Tag Archives: Olivier Theatre

Music, Book and Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell Director: Rachel Chavkin Reviewer: Scott Matthewman There are many stars that have aligned to create Hadestown, a hellishly magnificent new musical based on Anaïs Mitchell’s 2010 concept album which reframes the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in the grand tradition of the music of the American South. Chief among them is Mitchell herself, ...

“National must mean national” Rufus Norris proclaimed at the launch of the 2018-19 season, introducing a programme of activities and initiatives that span not just the National Theatre’s three auditoria – the Lyttelton, the Olivier and the Dorfman – but focus on UK-wide engagement through community-led projects, touring productions and NT Live screenings. With our future cultural output threatened by ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Simon Godwin Reviewer: Stephen Bates Forsaking togas and tiaras in favour of modern military uniforms and designer outfits, director Simon Godwin gives new life to William Shakespeare’s torrid account of a collision between power, politics and passion in the days of the Roman Empire. The age that it can take to perform the full version of ...

Writer: Brian Friel Director: Ian Rickson Reviewer: Scott Matthewman In the latest episode of his podcast Lexicon Valley, linguistics professor John McWhorter considers what it may take for one language to become universal. Dismissing both Mandarin Chinese and Esperanto’s prospects – the former relying too much on intonation of the same vowel sounds to form completely different words, the latter ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Rufus Norris Reviewer: Scott Matthewman If there was such a thing as a National Theatre acting company any more, Rory Kinnear would be at its head through longevity, if nothing else. Macbeth marks his tenth leading role for the South Bank venue. His costar, Anne-Marie Duff, is not far behind, on her ninth. So for this ...

Writer: Peter Shaffer Director: Michael Longhurst Reviewer: Stephen Bates Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of taking residence at its Southbank home, the National Theatre is dipping into the treasure chest that holds its greatest hits to bring out this witty gem, give it a good polish and return it to the Olivier stage where it opened in 1979. The result is ...