Rev Stan's Theatre Blog
London theatre reviews and interviews
Category: Off West End
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Victoria Smurfit and Callum Scott Howells in Ghosts, Lyric Hammersmith. Photo: Helen Murray Gary Owen's new version of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts gives the play a contemporary setting, in a rural west country seaside location where low cloud ironically blocks the view from the large panoramic windows of Helena Alving's (Victoria Smurfit) minimalist lounge. Story details…
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Video transcript: I’m going to have to plead ignorance because when I booked to see The Little Foxes at the Young Vic, or rather, when my friend booked for us, I hadn’t heard the play. I didn’t know it was an American classic. I knew nothing about it, but that meant I went into it…
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When someone plays not just many characters but all the characters in a classic play as Eddie Izzard does here for Hamlet, I have two key questions: How will they do it and why, i.e. what will it add? When I saw Andrew Scott's one-man Vanya, while a technically brilliant performance, it didn't add to…
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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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I can now say I've seen Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio on stage. OK, so they were on telly on stage, but that is technically on stage. Kate and Leo were in Titanic mode, the favourite film of the son in Who Killed My Father. Who Killed My Father, Young Vic, Sep 2022 His…
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The Lyric Hammersmith's circle was steaming hot, but can the same be said about Closer, Patrick Marber's play about love, lust and lies? Closer, Lyric Hammersmith July 2022 Two men and two women form a love 'quadrangle': Dan (Jack Farthing) is an obituary writer, Anna is a photographer (Nina Toussaint-White), Larry (Sam Troughton) is a…
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At its heart, Britannicus at the Lyric Hammersmith is a drama about a toxic family who happens to be the ruling class. Agrippina (Sirine Saba), Claudius' fourth wife, persuaded her husband to adopt her son Nero (William Robinson) and make him his heir, passing over Britannicus (Nathaniel Curtis), his son by his third wife. Nero…
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The last 24 months have been pandemonium, writes Aceil Haddad, events have been dramatic and satirical. Coupled with the ludicrous nature of social media, you’d think you'd have plenty to script. Except it doesn't quite work in Mike Bartlett's play Scandaltown. This adult-pantomime-meets-Blackadder approach does muster a handful of laughs, though more interesting is seeing…
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The stage at Hampstead Theatre is part set, backstage equipment and lighting rigs. Zubin Varla's Felice is trying to prep the area for a performance, after which he practices a few lines from a play he's writing, delivering them to a camera on the stage, the image projected onto the back wall. The Two Character…