Tag Archives: Orange Tree Theatre

Writer: Athol Fugard Director: Matthew Xia Reviewer: Stephen Bates London is seeing a resurgence of interest in Athol Fugard. A week after a revival of the South African writer’s politically-charged play A Lesson from Aloes opened at the Finborough Theatre, here comes Blood Knot, a play originally performed in 1961, seen in a 1987 revised version. Apartheid forms the backdrop ...

Writer: Rose Lewenstein Director: Chelsea Walker Reviewer: Scott Matthewman One of the many downsides to corporate travel is that every hotel room ends up looking much the same as any other. That plays into the literary and design aesthetic of the Orange Tree Theatre’s latest collaboration with English Touring Theatre, which continually flashes forward to a succession of identikit bedrooms. ...

Writer: William Congreve Director: Selina Cadell Reviewer: David Guest Restoration comedies have very much been in vogue this year, with productions at the Donmar,Stratford upon Avon, Chichester and Southwark Playhouse among others. But the scintillating new version of Congreve’s The Double Dealer at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, must be the first to boast socks appeal. Director Selina Cadell shakes the ...

Writer: Martin Crimp Director:  Richard Twyman Reviewer:  Richard Maguire It’s an eerie coincidence that in the same week that Martin Crimp’s play about a female estate agent opens at The Orange Tree, the police announce that they have resumed the search for the body of Suzy Lamplugh, the estate agent who disappeared in 1986.  This news adds another layer of ...

Writer: Jo Clifford Director: Paul Miller Reviewer: Stephen Bates Marrying the styles of restoration comedy and 1950s absurdism, Paul Miller’s revival of Jo Clifford’s Losing Venice is a curious venture that feels out of place and out of time. The play premiered at the 1985 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where, perhaps, it passed as frivolous fun, but, put under harsher scrutiny ...

Writer:  Nina Segal Director:  Evangeline Cullingworth Reviewer:  Richard Maguire The first few minutes of this show are spent in total darkness as we hear the cries of a newborn baby, only broken by rapid breathing as the baby gathers its strength to continue its deafening onslaught. Is the baby in pain, or is it punishing its parents for bringing it ...

Writer: Ella Hickson Director: Dominique Chapman Reviewer: Richard Maguire If the directors taking part in the Directors’ Festival at The Orange Tree are the future of theatre, then we can expect some exciting times ahead. In the hands of Dominique Chapman, Precious Little Talent, a fast, fast-talking comedy about transatlantic relations, shines as bright as New York’s Chrysler Building.  On a rooftop in the city that never sleeps, 19-year-old Sam meets, improbably, an ...

Writer: Luke Barnes Director: Samson Hawkins Reviewer: Richard Maguire If only all new directors had the energetic vision of Samson Hawkins. He directs Luke Barnes’ new play, Katie Johnstone, as if it were an Olympic sport. His actors are athletes in this precise, tight production. And despite all the mess on stage, it’s as clean as a referee’s whistle.  Katie Johnstone is part of the Directors’ Festival running at the ...