Lydia Poole as Elizabeth Taylor and Ken McConnell as Richard Burton Dhanil Ali’s witty and observant two-hander about Hollywood legends Elizabeth Taylor (Lydia Poole) and Richard Burton (Ken McConnell) is introduced as a fairytale. A prince and princess who have a doomed love affair. Most will know at least something about these two stars of…

Public understudy performances (PUP’s) are a rare treat. Most understudy runs are for invited friends and family only but the RSC opens their doors to the public in Stratford and now in London too, while in residence at the Barbican with Henry IV. For those on a tight budget they are of course a cheap…

There was something immediately familiar about the set for the Orange Tree Theatre’s production of Bernard Shaw’s Widowers’ Houses. The stage and circle balconies are decorated with sections of Charles Booth’s London Map of Poverty from the 1870’s, a map in which Booth undertook a survey and colour coded London’s streets based on the level…

It is the tale of a group of Russian solidiers stripped naked and left locked up in the curing room of an old monastry in Poland during the final throws of the Second World War. They are there for weeks. Their nakedness is an impracticality – they are always cold – rather than a social…

Richard Marsh and Jerome Wright photo by Robert Workman Last week I saw two different pieces by writer/performers who used poetry. I had some questions about the plays and their style which I got a chance to ask. Yesterday I published Andrew Maddock's answers about The Me Plays and today it is Richard Marsh's turn whose…

Andrew Maddock in The Me Plays, photo by Hannah Ellis Andrew Maddock is currently performing his self-penned The Me Plays at the Old Red Lion Theatre. It is part prose part poetry and draws on personal experience. I put five questions to him and he kindly answered: 1. Describe your play in a Tweet (140…

Sharon Maughan and Henry Everett Neil LaBute has knack for highlighting the more dislikeable and sometimes downright sinister side of human nature and in Autobahn – making its London premiere – we are treated to seven short plays to make the point. Each 'playlet' is set in a car, sometimes parked, sometimes on a journey…

My summer recess from theatre ends tonight. A whole week without seeing anything but not only am I back in the theatre saddle (Little Revolution at the Almeida) but I'm also back with an updated banner for the blog. It's something I've been planning for a while as I've seen so many fabulous plays since…

It's the Australia and New Zealand festival of literature and arts here in London and Ben was on a panel this morning discussing art and spirituality among other things. It was led by Australian artist and writer Juliet Darling whose partner, art curator Nick Waterlow, was murdered along with his daughter by his mentally ill…

I'm only sorry I'm not going to see them perform but you have to hand it these four chaps who are touring around the country on bicycles performing A Comedy of Errors and Macbeth (pictured below l-r Callum Brodie, Tom Dixon, Paul Moss & Callum Cheatle). The Handlebards will cover 2,000 miles perform at nearly…