Published in The Observer September 27, 2020
Last summer, the Observer profiled a group of newly-appointed artistic directors – a fresh surge of talent taking its place at the top of six of our best-loved theatre companies. A notably diverse cohort, they were bursting with optimism and ideas for shaking up the industry.
Continue reading “‘There will be positives’: artistic directors on theatre’s terrible year”Published in The New York Times May 20, 2020
There’s a voice inside your head, and it’s telling you the story of a man who went into the Amazon and came out with a new understanding of human consciousness. It whispers in your left ear, then your right. Then it seems to take up residence right inside your skull.
Continue reading “3-D Sound and a Zoom Apocalypse: The Plays That Come to Life Online”Diversity has become a buzzword in the entertainment industries – and if there’s still debate about how much things are really changing, or if moves towards greater representation are too often mere lip service or box ticking, the diversity conversation is at least being had. Do badly, and it will get called out.
Continue reading “Will disabled people ever get the stories they deserve?”In reviving his seminal 1997 play Closer, playwright Patrick Marber is having an odd encounter: “It’s like your past coming to meet you. Very strange feeling … quite nice; bit disturbing.” He’s not the only one who’ll be brought up sharp by the return of Closer at the Donmar this month, in its first major revival since the original, late-Nineties run that saw it travel from the National to the West End and on to Broadway.
The play – a witty but often cruel four-hander about the romantic turmoil of four Londoners, involving overlapping relationships and betrayals – tends to elicit strong responses. An audience may feel flayed by the brutalities that unfold, as we see the first and last meetings of each swapping couple. People who witnessed it in one of its original incarnations tend to remember the experience. Continue reading “Patrick Marber and David Leveaux on reviving Closer”