I have never gone skiing, and never will. Aside from the absurdity of dragging yourself up to the top of a mountain, then throwing yourself down again while standing on two planks of wood, virtually everyone I know who has been skiing has either been injured or knows someone who has. Accidents happen on ski… Continue reading Gwyneth Goes Skiing – The Pleasance & Awkward Productions
Month: February 2024
Rosie The Musical – Original Studio Cast Album
This is a very earnest recording with quite a few majestic and soaring melodies – I wouldn’t expect, based on the showtunes in the recording, a full production of this musical to have very many, if any at all, high-energy song and dance numbers, though it would be a pleasant surprise. Songs of hope, or… Continue reading Rosie The Musical – Original Studio Cast Album
Twelve Angry Men at Richmond Theatre | Review
I regret starting with a spoiler, but I couldn’t help pointing out that Twelve Angry Men is a misleading title: there are twelve jurors in a 1950s New York City murder trial, but they are not all angry. Some are never angry. Every time there’s a raised voice, there’s a call for civility. After all, twelve people,… Continue reading Twelve Angry Men at Richmond Theatre | Review
H.R. THE MUSICAL
It’s always satisfying to sit in a theatre and watch the seats fill up until the house is full, so this opening night was hugely reassuring for everyone – there wasn’t an empty seat in the Q Loft house and comedy always works best when there are plenty of willing patrons. It’s a big plus… Continue reading H.R. THE MUSICAL
THIS ROOM IS AN ISLAND
As I enter the Te Pou theatre foyer, a lot of the audience are casually waiting and talking and suddenly two staunch officers yell out to get out of the way, and we all are startled, and we all intentionally move out of the way. My focus is immediately on the striking officers in full… Continue reading THIS ROOM IS AN ISLAND
First Person: contralto Hilary Summers on going beyond her baroque and contemporary comfort zones
Hilary Summers: ‘If you don’t know each other well enough to say if something is a bit rubbish, then what’s the point?’Claire Newman Williams Back in the summer of 2020 when the arts industry was largely dormant and many professional singers were either moodily knocking back the gin or uploading poor quality phone videos of… Continue reading First Person: contralto Hilary Summers on going beyond her baroque and contemporary comfort zones
First Person: pioneering juggler Sean Gandini reflects on how the spirit of Pina Bausch has infiltrated his work
Carnation libation: Julie Anne Stanzak among the 8,000 individually placed blooms in the early Pina Bausch classic, ‘Nelken’ photo: Alexander Gouliaev I am a juggler. My wife Kati Ylä-Hokkala is also a juggler. Our life for the last three decades has been juggling. We have been fortunate to be practising this art form at a… Continue reading First Person: pioneering juggler Sean Gandini reflects on how the spirit of Pina Bausch has infiltrated his work
Till the Stars Come Down, National Theatre review – exuberant comedy with a dark edge
The National Theatre is meant to represent the whole nation – and not just the metropolitan middle classes. So it’s really good to see that Beth Steel – who comes from an East Midlands working-class background and was once writer in residence at this flagship venue – is having her latest play staged here in… Continue reading Till the Stars Come Down, National Theatre review – exuberant comedy with a dark edge
LADS ON THE ISLAND
Two hours before ‘lights up’ on Lads on the Island, a southerly squall hit Wellington complete with thunder claps – an appropriate curtain raiser for a play that takes flight from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. On the face of it, a play about a couple of blokes isolating on an island so one can support the other through… Continue reading LADS ON THE ISLAND