Category: Royal Court
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Video transcript: Guess How Much I Love You at the Royal Court Theatre is a new play by Luke Norris. It starts off with a couple having a 20-week scan. The wife is pregnant. And I don’t want to say anything else particularly about the plot, because this was a play that surprised me. It…
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Olivia Darnley, Mimî M Khayisa, Sifiso Mazibuko, Scott Sparrow in A Good House, Royal Court Theatre. Photo: Camilla Greenwell Thought-provoking, challenging and funny in a play is a difficult combination to get right, but the production of Amy Jeptha's play A Good House at the Royal Court Theatre does just that. Bonolo (Mimi M Khayisa)…
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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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L-R Soroosh Lavasani, Ryan Nolan, Lauren Waine in The Bounds. Photo: Von Fox Promotions Stewart Pringle's play The Bounds at the Royal Court Theatre upstairs is set in 1553. It's the day of a much-anticipated football game between two rival Northumberland villages. But this isn't football as we now know it; Tudor football is played…
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I haven't read Maggie Nelson's book Bluets, but after watching this stage version adapted by Margaret Perry at the Royal Court Theatre, I don't feel the need to. It's directed by Katie Mitchell, and given the technical/live film treatment I last saw her use in …some trace of her at Soho Theatre, which I really…
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Word-Play, Royal Court Theatre July 2023 l-r Yusra Warsama, Issam Al Ghussain, Kosar Ali, Simon Manyonda, Sirine Saba. Photo Johan Persson Rabiah Hussain's play Word-Play starts with a PR team in crisis mode, having just heard the Prime Minister use a particular word (we don't know what that word is) in a live interview. The…
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Cuckoo, Royal Court Theatre July 2023. L-R Michelle Butterly, Jodie McNee, Sue Jenkins & Emma Harrison. Photo: Manuel Harlan Home is where the heart is for the Merseyside family at the centre of Michael Wynne's play Cuckoo at the Royal Court. Daughters Carmel (Michelle Butterly) and Sarah (Jodie McNee) gravitate towards their mother Doreen's (Sue…
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Kate O'Flynn in All of It, Royal Court, June 2023. Photo: Tristam Kenton In three short plays performed as monologues by Kate O'Flynn, writer Alistair McDowall explores authenticity, the inner vs outer self. Northleigh, 1940, the first play, starts explosively with the poetic story of mythical creatures. But it's all in the head of a…
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Dyllón Burnside and Danny Lee Wynter in BLACK SUPERHERO, Royal Court, March 2023. Photo: Johan Persson "I'm holding out for a hero" is Bonnie Tyler's famous song, and it could be the theme tune for David (Danny Lee Wynter) in BLACK SUPERHERO. He's long held a torch for friend King (Dyllón Burnside), who is playing…
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Alistair McDowall's The Glow at the Royal Court is a play I've had to ponder – a lot – and I still don't have any firm conclusions. The Glow, Royal Court Theatre: Ria Zmitrowicz and Rakie Ayola. Photo Manuel Harlan It is why my immediate thoughts on leaving the theatre were the staging and, in…