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Reviews

Joanna Vanderham as Tippi Hedren and Ian Mcneice as Alfred Hitchcock. credit Manuel Harlan
21 Feb
Reviews
Stuart King

Review: DOUBLE FEATURE at Hampstead Theatre

John Logan is an experienced American playwright whose screen credits include Gladiator, The Aviator and Skyfall. His previous plays include Peter and Alice, and Red, so it was with a sense of excited anticipation that this reviewer headed to Hampstead Theatre for the press night of DOUBLE FEATURE.

Joanna Vanderham as Tippi Hedren and Ian Mcneice as Alfred Hitchcock. credit Manuel HarlanJoanna Vanderham as Tippi Hedren and Ian Mcneice as Alfred Hitchcock in Double Feature. Credit Manuel Harlan

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Dharmesh Patel (Kenneth), Ariella Elkins-Green (Flouncy), Billy Howle (Nicholas), Isla Ithier (Scrap) and Amy Morgan (Margery) in Dear Octopus at the National Theatre (c) Marc Brenner
16 Feb
Reviews
Stuart King

Review: DEAR OCTOPUS at National Theatre Lyttelton

Dodie Smith’s 1938 between-the-wars family drama is set at the rustic middle-class home of the Randolph family, where several generations have gathered to celebrate Dora and Charles’ golden wedding anniversary. On Frankie Bradshaw’s wonderful, pastel-jade revolving set complete with real smoking fires (who knew such things were possible on a theatre stage in these modern safety-conscious times?), the family pervades an air of stoic calm in the face of minor and not-so-minor familial irritations, as another European conflict seems imminent.

Dharmesh Patel (Kenneth), Ariella Elkins-Green (Flouncy), Billy Howle (Nicholas), Isla Ithier (Scrap) and Amy Morgan (Margery) in Dear Octopus at the National Theatre (c) Marc BrennerDharmesh Patel (Kenneth), Ariella Elkins-Green (Flouncy), Billy Howle (Nicholas), Isla Ithier (Scrap) and Amy Morgan (Margery) in Dear Octopus at the National Theatre (c) Marc Brenner

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Nelken
15 Feb
Reviews
Stuart King

Review: NELKEN - A PIECE BY PINA BAUSCH at Sadler’s Wells

Last seen at Sadler’s Wells in 2005, NELKEN is steeped in dance history and leans on a veritable smorgasbord of music drawn from the 1930s and 1940s. The eagle-eared will recognise, Richard Tauber, Gershwin, Franz Lehar and Sophie Tucker accompanying the troupe of over 20 performers as they deliver the walking dance which depicts the four seasons.

NelkenNelken - credit Oliver Look- Luciény Kaabral, Andrey Berezin, Alexander López Guerra

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Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
06 Feb
Reviews
Stuart King

Review: JEFFREY BERNARD IS UNWELL at The Coach and Horses, Greek Street

Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell More than 30 years have elapsed since this reviewer last witnessed a production of JEFFREY BERNARD IS UNWELL. On that occasion, Peter O’Toole played the eponymous Soho hack with a propensity for drunkenness and scandalous behaviour. So, how has this bizarrely incongruous beast, weathered the intervening decades? Read on…

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Sinéad Matthews (Sylvia), Lisa McGrillis (Maggie), Philip Whitchurch (Uncle Pete), Lorraine Ashbourne (Aunty Carol) and Lucy Black (Hazel) in Till the Stars Come Down at the National Theatre (c) Manuel H
05 Feb
Reviews
Stuart King

Review: TILL THE STARS COME DOWN at National Theatre, Dorfman

In a post-industrial East Midlands town where the largest employer was once the coal mines but is now a warehouse, three sisters prepare for the wedding of one of their number to a Polish immigrant. The scene is primed to unveil a gamut of familiar tropes — class disenchantment, resentment of immigrants, decades-old family feuds and of course the appalling spectacle of drunken wedding dancing en masse. But Beth Steel's caustic family drama also has some unexpected skeletons in its closet, and the excellent cast seem hell-bent on freeing them.

Sinéad Matthews (Sylvia), Lisa McGrillis (Maggie), Philip Whitchurch (Uncle Pete), Lorraine Ashbourne (Aunty Carol) and Lucy Black (Hazel) in Till the Stars Come Down at the National Theatre (c) Manuel HSinéad Matthews (Sylvia), Lisa McGrillis (Maggie), Philip Whitchurch (Uncle Pete), Lorraine Ashbourne (Aunty Carol) and Lucy Black (Hazel) in Till the Stars Come Down at the National Theatre. Photo (c) Manuel Harlan

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