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.
A Little History of the World, Watermill Theatre, Newbury
reviewed for The Times, 22 July 2015 Before he was a British intellectual personality, EH Gombrich was a penniless post-doctoral student in Vienna in 1935. Earning a few schillings from a publisher, Gombrich set up as a translator — until he declared the first book sent to him too intellectually...
Read MoreWhat’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined, Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1
reviewed for The Times, 17 July 2015 Even if you haven’t heard of Burt Bacharach, his pop music has shaped your life. Dig through his discography and you’re sure to find that the 87-year-old composer is behind at least one of your favourites, whether it’s Walk On By (Dionne Warwick), Close to You (the...
Read MoreThe Crocodile, Pavilion Theatre, Manchester
reviewed for The Times, 16 July 2015 Jonah lived in a whale, Ivan Matveitch lived in a crocodile. Like Jonah, Ivan has a sermon of social corruption to preach, but he’d also quite like to get on with his song-and-dance career. The crocodile, however, is a major capital asset to the zoo, and our Ivan...
Read MorePositive, Park Theatre, N4
reviewed for The Times, 15 July 2015 At the height of the Aids crisis, theatre gave us tragedies and epics: My Night With Reg in the UK, the Miltonic fantasia Angels in America in the US. Twenty years later, an HIV diagnosis in the west means an instant introduction, not to the angel of death, but to the...
Read More{150}, Royal Opera House Stores, Aberdare
reviewed for The Times, 1 July 2015 In 1865, a God-hardened group of Welsh settlers set off for Argentine Patagonia, introducing the Welsh language, music and Congregationalist chapels to the region. Now, 150 years later, artist Marc Rees has taken over the full resources of the National Theatre...
Read MoreNot a Game for Boys, King’s Head Theatre, N1
reviewed for The Times, 1 July 2015 Can anyone remember a time when masculinity wasn’t in crisis? Twenty years ago, the Royal Court was already in on the act, programming an influential run of new plays exploring what the playwright David Edgar called “masculinity and its discontents”. Next to...
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