It’s a tale as old as time – two lovers unjustly torn apart. But while the story of King Pedro I and his queen Inês De Castro has shades of Romeo and Juliet in its set up, it ends up somewhere altogether more macabre – imagine if Shakespeare’s tale swerved into horror movie territory in the final act.
Continue reading “Inês De Castro: The macabre tale of the ‘skeleton queen’”Category: Theatre
Review: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Leeds Playhouse
Published in The Independent April 7, 2022
It seems wild that the UK hasn’t been treated to a major, full-scale production of Hedwig and The Angry Inch since its West End iteration closed early in 2000 – especially given the subsequent cult status of the 2001 film version.
Continue reading “Review: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Leeds Playhouse”Review: She Loves Me, Sheffield Crucible
Published in The Telegraph December 17, 2021
What a treat this is: a delicious romcom, staged with real wit and elan, so that it feels genuinely both romantic and very funny – not something revivals of old musicals always manage to pull off.
Continue reading “Review: She Loves Me, Sheffield Crucible”Review: Affair of the Heart, Michael Billington
Published in The TLS December 10, 2021
When Michael Billington stepped down as lead theatre critic for the Guardian in 2019, after almost fifty years, it was seen as the end of an era.
Continue reading “Review: Affair of the Heart, Michael Billington”Critic under the spotlight: the 12-hour play showcasing everyday jobs
Published in The Stage October 27, 2021
The theatre critic’s job is largely conducted in darkness and silence: we watch other people perform from the gloom of the stalls, and then write about it. But last Saturday, the spotlight – and the microphone – was quite literally turned on me, as I was grilled about my job in front of an audience on stage at Leeds Playhouse.
Continue reading “Critic under the spotlight: the 12-hour play showcasing everyday jobs”Review: Macbeth, Almeida
Published in the Mail on Sunday October 16, 2021
The first surprise of Yaël Farber’s The Tragedy Of Macbeth, writes Holly Williams, is that it’s taken her so long to tackle the play – it is perfect for the director’s moody aesthetic.
Continue reading “Review: Macbeth, Almeida”Theatre goes hyper-local: Paines Plough brings its pop-up stage to Brixton
Published in the Evening Standard August 16, 2021
There’s a new pop-up coming to Brixton – and it’s not a trend-setting bar or foodie destination, but a theatre. Roundabout, an in-the-round venue run by theatre company Paines Plough, will sprout in Slade Gardens this month, offering ten days of live performance: four new plays performed in rep, plus cabaret, comedy and community workshops.
Continue reading “Theatre goes hyper-local: Paines Plough brings its pop-up stage to Brixton”Review: Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Published in The Mail on Sunday August 21, 2021
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella has finally made it to opening night – but while no pumpkin, it’s a little short on theatrical fairy dust.
Continue reading “Review: Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre”
Review: Walden, Harold Pinter Theatre
Published in The TLS June 4, 2021
What kind of work should theatres re-open with? This question has been given a surprisingly forthright answer by the super-producer Sonia Friedman: a season of new writing in the West End, by emerging artists.
Continue reading “Review: Walden, Harold Pinter Theatre”Why Alice is the ultimate icon of children’s books
Published in BBC Culture May 12, 2021
For books that are all about surprising transformations, it should perhaps be no real surprise that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are among the most frequently adapted and reinterpreted stories ever written.
Continue reading “Why Alice is the ultimate icon of children’s books”