Tag Archives: Northampton

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: John Haidar Reviewer: James Garrington All too often productions which label themselves “innovative” and “revelatory” turn out to be anything but that – simply a recycling of old ideas with a relatively minor tweak here and there. While, as they say, there’s nothing new in theatre, this production of Richard III by Headlong could certainly never be ...

Writer: Mike Poulton, based on the play by Henrik Ibsen Director: Lucy Bailey Reviewer: Katy Roberts When it was first published in 1882, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts caused immediate controversy and attracted fierce condemnation from critics and the public alike. Now staged in the Royal and Derngate’s intimate Royal Theatre as part of their 2019 Made in Northampton season, this new ...

Writers: Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, based on the book by Paula Hawkins Director: Anthony Banks Reviewer: James Garrington Rachel Watson’s life is a mess. Divorced, she’s living surrounded by rubbish, a large number of empty bottles, and blank periods in her memory. She longs for a different life – a life of love and happy-ever-after, of a partner and ...

Writer: Barney Norris, from the book by Kazuo Ishiguro Director: Christopher Haydon Reviewer: James Garrington The Remains of the Day is, without doubt, an extraordinary piece of theatre. This world premiere production is based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpiece, and it is done extremely well. Like the book, it contains a great many themes and strands, sometimes interwoven and sometimes standing alone and ...

Writer: Katori Hall Director: James Dacre Reviewer: James Garrington Kibeho, a small village in Rwanda, 1981. This is a quiet backwater, a place where nothing really ever happens. Then a schoolgirl, Alphonsine Mumureke, claims that she’s seen a vision of the Blessed Virgin. She is ridiculed and scolded by her friends and teachers – but then a second student says ...

Writer: Dan Gordon Director: Jonathan O’Boyle Reviewer: James Garrington Many people will remember the 1988 movie Rain Man with affection – starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, the film won several Academy Awards and has entered into popular culture as one of the classics. The film has now made its way onto the stage, thanks to the Classic Screen To Stage ...

Writer: David Greig, from the book by Joe Simpson Director: Tom Morris Reviewer: James Garrington What do you do when you’re faced with a decision between life and death? Would you condemn your friend to almost certain death, or hold on to the limit of your endurance even though that would probably result in you both dying? Touching the Void ...

Writer: Bryony Lavery from the book by Alice Sebold Director: Melly Still Reviewer: Nicole Craft Susie Salmon, 14, Pennsylvania, is dead. Having been violently raped and murdered by a neighbour, she is faced with the choice of crossing over into ‘her’ heaven or remaining in an in-between world where she can see the life she leaves behind. An amusingly stroppy ...