Review: Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre, London)
Please remember: this is a review of a first preview, and should be judged as such.I may be biased, since I saw it in New York and loved it (and have no problem with jukebox musicals if the songs are...
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Singing in the Rain £14God of Soho (forgot!) £5Much Ado £5Beauty Queen £17.50Rattigan's Nijinsky £31Deep Blue Sea £35Betwixt £10Jamie Parker £50One Man Two Guvnors £12Massacre at Paris £8Anna Christie...
View ArticleReview: No Naughty Bits (Hampstead Theatre)
Please take into consideration that this review is of a first preview.Steve Thompson, who wrote the brilliant Roaring Trade, as well as numerous episodes of shows ranging from Sherlock to Silk, returns...
View ArticleRant: What is it about German school groups and Shakespeare's Globe?
Don't get me wrong. I love Shakespeare's Globe. I'm there as much as I remember to, I try and make it to most shows in a season, I enjoy the atmosphere, the night sky and the stark lights, the often...
View ArticleHere's the thing... Much Ado About Nothing with Eve Best and/or Naomi...
The Globe has produced a really lovely production of Much Ado About Nothing. Eve Best is a tremendous Beatrice - thoroughly hilarious, fantastic chemistry with Charles Edwards' Benedick, whose...
View ArticleReview: Taming of the Shrew (Southwark Playhouse
Taming of the Shrew is purportedly one of Shakespeare's comedies. But for a modern sensibility, it's hard to find that many laughs in this misogynistic play - a tale of a woman subdued to her husband...
View ArticleReview: The Last of the Duchess (Hampstead Theatre)
It's been a few days and still I find myself mightily confused by The Last of the Duchess, Nicholas Wright's new play about the last days of Wallis Simpson - well, kind of. It's based on Lady Caroline...
View ArticleReview: Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe)
A touring production of Hamlet which cuts the text down from more than four hours to just two and a half might not sound like the most exciting proposition for a night out, but the Globe’s latest tour...
View ArticleReview: 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre)
'We are not just trying a tyrant, we are inventing a country. We are in an unknown region, floating on nothing, trying to think thoughts never thought before...'55 Days dramatises the trial of Charles...
View Article24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices (Old Vic Theatre)
I've been going to the 24 Hour Plays for three years now, after covering it for work back in 2010. It's become one of the highlights of my theatregoing calendar, not only because it always introduces...
View ArticleReview: Julius Caesar (Donmar Warehouse)
Please be aware that this is a review of a second preview - much can be changed and tweaked during this timeI'll keep this one short and sweet - this is an all-female production of Julius Caesar,...
View ArticleGetting my debut play put on: a theatre n00b speaks
I harbour no illusions about the nature of the writing game, but I am quite excited to say that I'm having a short play put on at Theatre503 next week (Monday, to be exact). It's a ten-minute piece as...
View ArticleGetting my debut play put on: the logistics
This morning I met up with my director and cast for introductions, a chat about the play and a run-through. My director is the lovely Ilinca Radulian, currently on the directors MA at Birkbeck, while...
View ArticleThree Kingdoms: Thoughts
The things I loved about Three Kingdoms, but which will probably remain inexplicable to those who have not seen it: The symbolism of the deer and the wolf heads The Trickster in drag as the prostitute...
View ArticleGetting my debut play put on: quiet times
We've entered the weird period between meeting each other and the play being put on. I no longer have very much to do, apart from dropping in on rehearsals to See How These Things Work (who,, very...
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Getting my debut play put on: rehearsals begin
Yesterday was the first day of rehearsals, which Ilinca spent doing character work with the cast. I popped in and out - I think it's good to be there if they need you, but at the same time, you have to...
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Getting my debut play put on: rehearsals and runthroughs
Well, the weekend pretty much slipped by. Sunday was our runthrough day – Ilinca managed to wangle a little more time at Theatre503, which was much needed, as it turned out! We turned up at 10am on the...
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Getting my debut put on: the final performance (and the low after)
I'm still not quite over Monday night. Maybe I never will be! I went to work as normal on the day, leaving Ilinca to deal with the vagaries of the technical rehearsal, though a chunk of my heart...
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Review: Stage Rights Living Literature Walk, Scary Little Girls (Covent Garden)
A little while ago, actress and erstwhile PhD student Naomi Paxton put on an evening of suffragette plays entitled Knickerbocker Glories at the Union Theatre. Although she had come upon these pieces...
View ArticleReview: The Light Princess (National Theatre)
Please note, this show is still in previews, and should be judged as such, as things will undoubtedly change nightly through the process.Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's The Light Princess is the story...
View ArticleRead: My short play Lost And Found
This is my short play Lost and Found, performed in February 2013 at Theatre503. I have decided to put this up for consumption as I have just had a lovely email saying that my short play Juggernaut,...
View ArticleNot yet a Juggernaut: focusing on the positives
Well, Juggernaut, after getting onto the shortlist from 250 entries, was sadly not chosen to be put on at Little Pieces of Gold. All shortlisted entries were sent to directors, who chose one each to...
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Positive focus works: another play on at Theatre503
So positivity (or luck) has worked, and I've got another play on at Theatre503 this Sunday and Monday (two this time, how exciting!). Last time round, I wrote the piece the night before, in a...
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Swift show feedback
Before I go to sleep (it's very late), I really need to just write down a few thoughts about the last couple of nights. It's been a really wonderful couple of days seeing my fantastic cast and director...
View ArticleJust Say No: the playtext
For those of you with an interest in reading my work, here's the playtext of Just Say No. Obviously little things were different in the performance - that's up to the actors. But I'm more than happy to...
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