What happens to a novel’s characters when their author abandons them? I spoke to British playwright Laura Wade about bringing “The Watsons,” an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, to the stage, in a piece for the New York Times. Continue reading “Jane Austen’s unfinished novel comes to the stage”
Category: Theatre
Jessica Barden on Pinter and the return of ‘The End of the F***ing World’
The day I meet Jessica Barden, the first image at the top of her Instagram is a black and white photograph of Harold Pinter captioned “Bae. Harold.” Beneath that, young fans tell her how much they love her Netflix series The End of The F***ing World (TEOTFW). Continue reading “Jessica Barden on Pinter and the return of ‘The End of the F***ing World’”
Review: Honour, Park Theatre
A middle-aged, middle-class couple – he a towering figure in journalism, she a writer who’s not published for decades – appear to have a comfortable, rock-solid marriage. Then along comes a bright, beautiful, ambitious writer half his age, to interview him for a book. Continue reading “Review: Honour, Park Theatre”
How LSD influenced Western culture
When you think of LSD, a very specific aesthetic probably leaps to mind: the psychedelic pink-and-orange swirls of the 60s; naked people with flowers in their hair; the shimmer of a sitar. After its psychedelic properties were accidentally discovered in the lab by Albert Hofmann in 1943, the drug was banned in the UK in 1966. LSD is still most strongly associated with hippies who embraced its mind-expanding properties. Continue reading “How LSD influenced Western culture”
Emma Rice on bouncing back with Wise Children: ‘This show has been my saviour’
Emma Rice is scrolling through her emails as the cast of her new show, Wise Children, prepare to rehearse a scene. She laughs: somehow she’s wound up on a recruitment email service, suggesting she apply for a job in a call centre. Continue reading “Emma Rice on bouncing back with Wise Children: ‘This show has been my saviour’”
Review: Mrs Dalloway, Arcola
Adapting Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel – set over one day in London, as Clarissa Dalloway prepares to throw a party – is always likely to be tricky. Its stream-of-consciousness style swirls together shifting impressions of the present and reflections on the past, and Woolf switches between the interior monologues of a whole host of characters beside Mrs D. Continue reading “Review: Mrs Dalloway, Arcola”
Review: Six the Musical, Arts Theatre
‘Remember us from your GCSEs?’
It’s Henry VIII’s six wives – and they’re back, bitch, to re-tell ‘her-story’ as a slick, sassy girl band. Think Euro-pop remixes of ‘Greensleeves’, Anne Boleyn spouting tweenage text-speak (‘everybody chill/it’s totes God’s will’), and K-Howard warbling #MeToo tales of gropey employers. Continue reading “Review: Six the Musical, Arts Theatre”
Review: Little Shop of Horrors, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
This 1982 cult musical has always been a potty favourite: hapless florist Seymour cultivates an alien plant with an appetite for human flesh – a Faustian pact that wins him fame, fortune and Audrey, the girl of his dreams. Continue reading “Review: Little Shop of Horrors, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre”
Review: Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die, Amber Massie-Blomfield
In 2016, the arts producer Amber Massie-Blomfield began “plotting an adventure”: a freewheeling trip around Britain’s “most remarkable” theatres. Each would need to have an unusual story, or a distinctive setting. Continue reading “Review: Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die, Amber Massie-Blomfield”
‘It was therapeutic’: How Frightened Rabbit found solace making music for a new play, following the death of Scott Hutchison
When playwright Gary McNair was asked who should provide the music for his new play Square Go, there was only one answer: Frightened Rabbit. He’d been friends with the Scottish indie rock band for years – as well as being a huge fan – and had been waiting for a chance to work with them on the right show. Continue reading “‘It was therapeutic’: How Frightened Rabbit found solace making music for a new play, following the death of Scott Hutchison”