Tag Archives: Naomi Dawson

Writer: Robert Alan Evans Director: Lucy Morrision Reviewer: Nina Reece A cabin in the woods is the setting for a play in which a mother cares for her only son. Or is it? As Robert Alan Evans’s ‘Woman’, Lesley Sharp gives yet another outstanding performance. The clarity she brings to a role that swerves from cabin-bound witch to guilt-racked Deep ...

Writer: John Webster Director: Maria Aberg Reviewer: Katy Roberts Maria Aberg returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) with an arresting and timely production of John Webster’s revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi. Masculinity and madness loom large throughout, and Aberg’s clever direction and Naomi Dawson’s powerful staging bring the issue of toxic masculinity front and centre with devastating consequences ...

Writer: Aldous Huxley Adaptor: Dawn King Director: James Dacre Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Imagine a world in which everyone is happy all the time under the benevolent eye of the State. Sounds Utopian, yes? But what if all that were achieved by genetically modifying and conditioning citizens to fit in, if strong emotions were banned because of their impact, if everyone ...

Writer: Aldous Huxley Adaptation: Dawn King Director: James Dacre Reviewer: Dominic Corr It should, perhaps, worry some that a piece of satirical literature from the 1930’s manages to maintain its place as satire, but also draw legitimate parallels with our own 21st century lifestyles. Humorous references to monogamy and over-indulgence may still reverberate, but the production's revitalised treatment for the ...

Writer: Maxine Peake Director: Rebecca Gatward Designer: Naomi Dawson Reviewer: Ron Simpson Maxine Peake’s play, Beryl, about the Morley-based cyclist Beryl Burton who dominated women’s cycling for more than two decades, was commissioned by West Yorkshire Playhouse to coincide with last year’s Tour de France. Such was its impact that it returned to the Playhouse with a different cast this ...

Writer: Aldous Huxley Adaptor: Dawn King Director: James Dacre Reviewer: Natasha Hegarty Set in a dystopian future where embryos are factory farmed and their futures built on science, Brave New World is a force of a play. Based on the 1931 novel by Aldous Huxley, it opens with a lecture with the head of the organisation talking the audience through ...

Writer: Roy Williams Director: Maria Aberg Reviewer: Maryam Philpott   What is the rôle of the police today; are they an aspiration for good citizenry, a warning to those who perpetrate crime or a symbol of law and order? Public servants or thugs in uniform? Given greater media scrutiny seemingly intent on highlighting police failings, and increased pressures on city ...

Writer: John Webster Director: Maria Aberg Reviewer: Katy Roberts The Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre has, for the purposes of its Roaring Girl season, once again become a home for performances of Shakespeare's contemporaries with a series of lesser-known Jacobean plays, each with fiercely exciting and intriguing rôles for women. Rounding out the season is Maria Aberg's production of The ...