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”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”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”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”
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”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”Published in The New York Times March 12, 2021
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” may be one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays — but its latest version from the Royal Shakespeare Company will be unlike any seen before. Titled “Dream,” the 50-minute streamed production fuses live performance with motion-capture technology, 3-D graphics, and interactive gaming techniques that let the audience remotely guide Puck through a virtual forest.
Continue reading “A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sprinkled With High-Tech Fairy Dust”Published in The Evening Standard January 21, 2021
While 2020 may be behind us, the new year brings continued uncertainty for the UK’s theatre industry. And if the situation is bleak for staff and freelancers facing shuttered venues, it’s surely even tougher for the next generation of talent: young people still studying – who have had to return to remote learning online this month, as schools and colleges shut once more – as well as those who graduated last summer with little chance of working.
Continue reading “Rehearsing Othello on Zoom: the theatre students pursuing their dream during a pandemic”Published in The Telegraph November 29, 2020
Pantomime is a cornerstone of Christmas for families up and down Britain – but few cities are quite as committed to it as York. The annual show at York Theatre Royal is a proper local institution, with generations of families booking the same seats year after year, and prompting queues around the block the day tickets go on sale.
Continue reading “‘If people can’t go to the panto then it must go to them’: the birth of The Travelling Pantomime”Published in The Stage November 5, 2020
“No day but today, no day but today.” The last lines of Jonathan Larson’s 1993 musical Rent have surely never felt quite so applicable: opening night here is also closing night.
Continue reading “Review: Rent, Hope Mill Theatre”