Rev Stan's Theatre Blog
London theatre reviews and interviews
Category: Theatre thoughts
-
London has an abundance of pub theatres, and the Old Red Lion in Islington is one of my favourites. The space is tiny—pew-like seating on two sides of the tea-tray sized stage. If you sit on the front row, you are in constant fear of tripping an actor because they are so close. And that…
-
Theatre-land is a mixture of new plays and revivals, but there are certain classics which regularly get staged – which have you seen the most? Is there a particular reason why you've seen one play more than any others? The hands-down winner for me is Hamlet. I think I've seen 17 or more different productions,…
-
I don't want to turn this lockdown theatre walks series into Ben Whishaw stories, but I do have a Ben Whishaw story connected to Hampstead Theatre, but I'll come onto that. Hampstead Theatre Jan 2021 Normally I'd get the tube to Hampstead as the Santander Cycle docks don't stretch that far but having the time,…
-
Headed into town for my weekend lockdown exercise and visited the Soho Theatre – we go back a long way, to pre-blog days and pre-fame days for two notable names. Soho Theatre in January 2021 It was at the Soho Theatre I first saw Ben Whishaw on stage. He'd just come to my notice in…
-
I should have thought of this back in March but better late than never… I've started using my lockdown weekend walks (or cycles) to visit some of my favourite London theatres. White Bear Theatre, Kennington in lockdown Jan 2021 The off-the-top-of-my-head list I drew up has 18 non-West End theatres (well not the big West…
-
The Guardian has published this great collection of photos of famous actors in early stage roles. It's one of the things I love about theatre, watching young actors cut their teeth in small stage roles, blossom into bigger roles and then go on to have success on screen. Photo by Carson Masterson on Unsplash Although…
-
Going from seeing two or more plays a week to nothing was a huge shock. In those early days, I devoured whatever was on offer online, whatever was free, some paid stuff and I took free trials on some of the streaming services to see what they had. Photo by Claire P on Unsplash But…
-
I've been waiting for Cultural Capital to publish her thoughts about how the National Theatre saved lockdown and what it means for future audience relations. We've discussed it a couple of times in recent weeks, having both noticed a change in the relationship between theatres and their audiences. Photo by Brandan Keller on Unsplash…
-
Humour is personal, what one person finds hilarious might fall flat for someone else. And it is really difficult to get right, comic timing is a great skill. Now I love dark comedy, the uncomfortable laugh that makes you think but I'm also partial to the silliness of a good farce. Here are my favourite…
-
Anyone else wondering why the Old Vic has decided to sell tickets for the live-streamed performances of Lungs in the way it has? And by that, I mean pricing tickets and limiting the numbers as if people are actually coming to watch it in the theatre. You don't get a better seat…