Rev Stan's Theatre Blog
London theatre reviews and interviews
Category: Bush Theatre
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It feels like theatre returned with a splash in 2023 after the dark days of Covid. I saw 62 and a half plays (64 and a half, including second viewings) across London's plethora of theatres, from tiny pubs to big West End stages. Here are my favourite 10 plays – in no particular order (links…
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Samuel Barnett in 'Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen' at Bush Theatre. Photo: The Other Richard Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen at the Bush Theatre is the sad clown paradox. The Comedian (Samuel Barnett) tries (and succeeds) to make people laugh while simultaneously suffering from anxiety…
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The Bush Young Company in As We Face The Sun at the Bush Theatre. Photo by Harry Elletso As We Face The Sun at the Bush Theatre is part coming-of-age drama, part exploration of the impact of grief on a group of school friends. The story centres on a group of 14/15-year-old classmates at a…
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Fair Play at the Bush Theatre is set in the world of female athletics. Ann (NicK King) joins a running club and meets Sophie (Charlotte Beaumont), and the two bond over their love of running, drive and ambition to compete at the highest level. L-r NicK King and Charlotte Beaumont in 'Fair Play' at Bush…
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Last year a critic described a dramatic response to the Black Lives Matter protests, to which Benedict Lombe contributed, as 'more lecture than theatre'. The quote is projected onto the set of her debut play, Lava, at the Bush Theatre. Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo in 'Lava' at the Bush Theatre. Photo credit: Helen Murray It appears about…
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Travis Alabanza's play Overflow is set in the toilet of a club from where transgirl Rosie (Reece Lyons) has locked herself in. Overflow, Bush Theatre. Photography by Elise Rose. Art direction by Mia Maxwell She talks about the power of a 'pre-emptive pee' but it isn't just about being organised enough to empty your bladder…
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It is the women that come to the fore and feel like the more interesting and sympathetic characters. Rakie Ayola as Vivian in 'Strange Fruit', Bush Theatre. Photo: Helen Murray. Caryl Phillips' play Strange Fruit focuses on cultural identity in 1980s Britain. Vivian (Rakie Ayola) left the Caribbean with her two young sons Errol and…
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Class layers marital tensions with social class tensions and the pressures of being a teacher and learning. L-r Sarah Morris, Stephen Jones and Will O'Connell in 'CLASS'. Photo: Helen Murray Brian (Stephen Jones) and Donna (Sarah Morris) are separated but having to put on a united front for the sake of their 9-year-old son Jayden…
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Tessa Peake-Jones and Andrew French in While We're Here at thenew Bush Studio. Photo: Mark Douet Carol (Tessa Peake-Jones) is making up the sofa in her Havant home for Eddie (Andrew French) to sleep on. A chance meeting has thrown the former lovers together; they've not seen each other for 20 years and he's got…
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Darren Kuppan and Danny Ashok in Guards at the Taj at the Bush Theatre. Photo: Marc Brenner. Director Jamie Lloyd has moved on from dark dystopian Philip Ridley plays performed in the basement at Shoreditch Town Hall to something that is arguably even darker but set in 17th century India. Guards at the Taj, at…