Tag Archives: James Cotterill

Writer: William Shakespeare  Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Jay Nuttall Brevity may be the soul of wit but brevity was certainly not on William Shakespeare's agenda when he wrote the Danish classic. It is easy not to appreciate, when seeing a production every few years, the mammoth task a director, lead actor and whole company undertake when committing to stage the ...

Writer: David Greig Director: Dan Sherer Reviewer: Michael Gray First seen in 2013, and inspired at least in part by the Anders Breivik massacre of the year before, David Greig's powerful piece has been revived many times since. Dan Sherer's production in the Mercury Studio is intensely visceral, its impact enhanced by the intimacy of the staging. James Cotterill's set ...

Writer:  Alistair Beaton Director: Richard Wilson Reviewer: Bill Avenell   It is perhaps risky to put on a play about fracking, nimbyism, corruption in politics and big business in the heart of deepest Surrey, but the first thing to say about last night’s production at Guildford is that the audience seems to lap it up. There is a buzz in ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: David Thacker Reviewer: May Mellstrom Former Artistic Director David Thacker returns to the Octagon to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a new production of The Winter's Tale, one of his latest and most unusual plays. Difficult to categorise, The Winter's Tale is both tragedy and comedy and features a host of narrative conventions ...

Writer:Mikhail Durnekov Translator:Noah Birksted-Breen Director:Michael Fentiman Reviewer: Joan Phillips   The War Has Not Yet Started is a composite of 12 short stories reflecting some of the very human anxieties of today’s troubled world. Written by Mikhail Durnenkov and translated from the original Russian by Noah Birksted-Breen, this 80-minute play bleakly captures some of society’s deepest, sometimes hidden, and often ...

Writer: Sandi Toksvig Director: Dan Sherer Reviewer: Michael Gray   What is the dramatist to say about war ? From Shakespeare to R C Sherriff, playwrights have tried to convey the reality of combat. In our own lifetime, pieces like Not About Heroes and Our Boys have looked at the psychological aftermath of conflict. Sandi Toksvig's powerful play, first seen ...

Writer: Henrik Ibsen Adaptor: Arthur Miller Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Jim Gillespie   This production by the Octagon, in conjunction with the local University, is part of a wider celebration of the centenary of Arthur Miller’s birth on 17 October 1915. It also carries a personal resonance for Bolton Octagon Director David Thacker, who worked with Miller on his adaptation ...

Writer: Les Smith Director:David Thacker Reviewer: Dave Cunningham Early One Morning, written by Les Smith, is a companion piece toJourney’s Endthat opened the current season at The Octagon. The plays share a common theme of the atrocity of World War 1 and feature many of the same cast members. Smith’s play, being less familiar than the classic, has a freshness ...