Your Lie in April. Review by Barbara Lewis. In the fantasy world of “Your Lie in April”, based on a Japanese manga, adapted into a television series, a film, and now brought to London’s West End, even football is relegated to a poor second to musical prowess when it comes to winning teenage hearts.
theatre
Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear. Review by Barbara Lewis. A cast of five tackles all the complexity of Conan Doyle’s fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel that is as clever, contrived and satisfying as a cryptic crossword.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre
Blue. Review by Barbara Lewis. George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, which triggered waves of Black Lives Matter protests, together with the U.S. Capitol attacks of January 2021, when off-duty police officers were found to be among the rioters, inspired June Carryl to write Blue.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2024 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, 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 • dance, music, performance, theatre, year 2024 0 • Tags: dance, Julia Pascal, music, performance, 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
Poetry review – THE TRAPEZE OF YOUR FLESH: Thomas Ovans is impressed by the extensive knowledge behind Charles Rammelkamp’s poetic history of Striptease and Burlesque
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • added recently on London Grip, books, dance, performance, poetry reviews, theatre, year 2024 0 • Tags: books, dance, performance, poetry, theatre, Thomas Ovans