Stuart King
30 May
Reviews 
Review: BOYS FROM THE BLACK STUFF at National Theatre Olivier
By Stuart King Thursday, May 30 2024, 09:05
This week’s opening at the National Theatre’s Olivier is another regional transfer, having originated at Liverpool’s Royal Court where Kevin Fearon and the team, successfully produced and commissioned the piece based on the 1982 Thatcher-era television series penned by local boy Alan Bleasdale. In it, five working class Liverpudlian men and their families, struggle with the impact of unemployment and the lack of social care in the once thriving city.
Cast of Boys from the Blackstuff at the National Theatre. © Alastair Muir
25 May
Reviews
Review: BLUETS at Royal Court
By Stuart King Saturday, May 25 2024, 12:49
It would be the purest understatement to suggest that theatregoers have been wildly anticipating director Katie Mitchell’s latest live cinema production — the art form which hybridises a live stage performance piece (often relayed through stage mics on stands) which moves at a preordained rhythm and uses back screening and props used by performers who are usually ranged in a straight row facing the audience. When it comes-off and flows seamlessly, it can be simply breathtaking. So how does BLUETS compare with other examples of the genre, for example the extraordinary LITTLE SCRATCH also directed by Mitchell?
Kayla Meikle in Bluets at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. Photo Camilla Greenwell.
23 May
Reviews
Review: PASSING STRANGE at Young Vic
By Stuart King Thursday, May 23 2024, 09:00
With four on stage musicians and a further seven performers, Broadway’s winner of the Tony for Best Book of a Musical in 2008 has finally made the leap across the pond, settling into the Young Vic’s space for the summer. In so doing, it demonstrates why it proved such a surprise hit in New York, running for six months during its initial outing despite (or perhaps in spite of) its less than conventional format.
The cast of Passing Strange at The Young Vic Theatre.
21 May
Reviews
Review: THE BOOK OF GRACE at Arcola
By Stuart King Tuesday, May 21 2024, 10:16
A patrol officer Vet who lives on the Mexico-Texas border with his much younger second wife Grace, is to be awarded a medal for his service. The presentation ceremony offers the couple an opportunity to patch things up with the patrolman’s estranged son Buddy by inviting him to attend. But will he come, and if he does, will everything go to plan, and just whose plan is it anyway? Directed by Femi Elufowoju jr, this simmering 2010 drama by Suzan-Lori Parks receives its UK premier at Arcola Theatre.
The Book of Grace at the Arcola Theatre. Photo Alex Brenner.
15 May
Reviews
Review: PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS at Trafalgar Theatre
By Stuart King Wednesday, May 15 2024, 09:18
A disturbed and fragile actress has reached a tipping point in her consumption of alcohol and drugs, and finally takes the bold step to check herself into a rehabilitation facility. Initially unable to comprehend the benefits of group interaction, she challenges everything inherent in the program’s model as she flails at the injustices she perceives in the world, whilst trying to convince herself and others that drugs and addiction offer a dependable antidote to the ubiquitous cruelty manifest in everyday life - most notably for her, the early death of her brother in a traffic accident.
The cast of People, Places & Things in the West End. Photo Marc Brenner.
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