Theatre
I currently write two regular monthly columns on theatre: one for Prospect Magazine as their theatre critic, and one for The Stage, drawing in part on my experience as Chair of the Drama Section of the UK Critics’ Circle.
Prior to the pandemic, I was the New York Review of Books‘ resident London theatre critic, and I had previously spent several years as the junior theatre critic at The Times, reviewing for that paper two or three times a week. I have also contributed theatre reviews to The Spectator, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. As a theatre programme obsessive, I regularly contribute programme notes to theatre and opera venues, and welcome inquiries about potential work in this area.
As Critics’ Circle Chair, I organise our prestigious annual Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, the only awards made in British theatre purely on the basis of professional theatre critics’ votes, and without any input from vested interests within the industry. We successfully relaunched in April 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic with a ceremony at London’s Ham Yard Hotel. I also maintain an active interest in arts philanthropy. I can date the moment I fell in love with theatre to a Joanna Laurens production at the Gate Theatre, W11. Consequently, I founded a Young Supporters’ Network at the Gate and have sat on their Development Working Group, which means that this is the only venue at which I now exclude myself from reviewing.
The Magna Carta Plays at Salisbury Playhouse
reviewed for The Times, 26 October 2015 Thank goodness for an anniversary commission which realises that Magna Carta isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sadly, that’s all to be thankful for in this series of Corbynite skits on modern robber barons (Russian oligarchs and British bankers)....
Read MoreComing Up at Watford Palace Theatre
reviewed for The Times, 16 October 2015 The actor Neil D’Souza shines whenever he graces our screens. Now, with his second play, Coming Up, he proves that he’s no mean shakes as a writer, either. Alan, “a big rich English Indian”, runs a clothing business between Mumbai and Britain, and now,...
Read MoreConsensual at Ambassadors Theatre, WC2
reviewed for The Times, 9 October 2015 Seven years ago Diane and Freddie ended up in bed together. Only problem: she was his school counsellor. He says she groomed him, she says he stalked her. At crucial moments, both deny giving consent. Evan Placey’s clunky play starts with a klutzy conceit; when...
Read MoreA quick note on colour-blind casting
I rarely post personal, off-the-cuff blogs here. But my review of The Glass Menagerie was published last week and unfortunately, one paragraph on colour-blind casting has been cut for space. So I thought I’d add it here. In Ellen Mcdougall’s production, Eric Kofi Abrefa plays Jim, originally a...
Read MoreThe Glass Menagerie, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
an edited version of this review appeared in The Times, 18 September 2015 The Glass Menagerie is a pressure-cooker of a play. In Depression-era St Louis, Tom and Laura are trapped at home by their domineering, nigh-demented mother Amanda, a faded Southern belle muttering frenetically about the “17...
Read MoreMouthful, Trafalgar Studios, SW1
reviewed for The Times, 14 September 2015 Ever munched on a dry cricket? Turns out they’re tangy: imagine a spicy Marmite Twiglet crumbling between your teeth. As the earth’s population heads towards nine billion by 2050, we’re struggling to work out how to feed them: soaring oil prices, pushing up...
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