Debbie Gilpin - Page 5

Chamberlin, Powell & Bon's brutalist design is an instantly recognisable part of London's architecture; the grade II listed building formed the inspiration for the film adaptation of JG Ballard's novel High-Rise. Formerly the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Barbican Theatre was also the original London home of long-running musical Les Misérables before its transfer to the West End.

Back in 2002, when Caryl Churchill's A Number premiered at the Royal Court, genetics was the hot new topic. The Human Genome Project was on the verge of being completed and a few years earlier Dolly the sheep had been cloned, leading to very real discussions about whether or not humans could end up being cloned. It was still science fiction, of course, as demonstrated a few years later when South Korean claims of harvesting viable stem cells from a cloned human embryo were found to be false. Nonetheless, Churchill's play featuring a father and his cloned sons must have captured the imagination of audiences.

a?oeGrime changed my life, more than my two first class degrees, it gave me permission.a?? Debris Stevenson is back at the Royal Court with a limited of her grime theatre show Poet in da Corner, prior to a UK tour. Inspired by the acclaimed breakthrough album from her idol Dizzee Rascal (Boy in da Corner), it charts Stevenson's journey from dyslexic teen trapped in a Mormon household to independent and self-aware woman; this is a story told from the heart, in the best way she knows how.

How do you see yourself? What seems like a fairly straightforward question can actually be far more complex than you might think a?" and if your own lived experience deviates even slightly from what other people expect, you may find yourself repeatedly fielding the same queries as both sides seek to justify their positions. In Janice Okoh's new play, The Gift, Princess Sarah Bonetta tries to balance her new role as wife with her passion for teaching, whilst modern-day structural engineer Sarah fends off a try-hard neighbour. Tea with Queen Victoria could be exactly what they both needa??

Emma Rice's Wise Children are back, bringing her acclaimed production Romantics Anonymous to the Bristol Old Vic for a limited run. Carly Bawden, who plays Angélique in the show, talks chocolatiers, suffragettes, and her passion for new writinga??

Following a critically acclaimed run at the Old Vic, with a subsequent West End transfer, Conor McPherson's Girl From The North Country has been remounted with an almost completely new cast. It had a short run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, and is now back in London for a limited engagement at the Gielgud Theatre prior to residencies of Upstart Crow and the hotly anticipated transfer of Broadway's To Kill A Mockingbird.

Few English reigns have been quite as theatrical as that of Elizabeth I; from her fine gowns and jewellery to the youthful (or so she thought) wigs and makeup, she preserved her position as monarch by creating the characters of Gloriana and the Virgin Queen. This theatricality feeds into Ella Hickson's new play Swive, as a less familiar version of Elizabeth addresses the audience, tweaks history, and even plays with our expectations of the auditorium's surroundings.

When confronted with the name Chekhov, hot Russian summers and country houses are probably what immediately spring to mind. It's all change for Inua Ellams' new adaptation at the National Theatre, as events are transported to Nigeria on the brink of civil war; the play is set between 1967 and 1970, as the Igbo in Biafra make a bid for total freedom following the country's independence from the UK. Nadia Fall directs this enlightening and heartbreaking new production.

Welcome to Lovelyville. President Nick Dallas has just been re-elected, and all seems right with the world - until the disruptive force of Mr and Mrs Ubu make their appearance, that is. Completely at odds with the tone of the town from the moment they open their mouths, they are unable to sit back and try to make things work in their current situation. Cue an outrageous assassination attempt and a grab for power in which the crowd is powerless to intervene. Ambitious, cowardly, strange-looking leaders with poor public-speaking skills - haven't we seen this somewhere before..?

