Writer: Simon Reade after Arthur Conan Doyle Director: David Grindley Reviewer: Dave Cunningham Sherlock Holmes has been revived and re-imagined so many times finding a new twist must be a challenge. For Sherlock Holmes – The Final Curtain writer Simon Reade steps outside fiction to take inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle’s real-life belief in spiritualism. However, bearing in mind the very flat ...
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Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain – New Theatre, Cardiff
Play by Simon Reade, after Arthur Conan Doyle Director: David Grindley Reviewer: Barbara Michaels This new production from the estimable Theatre Royal Bath brings together two experienced actors who have performed together many times over the years: Robert Powell, who, at the age of 74 is still remembered for his iconic portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth in the 1977 Franco ...
Read More »Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain – Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Writer: Simon Reade Director: David Grindley Reviewer: Dave Smith Sherlock Holmes apparently holds the Guinness World Record for the most portrayed literary human character on film and television. He may not be such a regular on stage but, nonetheless, you still have a lot of preconceptions and iconic portrayals to deal with, especially if you’re trying to do something new ...
Read More »Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh
Writer: Simon Reade Director: David Grindley Reviewer: Gareth Davies If restless spirits are detected around Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre this week, they could reasonably be ascribed to the tormented soul of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gyrating in his grave in horror at this latest incarnation of his literary creation. Taking Doyle’s famous infatuation was spiritualism towards the end of his life ...
Read More »Pride and Prejudice – Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Book: Jane Austen Stage Adaptation: Simon Reade Director: Deborah Bruce Reviewer: Barbara Michaels Dashing young men and their lady loves are a feature of Jane Austen’s novels – Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy from the TV mini-series of Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice, set in the Regency era in which she lived, is still remembered by many. Simon Reade’s ...
Read More »Pride and Prejudice – The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
Writer: Jane Austen Adaptor: Simon Reade Director: Deborah Bruce Reviewer: Dan English Jane Austen’s famous novel comes to life once more in this new production of Pride and Prejudice as the love story continues its UK tour. Matthew Kelly and Felicity Montagu are the Bennets as Deborah Bruce’s production unravels the tribulations of their search for successful suitors to ...
Read More »Pride and Prejudice – Theatre Royal, Bath
Writer: Jane Austen Adaptor: Simon Reade Director: Deborah Bruce Reviewer: Claire Hayes Regent’s Park Theatre’s revival of its 2013 open-air Pride and Prejudice comes to the Theatre Royal in Bath, following in the literary footsteps of its previous productions To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies. In a city that claims Jane Austen as one of its own ...
Read More »A Room With A View – Chichester Festival Theatre
Writer: E.M. Forster Adaptor: Simon Reade Director: Adrian Noble Reviewer: Bill Avenell It must be a bit of a challenge to turn a full-length novel into a two-hour play, but Simon Reade does a very reasonable job in this adaptation for the stage of E.M. Forster’s famous work. Social and political upheaval in Edwardian England is remarkably topical in the ...
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