Tag Archives: John Hodgkinson

Writer: Thomas Otway Director: Prasanna Puwanarajah Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Political unrest, anarchy, rebellion and corruption meet futuristic ‘80’s cyberpunk in this dystopian re-imagining of Thomas Otway’s restoration thriller. First staged in 1682, this tragedy of disillusionment,unfulfilled expectations and distrust of the establishment yields eerie parallels with today’s political climate and the appetite for a change to the status quo. Set ...

Writer: John Vanbrugh Director: Phillip Breen Reviewer: James Garrington Lady Brute is bored. She married in haste and her husband has turned out to be a tedious drunk who’d rather spend time with his friends than with her. So, helped by her niece Bellinda, she decides to spice up her love life by having a dalliance with a younger man ...

Writer: William Wycherley Director: Jonathan Munby Reviewer: David Guest Restoration comedies are enjoying something of a renaissance, with a recent in-period The Way of the World at the Donmar and The Country Wife at Southwark Playhouse transposed to the Roaring Twenties showing the timelessness of rants against seduction, deception and excesses. At Chichester’s Minerva Theatre Wycherley’s sparkling 1675 comedy of manners ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Christopher Luscombe Reviewer: Karl O'Doherty It’s sometimes a little difficult to remember Shakespeare’s romantic comedies for things other than the wordplay, ridiculous situations and farce. This production has those three key elements for sure. However, it also brilliantly brings out the darkness and menace inherent in the chronicle of betrayal that is Much Ado About Nothing ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Christopher Luscombe Reviewer: Karl O'Doherty Coming in hot from the Chichester Theatre Festival this vivacious version of one of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies is sure to be a welcome transplant to the capital. Forming part of a double with its potential sequel (debate rages on) Much Ado About Nothing with the same cast, director, designer and also ...

Writer: Austin Pendleton Director: Alice Hamilton Reviewer: Karl O'Doherty   Forget for a moment that you know, as a very knowledgeable theatre-goer, that the three people in question here are some of the most important names in performing arts of the 20th century (arguments in the comments section please). Come to this as a naïf expecting a play about a ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Christopher Luscombe Reviewer: Anna Ambelez Reality versus fantasy, love, desire, reckoning and rationalization. These are themes in Love’s Labour’s Lost. Ferdinand King of Navarre (Sam Alexander) and his three companions, Berowne (Edward Bennett), Dumaine (Tunji Kasim) and Longaville (William Belchambers) vow to forsake the company of women for three years in order to study and fast. ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Christopher Luscombe Reviewer: James Garrington Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Gregory Doran. tells us in the programme notes that he has long held the opinion that Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing belong together. At the end of Love’s Labour’s Lost two of the lovers, Berowne and Rosaline, are unable to be ...