190 stories by "Rev Stan"
The Two Character Play at London's Hampstead Theatre was at times interesting and enjoyable and at others frustrating and perplexing.
Last year a critic described a dramatic response to the Black Lives Matter protests, to which Benedict Lombe contributed, as 'more lecture than theatre'. The quote is projected onto the set …
Anna X by Joseph Charlton is a fresh, contemporary play set in New York that explores identity and acceptance in the modern age.
J'Ouvert bursts onto the stage and it is the theatre experience I've been waiting to get back to. Theatre that can pack a powerful punch and do it while at the same time be entertaining.
I really wanted to like Walden, it was my first trip to the theatre since they were last open in early December, but it just didn't deliver the promised tension and drama.
London has an abundance of pub theatres, and the Old Red Lion in Islington is one of my favourites. The space is tiny with pew-like seating on two sides of the tea-tray sized stage.
Travis Alabanza's play Overflow is set in the toilet of a club from where transgirl Rosie (Reece Lyons) has locked herself in.
All By Myself is a production by Part of the Main theatre company for Applecart Arts and it explores identity during the Covid crisis when your only connection to the outside world is via th…
The Young Vic is celebrating its 50th birthday and while I've only been visiting since 2007-ish, I've seen many fantastic and memorable plays there in that time.
Three Kings, beautifully written by Stephen Beresford, gives Andrew Scott even more scope to sprinkle his performance magic. Created especially for the Old Vic's In Camera season, it is desc…
Blindness is adapted by Simon Stephens from a novel by José Saramago and tells the story of an epidemic in which people suddenly go blind.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, hate crime targeted at East and South-East Asians has tripled. We R Not Virus is a series of monologues, films and poetry responding to that.
Head of theatre and artist development at Brixton House (formally Ovalhouse*) Owen Calvert-Lyons talks about life during the lockdown, the post-Covid future for fringe theatre and streaming.
While there might not be quite as many meaty stage roles for actresses as there are actors (is that changing?), the plethora of acting talent I've seen over the past 10 years made this quite…
The idea of re-performing Lungs while the actors safely socially distance got me thinking about other plays which have been performed over the past year or two that could be similarly revive…
You can't beat the experience of sitting in a theatre watching a live performance, but one of the lockdown-positives is a chance to watch stuff I sadly missed and Barber Shop Chronicles is o…
The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown has thrown a whole new light on certain plays, the ones about isolation, loneliness and surreal landscapes.
Not to let a decade of theatre bloggery go by without marking the occasion, to kick things off, I've compiled a list of my favourite play for each year I've been blogging. It has been fun re…
'We' the audience help with sound effects or stand-in for mysterious creatures or provide props but if you don't want to get involved it is easy to 'sit out' and just watch. The interaction …
Creation Theatre this month invited audiences to watch an interactive, virtual version of Shakespeare's The Tempest - from the safety of their sofa.
Last year I was introduced to the BalletBoyz and their show Them/Us moved me to tears. I was looking forward to their new show Deluxe which, fortunately, was filmed before theatres closed an…
It doesn't matter if you've never seen Ben Elton's TV comedy series Upstart Crow (I hadn't) as the stage play is a stand-alone piece
It is stuffed dogs, ladders and individual performances in Endgame which stay with me rather than anything more philosophical about the human condition.
Albion is a meaty, emotional and funny play with a superb Victoria Hamilton drawing out the complexity of Audrey, even if you don't feel sorry for her.
Cormac McCarthy isn't known for cheery topics as anyone who has sat through (or read) The Road will testify and his play The Sunset Limited is no exception.
