Rev Stan's Theatre Blog
London theatre reviews and interviews
Category: Outside London
-
* I'm excited and nervous about the forthcoming stage adaptation of Patrick Ness’s novel A Monster Calls (the book is a favourite) but I couldn’t think of a better actor than Matthew Tennyson to take on the lead Conor. The production will have a run at the Bristol Old Vic from May 31 and the…
-
There was one of those audible audience reaction moments during Desire Under The Elms. I'm not talking about laughter, I'm talking about a sharp intake of breath, even a few 'oh's' around the auditorium. I haven't seen many Eugene O'Neill plays but all those I've seen seem to expose the pure, often blind, power of…
-
This is my first Salome and my first Salome had a man – Matthew Tennyson – playing the titular character. The decision does raise the question of why give over lead female part to a man – it's not like there are a plethora of meaty lead roles for woman. Having not seen a woman…
-
I'm sat on the front row at the Sheffield Crucible watching Jack O'Connell play snooker. Is this actually happening? I've been a huge Jack O'Connell fan since seeing him in indie films Starred Up* and 71 and have really wanted to see him on stage. So there is that. Then there is the snooker. Long…
-
Paines Plough's production of The Angry Brigade, photo by Richard Davenport Harry Melling's police chief is vigorously swirling a biscuit in his cup of tea. It is small act of rebellion from a man who's wife, he tells his colleague, doesn't like him 'dunking' and marks one end of the spectrum of rebellion that is…
-
Katie West and Maxine Peake in rehearsals for Hamlet at the Royal Exchange This production will be remembered not just for Maxine Peake's superb youthful take on the Dane but for being the first Hamlet I've seen to really feel like a family drama. There are few servants and no Fortinbras and the threat of…
-
Rachael Stirling and John Hollingworth in Mike Bartlett's An Intervention It must be a rarity to see two new plays by the same writer within the space of 10 days. Mike Bartlett has been busy. An Intervention is a co-production with Watford Palace Theatre and Paines Plough and sees Bartlett return to more simple story-telling…
-
Piers Wehner as Septimus in Arcadia, Bristol Tobacco Factory Tom Stoppard's Arcadia is one of @polyg's favourites, she particularly likes the maths and science in it. Unfortunately for me that is what turns me off. Maths was horrible for me at school and my ignorance on the subject means that chunks of the play just…
-
Katie West and Andrew Sheridan in Blindsided. Photo by Kevin Cummins Simon Stephen's writes specifically for the space at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, something I missed in seeing Port at the Lyttleton theatre just over a year ago. The Royal Exchange, if you haven't been, is theatre in the round – a type of…
-
The Robinson's have a nice house and a comfortable life in suburban Kingston, the fruit of years growing the family's drug dealing business. Dad Gavin (Keith Allen) has retired leaving son Sean (Harry Melling) to run things. Mum Cath (Denise Welch) has a little florist shop which is used to launder the drugs money. Eldest…