The London Handel Players, after touring Northern Ireland, Spain, Turkey, Canada and America, have returned to base for the 2023 – 2024 season. The ensemble specialises in Baroque chamber music.
theatre
The Pilgrim Play. Review by Barbara Lewis. An antidote to the glitz that can disguise the mediocre, it’s a welcome return to the roots of theatre and to a focus on consummate acting skill.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
Festival Universatil. Review by Barbara Lewis. The students in a KAP live together and work together on a cultural or community project, one of which is Le Théâtre Universitaire de Louvain, which every year organises the “Universatil” festival of French-language drama.
By Barbara Lewis • performance, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, performance, theatre
Transgression, Life in the Aftermath of the Eocene. Review by Barbara Lewis. The Eocene lasted from about 55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago, which has left a lot to happen in the aftermath. By the 1990s of “Transgression”, humanity is being perpetuated by fleeting moments of sexual attraction that give way to years of cruelty.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
Mr. Jones. Review by Barbara Lewis. Nearly 60 years on, the tragedy of Aberfan haunts us, not least because it could have been avoided. There is no consolation unless you turn to art. Then the dramatic tension between what was and what might have been becomes theatrical gold in the hands of Liam Holmes.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
The Box of Delights, Review by Barbara Lewis. By turns, a happy child, a devastated orphan, a traumatised sailor, a beggar, a factory hand and ultimately the writer he had always wanted to be, John Masefield proved that dreams can come true – and when they do, they are all the more magical for the pain suffered on the way.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2023 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
Pacific Overtures. Review by Barbara Lewis. Pacific Overtures is Stephen Sondheim’s ironic take on events that began when in 1853 four American warships arrived in Tokyo Bay and set about forcing a nation that had sealed itself off from the world into a trading relationship.
By Barbara Lewis • music, theatre, year 2023 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, music, musicals, theatre
Ikaria. Review by Barbara Lewis. Ikaria is a Greek island famed for the longevity of its inhabitants, helped by a Mediterranean diet and plenty of sex. For the purposes of writer-director Philippa Lawford’s eloquent, debut play, it’s also a university hall of residence.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2023 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
Bluebeard’s Castle. Review by Alan Price. Bluebeard’s Castle is one of Michael Powell’s striking music films. And he’s made quite a few of them. Powell directs the opera’s singers / actors with a purposeful intensity.
By Alan Price • film, music, opera, year 2023 • Tags: Alan Price, film, music, opera
Beyond Ourselves. Review by Barbara Lewis. Making dreams come true has never been easy, but the joy of theatre is in the trying.
By Barbara Lewis • performance, plays, theatre, year 2023 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, performance, plays, theatre
New York City Ballet at Sadlers Wells. Review by Julia Pascal. George Balanchine founded New York City Ballet and gave us classical technique without classical narratives. His work is described as neo-classic or even anti-classic. But since his death in 1983 the Company has been looking at other creatives to provide Company identity.
By Julia Pascal • added recently on London Grip, dance, music, performance, theatre 0 • Tags: dance, Julia Pascal, music, performance, theatre