Drama

Director: Thea Sharrock Choreographer: Karen Bruce Reviewer: Helen Tope A hit film with a killer soundtrack, The Bodyguard tells the story of superstar Rachel Marron. After receiving threatening letters from a stalker, Marron’s management hires the best protection in the business. Frank Farmer is a former Secret Service agent. Not impressed by Marron’s diva attitude, the new bodyguard tries to ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Directors: Ben Horslen and John Risebero Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Macbethis such a difficult play to get right and with so many elements to marshal, the overall effect can often drain the play of its dramatic energy. Macbethis an intensely psychological play, one that must chart the non-linear progress of the anti-hero while considering the agency of the ...

Writer/Director: Antonia Georgieva Reviewer: Scott Matthewman The relationship between an artist and his muse – always “his” muse, the power dynamic historically being a very gendered one – was in the 20thcentury nowhere more apparent than with Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar. Maar’s relationship with the painter spanned over a decade, and overlapped with some of Picasso’s other lovers. A ...

Writer: Eugene O’Hare Director: Alice Hamilton Reviewer: Stephen Bates In the first of his two plays receiving their world premieres at the Park Theatre this year, Eugene O’Hare turns to a retro style of black comedy in order to explore deeply disturbing modern themes. At first glance, The Weatherman appears to be an undisguised homage to Harold Pinter’s 1960 play, ...

Original Screenplay: Betty Comden and Adolph Green Songs: Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed Director: Pollyann Tanner Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Arthur Freed couldn’t have known what he was unleashing when he had the idea of a film musical using the back catalogue of songs he wrote with Nacio Herb Brown. The film Singin’ in the Rain was released in 1952 ...

Based on the book by Thomas Meehan Music: Charles Strouse Lyrics: Martin Charnin Director: Nikolai Foster Choreographer: Nick Winston. Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Based on the popular comic strip Little Orphan Annie, the original Broadway production of Annie the musical, back in the Seventies, was an outstanding success, running for six years.  Not surprising, really – the rags to riches story ...

Writer: Henry Filloux-Bennett Director & Choreographer: Jonnie Riordan Reviewer: Jay Nuttall Add a dollop of nostalgia, a tablespoon of heartbreak, two teaspoons of warmth and a sprinkle of darkness and TV chef and broadsheet columnist Nigel Slater’s autobiographical memoir transfers from page to stage. His 2004 work was turned into a film in 2010 and now a stage production is ...

Writer: Eugene O’Neill Reviewer: Dominic Corr Al Pacino, Jason Robards, Forest Whitaker, and now, Phil Nichol, one hell of a listing to have one common trait, what is it you may wonder? They've all performed the role of loveable rogue Erie Smith in Eugene O'Neill’s short, one-act production of Hughie. Set in midtown New York, as a gambler laments the ...