If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet

There’s a lot going on here and a fair number of themes converge – school bullying, teenage crushes, sexual awakening, parental neglect, rejection in love…….and climate change! Having said that, I was captivated for it’s 100 minutes uninterrupted running time.
There are a lot of comparatively short scenes which make for a fast-paced ride but with strong development of both [...]

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They Come At Night

Theatre company Slung Low gave us one of last year’s surprise treats – Helium - in the Barbican Centre’s Pit Theatre. Now they’re in the Barbican car park (!) with a drive / walk-through piece about vampires.
It starts with a briefing for a ‘replacement’ night city tour; you’re given a head torch and a light and taken to a [...]

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Zombie Prom

Back to the Landor for another off-the-wall musical; this one a UK premiere by Dempsey & Rowe (Witches of Eastwick and the Fix) in the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ mould, with a B-movie feel and both tongues firmly in its cheeks.
Set in a 50’s US high school, a pupil courts disater at the local nuclear plant [...]

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Mrs Klein

I saw this play on its first outing c.20 years ago and my recollection is one of deep satisfaction, so I’m not entirely sure why on this occasion I left the theatre somewhat unsatisfied…..
This is the story of the (almost) famous psychoanalyst and her relationship with her daughter, also a psychoanalyst,  at the time of [...]

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Money

An extraordinary ’set’ in search of a play!
Shunt have put on some amazing events in strange places (they have a penchant for being underneath railway arches). Here they are in a dis-used factory / warehouse near London Bridge.
After waiting amongst helmeted security guards listening to an intimidating soundscape and watching incomprehensible videos, an audience of c. [...]

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The Power of Yes

David Hare attempts to help us understand the credit crunch by staging 110 minutes of interviews with those that should know, from a 20-something Bosnian economics teacher through the head and former head of the FSA to George Soros and by-and-large he succeeds.
It isn’t as sexy as Enron’s similar single issue story, and does occasionally [...]

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Life Is A Dream

I can’t make up my mind whether this 400-year old play is preposterous, ahead of its time or very clever.
It’s the tale of a king who imprisons his child and heir (without telling his subjects) as he has had a premonition that he will bring disaster to his country. When he has grown up, he [...]

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Into the Woods

I refuse to believe its 15 years since I saw this show at the same theatre. This revival betters the earlier one, largely because director Robert McWhir has assembled a superb cast (taking the narrator role himself, and making a very good fist of it, at the performance I attended). It’s amongst the best sung [...]

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Annie Get Your Gun

Oh dear, when will designers have more consideration for their audience? It’s happened a few times at the National’s Lyttleton and now at the Young Vic Ultz has designed in bad sightlines for so many people; it’s hard to comment on this revival objectively.
It’s an inventive tongue-in-cheek production and I particularly loved the four piano [...]

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Speaking in Tongues

I very much enjoyed Australian playwright Andrew Bovell’s epic ‘When The Rain Stops Falling’ at the Almeida earlier in the year. This one is just as original and intriguing but less satisfying.
Again, it’s the structure which impresses. With nine characters played by four actors, it unfolds like a mystery. The first two scenes have the [...]

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