Ellie Kurttz

Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL, Shakespeare’s Globe
by Cindy Marcolina - Dec 6, 2024

Though we admit that venturing as far as saying that the witch looks like a mix of Margaret Thatcher and the old Queen might be just us being fastidious with our interpretative vein, the links are there to see and analyse. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy and adults playing children is always slightly jarring, but it’s also a prime example of how we can navigate world politics with your kids.

Review: TWELFTH NIGHT, Orange Tree Theatre
by Gary Naylor - Dec 1, 2024

Superb performances from a cast entirely at ease with themselves and their director make this show a must-see

Review: A FACE IN THE CROWD, Young Vic
by Cindy Marcolina - Sep 21, 2024

“I love you like Mary Shelley loved her monster.” Being in the right place at the right time can change your life. So, when young producer Marcia Jeffries stumbles upon a drunken Larry Rhodes while she’s recording a radio segment somewhere in the southern States, it seems like it’s fate. A gifted singer songwriter with a charming bluntness to him, Rhodes is immediately offered a slot on her show and his rise to stardom begins. Based on the 1957 film that launched Andy Griffith’s career, A Face in the Crowd is now only a creaky musical with an attractive cast. Written by Elvis Costello and Sara Ruhl, it’s Kwame Kwei-Armah’s swansong as Artistic Director of the Young Vic.

Review: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN, Soho Theatre
by Katie Kirkpatrick - Sep 19, 2024

On the press night for My English Persian Kitchen, the smell of chopped onion, mint, and garlic wafts down the stairs of Soho Theatre. Hannah Khalil’s atmospheric play, combining true storytelling and live cooking, turns these scents into stories rooted in real life. Fresh from the Traverse programme at Edinburgh Fringe, the show comes to Soho for its London run.

Photos: In Rehearsal for the UK Premiere of New Shakespeare-Inspired Musical, PLAY ON!
by A.A. Cristi - Sep 7, 2024

See photos from inside rehearsal for the UK premiere of Play On!, the jazz-fuelled, Twelfth Night-inspired musical that will tour the UK from September 2024 – February 2025.

Photos: Young Vic's A FACE IN THE CROWD Starring Karimloo and Lucas in Rehearsal
by Blair Ingenthron - Aug 24, 2024

Check out rehearsal photos from A Face in the Crowd at Young Vic Theatre, starring Ramin Karimloo, with original music from Elvis Costello, and a book by Sarah Ruhl, here!

Review: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, Shakespeare's Globe
by Debbie Gilpin - Aug 15, 2024

'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.' Aside from a couple of Horrible Histories songs, most people probably know Cleopatra for her unique manner of death - almost certainly an apocryphal story (it's far more likely that she simply poisoned herself), but that and her ill-fated relationship with Mark Antony clearly piqued William Shakespeare's interest.

Review: YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, Opera Holland Park
by Franco Milazzo - Aug 8, 2024

Opera Holland Park close out another acclaimed season with a rollicking Yeomen Of The Guard.

Review: SOME DEMON, Arcola Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - Jun 20, 2024

Laura Waldren lifts the veil off an eating disorder unit. While the characters try hard to cope with an alienating structure that fails many of its patients, Waldren examines institutional callousness and human failure. Chosen from a staggering 1,468 scripts, Some Demon it’s an excellent pick. Though far away from an easy watch, it’s rife with urgent necessity.

Review: LIFE OF PI, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - Jun 19, 2024

After conquering the West End and Broadway, the 5 star ‘theatrical phenomenon’ embarks on its biggest adventure yet. Don’t miss the West End and Broadway spectacle on its first ever UK tour.

Review: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Shakespeare's Globe
by Alexander Cohen - Jun 19, 2024

Jude Christian's new production playfully inverts Shakespeare's misogyny

Review: THE TRIALS AND PASSIONS OF UNFAMOUS WOMEN, Brixton House Theatre
by Niamh Jones - Jun 18, 2024

A courtroom is a place of tradition, of cold reason rather than emotional responses. This is a fact which is highlighted in The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women, a new play produced by LIFT, Brixton House and Clean Break, a company which works to bring the stories of women who are criminalised to a wider audience. The play takes us on an exploration of the court system through the eyes of women, fluctuating between classical stories of female trials and modern testimonies.

Photos: First Look at SOME DEMON at the Arcola Theatre
by Stephi Wild - Jun 17, 2024

All new photos have been released from Some Demon at the Arcola Theatre which opens tonight. Check out the photos here!

Interview: 'It's Championing Women's Friendships and Voices.': Rebekah Hinds and Bronté Barbé on KATHY & STELLA SOLVE A MURDER!
by Kat Mokrynski - May 23, 2024

Recently we had the chance to chat with Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds, who play Kathy and Stella, respectively. We discussed what it’s been like to have been a part of the show since the beginning, bringing the production to the West End and how the fans have played an important role in the show.

Review: MACBETH (AN UNDOING), Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
by Natalie O'Donoghue - May 15, 2024

When her husband returns victorious from the battlefield with a prophecy that he is to become King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth will stop at nothing to make their darkest ambition a reality.

Review: THE HOUSE PARTY, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 12, 2024

Superb performances anchor a hurtling rollercoaster of a play that will live long in the memory of anyone who sees it.

Review: OLIVE JAR, Grand Junction
by Niamh Jones - Apr 26, 2024

What is theatre fundamentally about? Why do we create any form of literature or performance? Why do we tell stories? Stories are such a formative part of life, forging our knowledge of the world and helping to bring communities together.

Photos: In Rehearsal for THE HOUSE PARTY At Chichester's Minerva Theatre
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 18, 2024

Laura Lomas’s The House Party spins Strindberg’s Miss Julie into intense, fizzing life for  today’s generation. Directed by Holly Race Roughan, in a co-production with Headlong in  association with Frantic Assembly, it runs at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre from 3 May – 1  June, with a press night on Friday 10 May. See photos from inside the rehearsal room below!

Review: JEN�®FA, London Coliseum
by Franco Milazzo - Mar 15, 2024

Opera is not short of stories where women are violated and abandoned by the men in their lives but Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa is an especially cruel tale.

Photos: Janáček's JEN�®FA Returns to the London Coliseum
by A.A. Cristi - Mar 14, 2024

David Alden’s double Olivier Award-winning production of Janáček’s Jenůfa returns to the London Coliseum. See first look photos!