Tag Archives: The HOUSE

Writer: Rona Munro from the book by Louis de Bernières Director: Melly Still Reviewer: James Garrington There are always huge challenges involved in adapting a well-known book for the stage. How faithful can or should it be to the original, how easily can we portray inner thoughts, how can we deal with characters ageing? With Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the team has ...

Writer: Ursula Rani Sarma from the book by Khaled Hosseini Director: Roxana Silbert Reviewer: James Garrington For the many fans of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, there is a lot here that will be familiar, but there’s also a lot that’s been changed, and not always for the better. Of course, adapting a big novel for the stage will inevitably bring many ...

Writer: Evan Placey, based on the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson Director: Tessa Walker Reviewer: Selwyn Knight We all feel we already know the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde after countless adaptations of its central story – had the word been coined in 1886, one might even have described it as an early meme. But one feature of ...

Writer: Alexis Michalik, translated by Jeremy Sams Director: Roxana Silbert Reviewer: Dave Smith Most people know the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, probably the most celebrated play in the French language. Written in rhyming couplets, it’s about how the physically unappealing Cyrano (he has a very big nose) helps a friend’s love life by writing his romantic letters for him, ...

Reviewer: Sam Lowe The lights come up on Switch Manchester. They are a young company of creatives made up of actors, writers, directors, designers, you name it… who present two plays tonight. Their intention is to foster the development of a variety of young talent (aged 17-29) which Manchester has to offer. What an amazing opportunity. An opening to create ...

Writer: Joe Penhall Director: Daniel Bailey Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Christopher is excited – like a toddler overdosed on sugar, he can’t keep still, his joy in the world is palpable. The reason for his delight? After 28 days of being forcibly sectioned, he’s due for release into the community. He’s suffering from a variation of Borderline Personality Disorder, and all ...

Music and Lyrics: Howard Blake Choreographer: Robert North Director: Bill Alexander Reviewer: Selwyn Knight 2018, was positively awash with anniversaries relating to The Snowman: Raymond Briggs' book was first published in 1978, 40 years ago, and Birmingham REP’s first stage production inspired by the book and animated film of 1982, was first seen in 1993, 25 years ago. And, as the ...

Writer: L. Frank Baum Music and Lyrics: Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg Director: Liam Steel Reviewer: Selwyn Knight The REP describes this production as a ‘bold yet faithful reimagining’ of the world created by L Frank Baum and forever cemented in our heads by the iconic MGM film. And the blurb does not lie – the story and the songs ...