-BLEEDING, The Print RoomNovember 15, 2018In a deserted part of the American south-west, Alex (Joe McGann) is being tended to by his loving fourth wife Lia (Clara Indrani). Once a successful artist, he was rendered speechless and motionless by a stroke. His only son Sean (Jack Wilkinson) and his second spouse Toinette (Josie Lawrence) arrive to convince his new wife to agree to terminate his life.
BWW Review: CHUTNEY, The BunkerNovember 14, 2018Gregg and Claire live sheltered, boring, suburban lives. She has a high-end job she hates; he is a teacher. They follow the rules and are everything one could expect from an established couple. Except one day they discover they share an overwhelming desire to kill animals.
BWW Review: THE HOES, Hampstead TheatreNovember 10, 2018Hampstead Theatre hosts Ifeyinwa Frederick's debut play directed by Lakesha Arie-Angelo, The Hoes is a joyous celebration of millennial womanhood and friendship that's unafraid to show the darker side of growing up. Bim (Marieme Diouf), Alex (Aretha Ayeh), and J (Nicola Maisie Taylor) are best friends who have been knowing each other since they were in secondary school. Now that they're older, life is catching up and a holiday to Ibiza is the chance to talk about their fears and hopes.
BWW Review: DROWNED OR SAVED?, Tristan Bates TheatreNovember 10, 2018Years after surviving the Holocaust, Primo Levi (Marco Gambino) is a haunted man who segregates himself in his study to try to come to terms with the terrible events he witnessed. He writes stories to understand them better, conjuring the prophet Elijah (Alex Marchi) to guide him through his recollections. The biblical figure, however, unearths the darker buried memories that prey Levi's persistent nightmares, making them become real once again.
BWW Review: GILDED BUTTERFLIES, The Hope TheatreNovember 9, 2018Tormented Casserole's Gilded Butterflies comes back on stage after successful runs around the UK in their first Off-West end production at The Hope Theatre. The two-hander, devised by the company and directed by Kathryn Papworth-Smith, sees young Maggie (Francesca McCrohon) struggling to keep a hand on real life while being convicted.
BWW Review: HEARD, Camden People's TheatreNovember 7, 2018Amana and Hafizah share a love for life and too many dreams to count. One wants to go to university, the other wants to find someone she's lost. Both of them can't, however, go on with their lives as they're being unjustly detained.
BWW Review: A PUPIL, Park TheatreNovember 6, 2018When seventeen-year-old Simona (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) shows up at Ye's (Lucy Sheen) North London flat with an attitude and a talent for the violin, the aging musician is forced to take a hard look at how success and greatness affect the artistic side of life.
BWW Review: BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR, Jermyn Street TheatreNovember 3, 2018Proud Haddock remembers the centenary of the Armistice at Jermyn Street Theatre with the dynamic and heartbreaking tale of Canadian war hero Billy Bishop. Written by John MacLachlan Gray with Eric Peterson, Billy Bishop Goes to War sees an older Bishop (Oliver Beamish) overseeing his younger self (Charles Aitken).
BWW Review: BURY THE DEAD, Finborough TheatreNovember 2, 2018Finborough Theatre end their series dedicated to the Great War by bringing back Irwin Shaw's Bury The Dead. Directed by Rafaella Marcus and the first London production in 80 year, the piece works as a monumental metaphor to stand up for the truth.
BWW Review: NOT ABOUT HEROES, Wilton's Music HallNovember 1, 2018Director Tim Baker concludes his national tour of Stephen Macdonald's Not About Heroes at Wilton's Music Hall. The play, which details the strong friendship between Wilfred Owen and Siegfriend Sassoon, has been acclaimed worldwide since its debut in 1982.
BWW Review: THE CURIOUS VOYAGE, Secret Locations All Over LondonOctober 28, 2018Londoners may have seen a resurgence in immersive theatrical experiences recently, but Talk Is Free Theatre brings the concept to a whole new level with The Curious Voyage. The intercontinental three-day journey starts in Barrie, Canada and lands in London, where the audience is taken on a quest to explore their darkest secrets.
BWW Review: I AND YOU, Hampstead TheatreOctober 26, 2018Hampstead Theatre hosts the European premiere of Lauren Gunderson's award-winning I and You. The production, directed by artistic director Edward Hall sees the stage debut of Game of Thrones star Masie Williams and the professional debut of Zach Wyatt, who graduated from Guildhall this past June.
BWW Review: THE DISTANCE YOU HAVE COME, The CockpitOctober 20, 2018Scott Alan premieres his new musical The Distance You Have Come in the intimate The Cockpit. Presented as a cycle of songs and with little-to-no dialogue, it sees a group of six people dealing with various degrees of desperation and challenges. A struggling actress (Emma Hutton), a broken lesbian couple (Alexia Khedime and Jodie Jacobs), an alcoholic (Dean John-Wilson) all grapple with the lingering uncertainty of life while the audience gets to see Andy Coxton and Adrian Hansel meet and fall in love.
BWW Review: A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK, Trafalgar StudiosOctober 19, 2018Teddy (Clifford Samuel) meets Jeremy (Douglas Booth) at the bar of a shabby hotel in Amsterdam, he asks if he wants to join him in his room and he agrees. Upstairs, they get very close in an entirely confusing play.