Category: Reviews

Based on Lindqvist’s 2004 novel and the author’s own adaptation for screen for the 2008 Swedish horror film, this play by Jack Thorne has at its heart a growing relationship between an almost-teenager and an ageless creature who survives from drinking blood but is certainly no Twilight. it begins with such a constant stream of… Continue reading Let The Right One In

The idea of a European monarch being assassinated in Italian-ruled Italy was clearly too much for censors when Verdi first presented the opera that was to become Un Ballo in Maschera. How I would have loved therefore to be present in their conclaves if they had been presented with the prospect of this modern production… Continue reading Gustavo III

The doomed romance of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the most enduringly popular Greek myths, exerting a powerful influence on the cultural imagination. However, this is hardly surprising given the story’s focus on the transformative power of art, not to mention its moving depiction of love, loss and grief. For the Baroque scholar Frederick… Continue reading Orfeo ed Euridice

Destiny is getting ready for her “best night evahhh” at Karma nightclub in Chippenham—to the sound of Destiny’s Child, obvs! Except she’s no youngster. She’s all of 15, with a head full of glamorous dreams, about to be flushed away by the nightmare reality ahead of her. Writer and performer Florence Espeut-Nickless starts this monologue… Continue reading Destiny

William ShakespearePhil WillmottRotherhithe and East London Playhouse (The Hithe Albion St)25 October–6 November 2022 It is a brave decision to open a new theatre in these economically troubled times. The new Rotherhithe and East London Playhouse, which is located in a small cosy attic of a building described as The Hive, is intended to be… Continue reading All’s Well That Ends Well

Kurt HentschlägerEMPAC/ Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing ArtsThe Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth26–29 October 2022 So many questions and much to learn. EKO is the third audiovisual composition in an ongoing series staged in complete darkness. Starting with SOL in 2017 then SUB in 2019, EKO is the latest offering from Quartz Media Art Award-winning artist… Continue reading EKO

Dracula : The Bloody Truth. Or is it? Maybe, but who cares if it is Le Navet Bete who are performing. This exciting local theatre company makes a welcome return to Exeter Northcott Theatre with their popular remake of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Le Navet Bete has produced a fun-filled family night out of comedy horror… Continue reading Dracula: The Bloody Truth

Ghost stories are hard to stage as their nature is absolute; there are no degrees of success—if they do not scare the audience, they are a failure. The Other Side, from Switch­­_Mcr, does not hold back on the scares. The first act closes with moving furniture, doors opening mysteriously, a spectral figure at the window… Continue reading The Other Side

Orfeo, poet and musician, the biggest pop star of his era, was endowed with a lyre which he strummed and plucked all day, enchanting everybody and everything, animals, trees, rocks, you name it. He even tamed the Sirens. The golden lyre was a gift from his dad, Apollo, god of music and poetry. The opera… Continue reading Orfeo

I don’t usually review shows like this, but it was an irresistible invitation, so here I am in Seaton Delaval Community Centre, watching Meta4 Dance in Jumpers for Goalposts, their new touring show for families. Meta4 Dance was founded by Lily Horgan and Charlie Dunne in 2018 and has increasing community access to dance and widening… Continue reading Jumpers for Goalposts