Rev Stan's Theatre Blog
London theatre reviews and interviews
Category: National Theatre
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Video review transcript (lightly edited for grammar): Les Liaisons Dangereuses – I never know how you pronounce that. Dangerous Liaisons at the National Theatre, starring Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville, is superb. I’m just going to come straight out and say it. The chemistry between the two leads is fantastic. There’s a delightful mixture of…
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Video transcript: Summerfolk at the National Theatre is a big play. It’s got a huge cast. It’s also long, nearly three hours, including an interval. It’s been adapted by Nina and Moses Raine. The language has been updated, but the costume and setting are still period. It’s plenty of wit and humour and bubbles of…
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Video transcript and additional thoughts below: “Man and Boy at the National Theatre is a Terrence Rattigan play. It is set in New York during the crash of the 1920s/1930s, and it centres on a father and son. The father, Gregor, played by Ben Daniels, is a millionaire who is trying to save a deal…
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Video review transcript: I confess that I found End at the National Theatre quite an emotional watch, purely because there was a lot that resonated. There’s a lot that was quite close to home. But there’s a lot of humour there as well, and I really appreciated that, particularly as it’s balanced very nicely. It…
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Hamlet video review transcript: Hamlet at the National Theatre has a younger cast to what you’d normally get with Hamlet, and I really like that, because it brings in a different level of energy. It feels very different to other productions I’ve seen recently. Certainly, Hiran Abeysekera, who plays Hamlet, has a lot of energy.…
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Video review transcript: Inter Alia at the National Theatre is the new play by Suzie Miller, who you may know from Prima Facie. She wrote that, and this is a similar legal drama. Rosamund Pike is a judge in this instance, rather than the barrister. And at the start of the play, she has just…
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Video transcript: The Estate at the National Theatre sees Adeel Akhtar play a politician who’s bidding to become the leader of the opposition. But it’s not just a political drama. It’s a family drama because there’s stuff going on in his background that threatens to derail his attempt. And it’s very meaty play, because…
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I managed to pack in more than 70 theatre visits this year and saw some cracking plays. And some that didn't quite ignite. My favourite plays of 2024 (In no particular order – links through to written or video reviews): Oedipus, Wyndhams Theatre (booking until 2 Jan 2025) Laughing Boy, Jermyn Street Theatre Shifters, Duke…
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Video review transcript: I’m going to come right out and say it: I love this production of the National Theatre’s Importance of Being Earnest. It’s a perfect blend of staying faithful to the original, elevating those elements of the original, the wit of Oscar Wilde’s script, while adding contemporary embellishments that just lift it. This…
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The National Theatre has given its new production of Coriolanus an epic feel. The stage has a series of huge concrete-looking columns which rise and fall to create different spaces in and around which the action is set. Ancient artefacts are dotted around, sometimes giving the feel of a modern museum, which is a visual…