Phillip Pullman’s Grimm Tales
“Phillip Pullman” is a name to live up to, and this production does so. Beginning in the Christmas Eve bedroom of three children, as their parents conclude a party downstairs,… Read more Phillip Pullman’s Grimm Tales →
Thos
Gilded Butterflies, at the Hope Theatre
Gilded Butterflies is an intimate exercise in confessing everything but one’s sins. The main character, in a superb performance by Francesca McCrohon, is a hyperactive chatterbox confined to a solitary cell on death row, willing to spill out her thoughts to the new resident of the neighbouring cell, or indeed to no-one at all. From an opening soliloquy that could easily be a stand-up comedy performance from an Edinburgh fringe breakout, McCrohon invites us into the eccentric, mis-matched world of Maggie, a death-row inmate in the US who is… Read more Gilded Butterflies, at the Hope Theatre →
The Crossroads Inn, and, The Monkey King and the Leopard, at Sadlers Wells.
Higher, faster, stronger. When we look to understand the limits of human physicality, we look to athletes, and sportsfolk. Few, though, could manage the sustained, precise athleticism of the lead performers in this twin show. The Crossroads Inn contains one of the most famous scenes in the genre of Peking Opera. It begins with a gentle mime in which a warrior, staying for the night in the titular inn, blows out their last candle and, in pitch darkness, finds their way to bed. Soon, an assassin enters the room, intent… Read more The Crossroads Inn, and, The Monkey King and the Leopard, at Sadlers Wells. →
The Emperor and the Concubine, Sadlers Wells
It can be hard, sometimes, to take the distant past seriously, and the stylised flamboyance of the Peking Opera might seem an odd place to try, but the message here… Read more The Emperor and the Concubine, Sadlers Wells →
The Distance You Have Come, Cockpit Theatre
This song-cycle shows us the downs and ups of being young and on the look out for love in London, but has little new to say. Drawn from eight albums-worth… Read more The Distance You Have Come, Cockpit Theatre →
The Wider Earth, Natural History Museum
“Small details, carefully recorded” is the instruction a beloved tutor gives to the young Charles Darwin early in this play, and just as Darwin eventually produces something transcendent from this… Read more The Wider Earth, Natural History Museum →
