Tag Archives: Orange Tree Theatre

Writer: Arinzé Kene Director: Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu Reviewer: Stephen Bates Arinzé Kene’s storytelling, focussing on North London black communities, seems to grow richer with each new work. His self-performed Misty went all the way to the West End and now his latest begins its journey, looking likely to stir things up in sedate Richmond. In the opening scenes of Little Baby ...

Writer: Maya Arad Yasur Translator: Eran Edry Director: Matthew Xia Reviewer: Stephen Bates Amsterdam today remains a city of distinctive architecture and criss-crossing canals, but, in the past, it was also a city of Nazi occupation, collaborators, resistance fighters and Anne Frank. Maya Arad Yasur’s one-act 80-minute play, seen here in a translation by Eran Edry,  seeks to reconcile present ...

Writer:  Josh Azouz Director: Georgia Green Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Of all the directors from St Mary’s University presenting work at the Directors’ Festival at the Orange Tree, Georgia Green’s vision seems brightest, turning the stage into a mikvah, a Jewish bathhouse. Here Jewish people immerse themselves in the water to achieve ritual purity, and here, in Josh Azouz’s play, two ...

Writer: Declan Greene Director: Gianluca Lello Reviewer: Richard Maguire With such a cracking title, it’s comes as a surprise that Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography feels so familiar. Two lonely people find company in each other, and what follows is half romcom, half thriller. Playing as part of the Directors’ Festival at the Orange Tree Theatre, Gianluca Lello has definitely ...

Writer: Tiago Rodrigues Director: Wiebke Green Reviewer: Richard Maguire Fans of The Wizard of Oz may want to stay away from this nasty rework of the iconic film. In Sadness and Joy in the Life of Giraffes, a coming-of-age drama from Portugal, Judy Garland reappears as a foul-mouthed teddy bear, and instead of tin men and cowardly lions our heroine ...

Writer: Elinor Cook Director: Ellie Goodall Reviewer: Richard Maguire Pilgrims is playing as part of the Directors’ Festival where Masters students from St Mary’s University in Twickenham train for a year at the Orange Tree Theatre culminating in an eight-day showcase of four one-hour plays. Ellie Goodall gets to direct Pilgrims, a modern day tale of adventurers and the women ...

Writer: Terence Rattigan Director: Paul Miller Reviewer: Richard Maguire For every cutting-edge play like 2014’s dystopian Pomona, or this year’s smart and queer Out of Water, artistic director Paul Miller throws in a Shaw or a Rattigan to keep the more traditional audience of The Orange Tree Theatre happy. Miller’s productions of rarely performed works by these playwrights are always ...

Writer: Zoe Cooper Director:  Guy Jones Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Zoe Cooper’s last play Jess and Joe Forever was a big hit for The Orange Tree Theatre in 2016, and her new play Out Of Water seems certain to repeat that success. A lyrical examination of gender’s position in evolution and, importantly, the education system, Out Of Water is nothing less than remarkable. Londoner ...