Author: The Reviews Hub - Central

Writer:  Hanif Kureishi Director: Nicole Behan Powders is back in business. Following the Curve’s new take on Evita, here we have here we have Nikolai Foster’s 2019 Curve production of My Beautiful Laundrette given the once-over by director Nicole Behan. Behan has made a number of tweaks – this is by no means a recreation of Foster’s production – and what we have as a result is a piece that feels fresh and tight without losing the underlying themes and messages of the original production. Grace Smart’s set design has given us a South London that feels like a scene…

Writer: Glyn Maxwell Director: Helen Eastman New writing is the cornerstone of the future of theatre. Without it, we would soon tire of endless revivals of established classics. Creation Theatre is to be commended for its ongoing commitment to bringing new plays to the stage as well as its innovative modern repertory production model. It is clear from his notes that Glyn Maxwell has had a lifelong attachment to the medieval morality play Everyman that has inspired him to write Boatman Town but his evident passion has not translated into a script that carries the same moral weight of the…

Writer: Danny Robins Directors: Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr Sam and Jenny seem to have it all. As the play opens we see their new home that they are busy renovating. But is all well in the house? While Sam is away on a work trip to Sark, Jenny is woken by strange noises from their infant daughter’s bedroom but can find no obvious cause. This recurs at the same time each morning – 2:22 am – until Sam returns. On his return, they host a dinner party for Sam’s oldest university friend, Lauren, and her new squeeze, Ben, and…

Writer: Michael Frayn Director: Lindsay Posner Playwright Michael Frayn himself talks with some bemusement about the enduring popularity of his farce-within-a-farce Noises Off. Despite having authored such classics as Copenhagen and Benefactors, it is this piece of theatrical insanity that keeps him a wealthy man. First staged in 1982, it is always being performed somewhere (normally Germany), and the royalties keep rolling in. According to Frayn, it is his Mousetrap. But, like The Mousetrap, is it beginning to show its age? After all, the West End into which Noises Off was thrust 42 years ago was replete with the sort of…

Conductor: Michael England Roughly every month, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) takes a break from its usual repertoire to present concerts of more popular music; this time it was the music of Broadway that got the CBSO magic, under the baton of conductor Michael England. In a two-hour concert that tries to do justice to the history and development of the Broadway musical there are bound to be personal favourites missing. Nevertheless, this evening’s programme has been carefully curated with the perhaps predictable – Luck Be A Lady, The Sound of Music, Mr Cellophane – rubbing shoulders with…

Writer: Yann Martel Adaptor: Lolita Chakrabarti Director: Max Webster Life of Pi is an almost flawless production of an unerring, moving story. This captivating story is told beautifully and powerfully by an expert team of performers and technicians. Those who might have interacted with this story before are sure to find something new in this production, and those who haven’t, are sure to be enraptured by Pi Patel’s thrilling tale. Before the show even begins, the audience is greeted by a billowing cloth on which is projected the steady waves of a calm ocean. This sets the precedent for the…

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Eleanor Rhode Eleanor Rhode’s new production of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy explodes onto the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage in a riot of colour and noise, and that’s just the opening seconds. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play well-known for its magical elements – its fairy characters, spells, and illusions – but never has a production seemed to conjure actual magic onstage. The weaving together of video projection (Nina Dunn), lighting (Matt Daw), and stage illusion (John Bulleid) works seamlessly to create moments that have the audience gasping in delight. The decision to have the fairies Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth,…

Writer: Reginald Rose Director: Christopher Haydon Twelve Angry Men is a courtroom drama most famously known from the 1957 film adaptation, directed by Sidney Lumet, and widely regarded as “one of the greatest films ever made”.  Since the film’s release, there have been several stage productions, including a run at London’s Garrick Theatre in 2013-14. Now firmly back in session, the production stops off at Milton Keynes Theatre as part of a UK tour. At first glance, the story of the play is simple: on a blisteringly hot summer day in the New York County Courthouse, a jury of twelve…