The Master Builder. Review by Barbara Lewis. On one of its many levels, Henrik Ibsen’s “The Master Builder” is an exploration of whether human beings can make things happen, good or bad, by sheer force of will. The alternative possibilities are that they are manipulated by dark, troll-like forces or that God is the supreme architect to whose designs a pious bourgeoisie must dutifully submit.
theatre
The Banality of Evil. Review by Barbara Lewis. “The banality of evil” is a concept expounded by Hannah Arendt in her 1963 book on Adolf Eichmann, one of the organisers of the Nazi Holocaust. It refers to the theory that evil is committed not out of malice but out of thoughtlessness and it is highly relevant to our polarised times when people blindly follow trending ideas and theatre security has to be elevated around the staging of a Jewish play.
2 White Guys Rapping. Review by Barbara Lewis. Simon Cowell declared Australians Macshane & Delby “the fastest free style rap” he’d ever seen when they reached the finals of Britain’s Got Talent 2026.
Still Life. Review by Barbara Lewis. One of the most romantic films ever made “Brief Encounter” was based on the 1936 play “Still Life” by Noel Coward, who, as a homosexual long before it was legal, knew all about the intense agony of forbidden love.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto. Review by Barbara Lewis. Baroque opera is about repeating things again and again, which means time stands still, bass-baritone, stage director/lighting designer – and master of ceremonies – Marcio da Silva tells the audience.
Rinaldo. Review by Barbara Lewis. Handel’s Rinaldo, the first Italian-language opera created for a London audience, was an 18th-century hit about love, war and redemption. It was written at speed and performed with lavish special effects at a time when tales of crusading knights filled the popular imagination.
Dido and Aeneas. Review by Barbara Lewis. Singer and director Marcio da Silva opens his version of Purcell’s only fully sung opera with a request that the audience vote on who takes the role of Dido. It felt at first like a gimmick, at odds with high tragedy, and yet it takes on a serious purpose: we, like the gods, or the fates, or Purcell’s witches, are the arbitrary deciders of one human’s destiny.
Extraordinary Alien. Review by Julia Pascal. Does a stand-up need to have a narrative or does a discursive monologue, laced with self-deprecation, stand up? Debra Tammer’s Extraordinary Alien (on its way to the Edinburgh Festival) promises much with its marketing image.
Truth to Power Café. Review by Barbara Lewis. Jeremy Goldstein is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his company London Artists Projects, whose missions include taking his “Truth to Power Café” across the world.
Swan Lake. Review by Julia Pascal. What can be done with the plot of Swan Lake? Should this 19th century classic be interpreted freshly for the 21st? That is the question suggested by the State Ballet of Georgia.
Macbeth. Review by Barbara Lewis. The vocation of the HandleBards touring theatre company is to share a love of Shakespeare through sheer entertainment in settings that range from the classroom to country estates on summer’s evenings. That means comic relief prevails over tragic significance even when the chosen drama is The Scottish Play.
Condensation and Cannonballs. Review by Barbara Lewis. Eli, the best friend of Tom, we’re told is from “a nice family” – and Noah McCreadie’s account of the pair’s childhood friendship dares to be genuine, simple and nice in the best sense. It is gentle, thoughtful, realistic and quietly devastating.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2026 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre