Trauma, fearlessly embodied: ‘A Monster Calls’
You know a show is something special when you’re disappointed to reach the interval. As the lights...
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Category: Spotlight
Split Britches: Unexploded Ordnances (UXO): or how I learned to stop worrying and love.
Let’s be honest, the world right now is a little hard to manage. The political unbalance is rife,...
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More than a Boozy Pantomime: Shit-faced Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’
It is difficult to write extensively on a piece of theatre which can be aptly summarised in three...
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Making Something New: ‘RED’ at Wyndham’s Theatre
Though figuratively they may speak volumes, paintings don’t tend to literally speak for...
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A 21st Century Farce: The Game of Love and Chai
The first thing that comes to mind when going to see a farce, especially one that has been updated...
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We Could Be Hero: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at the Rose Theatre, Kingston
Going into Much Ado About Nothing, my expectations were modest. No disrespect to the play — in...
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Podcast Spotlight: ‘You Must Remember This’
To listen in to You Must Remember This head to their website or download directly from ITunes You...
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Tarantino in the 18th Century: ‘Stand and Deliver’ by Tobacco Tea Theatre
The 18th century was a time of political and social upheaval, as Britain’s growth as an imperial...
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‘Is that your final answer?’: James Graham’s ‘Quiz’
As we begin to settle in our seats an overly-enthusiastic warm-up comic bounds on stage in a...
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‘A not so moudy tale’: Cheek by Jowl’s ‘Pericles’
Pericles is one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, one that would give you a particularly...
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Just Horse Play?: ‘Ex Anima’ by Théâtre Équestre Zingaro
The circular theatre was dark. Swamp creature noises played over the sound system. Slowly we...
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A Spectacle of Horror: ‘Macbeth’ at the RSC
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has a habit, it seems, of relying on crowd pleasing. In 2016,...
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A Feminist Freud?: Freud the Musical
Billed as a “one-woman show about sex, madness, and medicine” Freud the...
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Tragicomedy and Coping: ‘The Cherry Orchard’ at the Bristol Old Vic
Anton Chekhov’s final play, The Cherry Orchard, is about the transition from the old to the new...
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Continuing Restoration Battles: Hannah Cowley’s ‘The Belle’s Stratagem’
“All I know is whatever we do – it must be twice as well as men to be thought half as...
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Scarier than Fiction: Bête Noire’s production of Father of Lies
True crime is something of a nomadic genre. Aside from comedy, no other type of narrative...
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The New Generation of Musical Superheroes: ‘Eugenius!’
Entering the auditorium of The Other Palace, you descend the stairs accompanied by Soft Cell, Phil...
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Commemorating Life and Questioning Memory in ‘Finding Nana’
“That one thing we all wish we could have more of once they are gone. Time.” Finding Nana is a...
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The Anonymous Face of the Net: ‘The Believers are but Brothers’
“At the edge of our decaying bodies lies a network of power greater than any tyrant has ever...
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Braving the Horror: Danse Macabre’s “Nightmares in Progress”
Horror despite its potential has often found itself avoided by theatre practitioners despite...
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The Endurance of Monologues: ‘Heretic Voices’ at the Arcola Theatre
Seeing three monologues on the trot throws into sharp relief both the possibilities and the...
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Drop the mic Jamael Westman: ‘Hamilton’ at the Victoria Palace Theatre
Hamilton audiences are split into two camps. Either you know the whole soundtrack word by word,...
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Action at a Distance: Deadly simple truths
Recommend at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe by theatre critic Lyn Gardner Action at a Distance, a new...
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Culturised’s Top Art Picks of 2017
The 95th Venice Biennale A useful barometer for trends in contemporary art within an international...
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Theatre of Heaven and Hell: “If you’re Glad I’ll be Frank”
It has been an exciting year for Stoppard fans; Travesties played to utterly rapt audiences in the...
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(Tea) black or white?: “What Once Was Ours” at Pegasus Theatre
“You’re going to hear some things you agree with, and you’re going to hear some things you...
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Bucket Club’s ‘Fossils’: The Sound of Science
After successful runs of a show at Edinburgh Fringe and Brits on Broadway in New York, Bucket Club...
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Man Booker Prize 2017: The Interweaving Narratives of Paul Auster’s ‘4 3 2 1’
4 3 2 1 is a book that dominates your bookshelf. Built to replace any doorstopper you might have...
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‘In Memory of Leaves’: Bringing Humanity to Theatrical Activism
Tucked up on a boat on the Grand Union Canal near Westbourne Park station, I feel an immense sense...
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Andy & Peter Holden’s ‘Natural Selection’: The Birdmen of Bedford
Housed in the former Cuming Museum – an institution founded by a father and son collectors Richard...
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Footloose the Musical: Stuck in the 80s
Footloose the Musical can be summarised in one memorable image: an oiled up Gareth Gates stood on...
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From Chair to Canvas: ‘Matisse in the Studio’ at the Royal Academy
Emerging from the ashes of the vibrant Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy is a much more...
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The Twentieth Anniversary Tour of ‘The Weir’: Stories from the Pub
“No more stories… Oh go on, just one more,” I heard myself think as I reminisced about being read...
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‘Britney Spears the Cabaret’: Celebrity, Religion, and Humanising a Fallen Idol
Once upon a time humanity worshipped a collection of gods who were beautiful and often petty, who...
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Living in a Shattered Society: ‘The Caretaker’ at Bristol Old Vic
What does it mean to offer help to someone in need? Once the warm glow’s over, what’s taken root...
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‘Cavalry 360˚’: Bringing the Sound of Horses back to Chesters Roman Fort
In a new venture for English Heritage, the charity’s first ever sound installation Cavalry 360˚ is...
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‘Knives in Hens’ at the Donmar Warehouse: A Modern Scottish Classic on the London Stage
“Every thing I see or know is put in my head by God. Every thing he created is there every...
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The David Hockney Gallery at Cartwright Hall: An Artist Back Home
“I used to love going to Cartwright Hall as a kid, it was the only place in Bradford I could see...
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Harold Pinter’s ‘Betrayal’ at the Salisbury Playhouse: “that old itch”
Nobody likes pauses. Especially pauses in conversation where, staring into the dregs of a drink...
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‘The Duke’ at the Edinburgh Fringe: The Life Aquatic with Hugh Hughes
If Wes Anderson were ever to try his hand at staging a Fringe production, it would look something...
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‘Girl From the North Country’ at the Old Vic: Dylan with a Difference
If you’re travelin’ in the north country fair Where the winds hit heavy on the...
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‘Brexit the Musical’: The Rise of Political Musical Theatre
In among the delights of Buzz: A New Musical, (Fat Rascal Theatre), Trump’d (Two Thirds Comedy)...
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“I am not my reproductive system”: ‘Yerma’ at the Young Vic
“Regret – not now, maybe later”, says the unnamed Her (Billie Piper). She thinks it might be a...
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Gender, Shakespeare, and Dance: ‘Rosalind’ at the Edinburgh Fringe
The James Cousins Company presents a retelling of Shakespeare’s As You Like it for The Place’s...
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‘This Really Is Too Much’: Exploring the Absurdity of Gender Norms
At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe I watched a man loudly brush his teeth and gulp down a huge amount...
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Paula Varjack’s ‘Show Me The Money’: Finance and the Fringe
As anyone who has been to the Edinburgh Fringe knows, if you walk up the Royal Mile in August you...
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Joan Clevillé Dance’s ‘The North’: Surreal Northern Plights at the Fringe
If you’re fresh off the train/plane/automobile and eager to fit at least one “quintessentially...
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‘A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad)’: The Complexities of Exploring Depression on Stage
One of the main advantages of Fringe theatre is the element of difference. Not having to comply...
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‘The Shape of the Pain’: Staging Chronic Suffering
It’s almost impossible to comprehend what pain feels like when you’re not currently...
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‘Border Tales’: Humanity for Humanity’s Sake
Going back through reviews of Border Tales from its initial March 2014 run is fascinating — it...
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