This is no ordinary play. Though it begins in a fairly conventional manner, setting up for a hearty family drama, there are little things to pick up on which tell you that something's not quite right a?' it's unsettling and you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know that the play has something up its sleeve. Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury says in the programme, a?oeOh, to not spoil Fairview I can basically tell you nothing!a?? a?' that makes it a challenge to review, but having now witnessed it I have to endorse her statement. You must step into the unknown with this one.

a?oeTimes are hard for dreamersa?? but that won't stop Amélie Poulain. Falsely diagnosed with a heart condition as a child, she was home-schooled by her mother and kept at a distance by her germophobe father, forcing her to retreat into her imagination for amusement and company. Fast forward to August 1997 and she's working in a café in Paris, keeping herself to herself until she finds a box of childhood trinkets and becomes determined to reunite them with their owner. This sets her off on a mission to meddle in other people's lives a?' and maybe even change her own if she'll ever talk to Nino, who's fascinated by the identity of the mysterious photo booth man.

Following on from their celebration of all things Queen in October, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra last night returned to the Royal Albert Hall for a night of modern musical magic. Conducted by Richard Balcombe, the orchestra performed an incredible range of songs from modern-day shows - ranging from screen-to-stage adaptations and jukebox hits, to completely original musicals. Stage star Bonnie Langford (currently in the West End production of 9 to 5) was there to oversee the evening's events, and was joined by soloists Alex Gaumond, Celinde Schoenmaker, Louise Dearman and Ben Forster, as well as the ArtsEd Ensemble.

a?oeWhile we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one.a?? With this, the fourth instalment of the Harry Potter franchise, events start to take a darker turn; Death Eaters are going about their business more openly, and someone seems to be working behind-the-scenes to bring chaos and disorder to Hogwarts. CineConcerts this weekend continued the Harry Potter Film Concert Series at the Royal Albert Hall, screening The Goblet of Fire accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

Alice Birch's [BLANK] comprises 100 scenes, any number of which can be selected and performed in any order a?" it's all in the hands of the creative team. For Maria Aberg's production at the Donmar Warehouse, an all-female company has been cast and 22 of the scenes have been pulled together. The common thread between all of the scenes is the experience of women in the criminal justice system, whether they work for it, are in prison themselves, or are victims of crime.

As part of the ongoing Festival of Film, the Royal Albert Hall last night played host to Classic Album Sundays. Presenter Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy hosted Damon Gough (a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy), as he picked out some of his favourite pieces of film music and talked about how he approached his own soundtrack projects, including the classic About A Boy.

Just over 49 years ago, a little-known student band named Queen gave their very first public performance under that name at Imperial College Union, settling on their final line-up a few months later and bracing themselves for world domination. Following on from the phenomenal success of the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returned for another round of Symphonic Queen, celebrating some of the band's biggest hits with a classical twist.

A 1950s Ealing comedy probably wouldn't be your first port of call when trying to think of a timely film to adapt for the stage, whilst also giving people an opportunity for a much-needed laugh. However, The Man in the White Suit has managed it in one perfect package. Sean Foley has adapted and directed this stage production, which has now opened on the West End following a short run at Theatre Royal Bath.

a?oeOrphans always make the best recruits.a?? Daniel Craig's third foray as the infamous spy sees Bond grappling with his past in order to secure his future, going head-to-head with a former agent (played by Javier Bardem) whose sole motivation is avenging what he saw as betrayal by M (Judi Dench). Skyfall continues the films in concert series at the Royal Albert Hall, and is the second Bond film to be presented in this manner here.

Almost six years since its first outing at the Tabernacle, Letters Live last night put on its biggest show yet: in the grandiose and historic setting of the Royal Albert Hall. As well as celebrating the joy and emotion of the written word, with the help of a stunning array of talent, the shows also seek to support charitable causes - this time it was the turn of the National Literacy Trust. Over the course of three hours, the audience was treated to a wide-ranging selection of correspondence, including everything from noisy neighbours and Albert Hall shenanigans, to a prolifically flatulent dog.

The time is now for The Scottish Play; over the past couple of years there has been a glut of Macbeths, no doubt inspired by the extraordinary ongoing political events. This time it's Chichester's turn, with director Paul Miller reuniting with John Simm for a second Shakespeare (the pair teamed up for Hamlet in 2010), and Dervla Kirwan taking on the role of Lady Macbeth in this, the final production of the summer season.