139 stories by "Stephen Collins"
By Stephen Collins
Connor's score owes a considerable debt to Sondheim, but, that said, it treads in very interesting paths. Complex and intricate, the melodies and harmonies reward careful …
By Stephen Collins
Barker's play is extraordinary, especially given that it was written over a century ago and revised by him in the late 20's, the original having been banned from performan…
By Stephen Collins
The revival of Harlequinade, directed by Branagh and Ashford, now playing at the Garrick Theatre (in a 100 minute experience that includes All On Her Own and no intervals)…
By Stephen Collins
Dench's verse speaking is unrivalled. She picks each word and gives it full, accurate weight, landing the sense, purpose and exact emotion of every glittering phrase. She …
By Stephen Collins
The three-piece orchestra plays Finnissy's score with exacting skill, quite beautifully. Unfortunately, their efforts are largely wasted as the score is lamentably irritat…
By Stephen Collins
In the early stages of the play, this approach is both confronting and disarming. I found myself consulting the programme to check who was who before catching on to Zeller…
By Stephen Collins
What play should you see first in London? We have compiled this list to save you the trouble of working it out! It’s just our view – and everyone has one ̵…
By Stephen Collins
Given its inherent flaws, the play cannot hope to succeed without a powerhouse performance from its star and here Laasko has struck gold. Leigh is outstanding in every res…
By Stephen Collins
What long running show should you see first in London? We have compiled this list to save you the trouble of working it out! It’s just our view – and everyone …
By Stephen Collins
What Musical should you see first in London? Here is out list of London’s Top 10 New Musicals. We have compiled this list to save you the trouble of working it out! …
By Stephen Collins
What pleasure the play offers comes in the characters Hare has carved from fragments of history. Roger Allam, almost unrecognisable as John Christie, does a superb job, to…
By Stephen Collins
Cabnet's clear and perceptive direction is sound for the most part, and there is an emphasis on visual aspects of the production which make it something special. Thérèse…
By Stephen Collins
O'Neill's play has lost none of its power or resonance. It still feels as shocking and new today as no doubt it did in 1922. Jones' revelatory and evocative production is …
By Stephen Collins
This is a perfectly serviceable production, much along the lines of the fare mostly served up by the RSC or the National these days. Indeed, taken as a whole, it is better…
By Stephen Collins
There are many ways to read the play, but the most obvious is probably correct. Sylvia is a metaphor for a trophy girlfriend; she is someone Greg can use to make himself f…
By Stephen Collins
Hare's adaptation, the best of the three in the Season, is crisp, charming and comical, thereby magnifying the effect of the more tragic aspects. It's a markedly short ver…
By Stephen Collins
Another sumptuous production of a superb Hare adaptation of an unwieldy and slightly schizophrenic early Chekhov work, made just that much more glorious by a committed cas…
By Stephen Collins
Honesty, as David Hare points out, is the dominating theme of Ivanov. It is also the dominating principle adopted by Jonathan Kent as the guiding light for his revival of …
By Stephen Collins
There was a charming mix of reverence and irreverence as well, making the audience feel specially entertained and complicit with the in-jokes. The warm up prelude, People …
By Stephen Collins
There are two ways in which Karam's work steps up to the mark: the dialogue is believable and genuine, splendidly touching in places; the narrative is uncompromising, as f…
By Stephen Collins
Dames at Sea, the work of George Haimsohn and Robin Miller (Book and Lyrics) and Jim Wise (Score), is well known as the off-Broadway hit from 1968 which launched the star …
By Stephen Collins
This is a dynamic, challenging and gripping piece of dramatic theatre. It's confronting in a number of ways, especially if you have known someone who took their own life. …
By Stephen Collins
It would be unsurprising if First Daughter Suite constituted a significant hat-trick for the Public, following, as it does, in the footsteps of Fun Home (which won the Ton…
By Stephen Collins
As Young Megan, whom we first meet when she is recovering from the one-night-stand night before, is brought to complex, life-embracing realisation in a startlingly good pe…
By Stephen Collins
Both actors here are doing something quite different from a drawing room comedy. They are trying to make a point and, bravely, one that extends beyond the Caucasian commun…
