Malevo. Review by Barbara Lewis. Any thoughts the scheduled ninety minutes might be too long for a macho display of virility were banished by a superbly coordinated frenzy of frantic footwork and brilliant bravado.
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You Heard Me. Review by Barbara Lewis. This is a production that comes with warnings – first from the programme and then from the writer and performer, who tells us we are free to leave at any moment if her account of sexual violence becomes too much.
Our Voices. Review by Julia Pascal. This mixed bill is a curious evening where the separate parts do not form an organic whole. George Balanchine’s 1947 Themes and Variations thrilled the audience who gasped when the curtain rose on tutued dancers.
Last Night of The Proms 2023. Review by Julia Pascal. It was the presence of the hundreds of blue EU flags which made me realise that the Last Night of the Proms is not just a xeno-fest. It is a testimony to the international element of art and music.
Prom 55. Review by Julia Pascal. Nelsons led his orchestra in such a way as to suggest that this was also the premiere for Stravinsky, Gershwin and Ravel.
Pension Europa. Review by Barbara Lewis. Austrian-Italian director Martin Gruber and his aktionstheater ensemble have for decades helped audiences to explore what it is to be a human wrestling with the anxieties of the day.
Candide, WNO. Review by Barbara Lewis. Too messy, too long, too anti-Semitic, too misogynistic: there are many reasons to avoid Bernstein’s Candide. And yet, director James Bonas and the Welsh National Opera bravely make a powerful case for staging this attack on the depravity of those in power and the futility of war.
Poetry review – TITS ON THE MOON: Charles Rammelkamp reviews a selection of diverting poems by Dessa
An Anatomy of Melancholy. Review by Julia Pascal. This is one of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre that I have ever seen. The Pit is transformed into a laboratory with audience sitting in a circle watching the interplay between science, art, music, psychiatry and clinical analysis, in a concept that links the writings of Shakespeare’s contemporary, John Burton, with Freud and 2022 explorations into the mind.
Prom 41 Wednesday 17 August 2022. Review by Julia Pascal. The star of the evening was Behzod Abduraimov in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1. If you shut your eyes you might think that four hands were playing the piano not two.
Poetry review – PERFORMANCE RITES: James Roderick Burns admires Barry Smith’s exploration of the overlap between art and nature
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