Come From Away, a musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein at the Phoenix Theatre in London 9/11 was a tragic event carried out by evil people.  The musical  Come From Away is a kind of antidote, reminding us that most people are basically good and generous. I’d forgotten but, ...
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Tony Kushner & Jeanine Tesori's great musical Click here to watch my video review of Caroline, Or Change on One Minute Theatre Reviews YouTube channel I managed to miss Caroline, Or Change when it was launched at Chichester, and again when it moved to Hampstead Theatre. Now that it’s transferred ...
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Magnificent cast featuring Nicola Walker, Maggie Steed and Alun Armstrong Click here to watch the review on YouTube A much loved teacher is about retire but his home is under siege by children from his school. His estranged daughter comes to visit her parents. His regular use of the cane ...
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Stephen Tompkinson's Scrooge is pitch perfect Click here to watch the review on YouTube As you'd expect from writer Jack Thorne, who wrote Harry Potter And The Cursed Child and director Matthew Warchus who directed Matilda The Musical), their adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is both magical and ...
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Patrick Barlow's The Messiah is heavenly  Click here to watch The Messiah reviewed on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews I wouldn’t say The Messiah, written and directed by Patrick Barlow, does justice to the nativity story but it certainly provides great Christmas entertainment. It’s a tale of hubris ...
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Tom Burke is mesmerising in this powerful production Schiller’s 1787 play about about love, freedom and a revolt against totalitarianism is given a powerful, grippiing production by actor Tom Burke and director Gadi Roll's new theatre company Ara. The plot concerns King Phillip II of Spain and his son Don Carlos in ...
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Jim Broadbent excels in Martin Mcdonagh's latest black comedy  A Very Very Very Dark Matter, Martin McDonagh's latest black comedy, is very very very dark and also very very very funny. The lead character is the Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen is portrayed as an egocentric idiot. It ...
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David Hare's new play is contrived, predictable & flat  When the National Theatre announces a new season, it's always a challenge to decide which events to spend one's time and money on. But a new play by one of our greatest living playwrights David Hare starring a fine actor like ...
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Jonathan Pryce & Eileen Atkins shine in confusing drama Florian Zeller'sThe Height Of The Storm is confusing. If you're going to see it, it's good that you know this because otherwise, like me, you'll spend the whole evening trying to work out what's going on instead of simply enjoying a ...
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The Humans exposes the fears at the heart of a modern family I love a family drama and they don't come better than this. The Humans by Stephen Karam won four Tony awards when it was on Broadway. Now the original production directed by Joe Mantello has been imported with the same cast. As ...
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Bawdy fun as women turn the tables on men Women In Power at the Nuffield Southampton Theatres’ city venue is a new version of Aristophanes' Assemblywomen. It sticks pretty closely to the original story in which women take over the government from the weak and incompetent men. Aristotle was having a ...
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A few blooms but no bouquet for a dull production Flowers for Mrs Harris, a musical based on a Paul Gallico story and directed by Daniel Evans, is set in East London just after the end of the second world war. In a world of rationing and drabness, Mrs Harris ...
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The Goons- Still crazy after all these years The Goon Shows are classic radio comedy. Many of us have caught up with them through the eternal repeats on Radio Four Extra. Part of the appeal is the imagination that radio encourages you to exercise. That makes it quite a challenge ...
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Copenhagen by Michael Frayn at the Minerva is rich in possibilities Click here for the YouTube review of Copenhagen in Chichester on One Minute Theatre Reviews So what is Copenhagen about? Ostensibly it’s about what happened at a mysterious meeting that took place in the Danish capital during World War ...
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Rhys Ifans is dying to be funny  Click here to watch my review of Exit The King starring Rhys Ifans on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews Exit the King is about how we come to terms with the shocking fact that we’re all going to die. As a ...
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Allelujah! written by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner at Bridge Theatre London. Click here for the review of Allelujah! by Alan Bennett on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews Much as I loved many of the Nicholas Hytner era productions at the National Theatre, not least his collaborations with ...
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Aidan Turner is hilarious in Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant Of Inishmore Watch the review of The Lieutenant Of Inshore by One Minute Theatre reviews on YouTube Mad Padraic is an Irish terrorist in the time of The Troubles, he’s too violent and unpredictable even for the IRA. But he loves ...
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Fun Home is a perfect musical Click here to see the YouTube review of Fun Home on One Minute Theatre Reviews Fun Home is a perfect musical- a joyous story driven by mystery and tragedy; songs with clever lyrics and catchy tunes that give an extra depth to the tale; ...
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Isango Ensemble's SS Mendi is Powerful Theatre Watch the YouTube review on One Minute Theatre Reviews As shocking fact is laid upon shocking fact, it becomes hard to judge SS Mendi- Dancing The Drill Of Death as a piece of theatre, such is one’s outrage at how the British behaved towards ...
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Royal Shakespeare Company's Miss Littlewood does her proud Click here to watch Miss Littlewood reviewed on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews On the face of it Miss Littlewood at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon is a celebration of the theatrical revolutionary Joan Littlewood. Actually Sam Kenyon's marvellous musical is a ...
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