Tag Archives: Birmingham REP

Writer: Ursula Rani Sarma from the book by Khaled Hosseini Director: Roxana Silbert Reviewer: James Garrington For the many fans of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, there is a lot here that will be familiar, but there’s also a lot that’s been changed, and not always for the better. Of course, adapting a big novel for the stage will inevitably bring many ...

Writer: Evan Placey, based on the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson Director: Tessa Walker Reviewer: Selwyn Knight We all feel we already know the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde after countless adaptations of its central story – had the word been coined in 1886, one might even have described it as an early meme. But one feature of ...

Writer: Alexis Michalik, translated by Jeremy Sams Director: Roxana Silbert Reviewer: Dave Smith Most people know the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, probably the most celebrated play in the French language. Written in rhyming couplets, it’s about how the physically unappealing Cyrano (he has a very big nose) helps a friend’s love life by writing his romantic letters for him, ...

Writer: James Kettle Directors: Didi Hopkins and Selina Cadell Reviewer: Selwyn Knight When one thinks of David Tomlinson, one probably thinks of Mr Banks in Mary Poppins, for Tomlinson by then had already carved his niche playing, as he described them, ‘my dim-witted upper-class twit performances’. And when one hears that there’s to be a play celebrating the life of ...

Writer: Joe Penhall Director: Daniel Bailey Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Christopher is excited – like a toddler overdosed on sugar, he can’t keep still, his joy in the world is palpable. The reason for his delight? After 28 days of being forcibly sectioned, he’s due for release into the community. He’s suffering from a variation of Borderline Personality Disorder, and all ...

Music and Lyrics: Howard Blake Choreographer: Robert North Director: Bill Alexander Reviewer: Selwyn Knight 2018, was positively awash with anniversaries relating to The Snowman: Raymond Briggs' book was first published in 1978, 40 years ago, and Birmingham REP’s first stage production inspired by the book and animated film of 1982, was first seen in 1993, 25 years ago. And, as the ...

Writer: L. Frank Baum Music and Lyrics: Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg Director: Liam Steel Reviewer: Selwyn Knight The REP describes this production as a ‘bold yet faithful reimagining’ of the world created by L Frank Baum and forever cemented in our heads by the iconic MGM film. And the blurb does not lie – the story and the songs ...

Writers: Pete Brooks and Andrew Quick, from the book by Joseph Conrad Directors: Pete Brooks and Andrew Quick Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Written in 1899, Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, is often regarded as one of the great stories of the twentieth century. It is an attack on colonialism and empire, in which we follow our protagonist, Company man Charles Marlow, ...