Peer Gynt, Henrik Ibsen, Arcola Theatre. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt defied theatre’s limitations with a vast cast, sprawling action and special effects.
plays
The End of Eddy, Unicorn Theatre. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Under Stewart Laing’s inspired direction, four permanently-glowing screens help to convey the bigoted characters of a charmless northern French village, where violence, shame, pride, racism and homophobia form the fabric of society.
Wasted, Southwark Playhouse. Review by Barbara Lewis.
In our blasé age, we may take for granted that a remote Yorkshire parsonage managed to produce three sisters who defied rigid Victorian convention to give voice to raw passions and sexual frustration no respectable woman was meant to feel.
Emilia, Shakespeare’s Globe. Review by Julia Pascal.
This play is a picaresque adventure describing the life of Emilia Bassano Lanier. Emilia, born in 1569, was a direct contemporary of Shakespeare, and perhaps the inspiration of his Dark Lady of the Sonnets.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Pleasance King Dome, Edinburgh. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses comprise nearly 12,000 lines and over 250 myths that have inspired more modern writers as great as Shakespeare and Dante.
Much Ado About Nothing, Gray’s Inn Hall. Review by Julia Pascal.
This is Shakespeare light. Very light. Antic Disposition’s presentation of Shakespeare’s 1598 comedy is aimed at touring in South West France during the summer months when Paris empties and the French take to the countryside.
The Unnatural Tragedy, White Bear, London. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Writer, philosopher and English aristocrat Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was way ahead of her time and she knew it, writing: “I regard not so much the present but future ages”.
I am of Ireland by Seamus Finnegan. Review by Julia Pascal.
I Am Of Ireland is an epic piece of theatre rooted in Irish identity, politics and history. It journeys from The Troubles to The Good Friday Peace Agreement and on to today.
The Cherry Orchard, Union Theatre, London. Review by Barbara Lewis.
With a new version of The Cherry Orchard transposed to the time of the 1917 Russian revolution, director Phil Wilmott’s aim was to reflect “our current edgy relationship with Russia,” he tells us in his notes.
Lock and Key, Vault Festival, London. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Women bosses who bully their ambitious young rivals are one aspect of female careerism that is under-explored. Bella Barlow and A.C. Smith at least start to redress the balance with a miniature musical played out underneath Waterloo’s railway arches as part of London’s vibrant Vault festival.
Doctor Faustus, Arcola, London. Review by Barbara Lewis.
When Christopher Marlowe wrote Doctor Faustus at the end of the 16th century, he was already drawing on German accounts of a medieval legend with eternal and universal reach. Two centuries later, the epic struggle of good and evil was translated back into German in Goethe’s towering tragedy.
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La Malady of Love, Katie Mitchell, Barbican Theatre. Review by Julia Pascal.
This piece of theatre is inspired by La Maladie de la Mort, Marguerite Duras’ 1982 novella. The original text explored a homosexual’s purchase of a woman in a vain search for love.