Alexander Cohen






MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

Review: HARRY CLARKE, Ambassadors Theatre
Review: HARRY CLARKE, Ambassadors Theatre
March 14, 2024

Billy Crudup's mercurial talent keeps this flaccid show afloat

Review: GIANT, Royal Opera House
Review: GIANT, Royal Opera House
March 9, 2024

Where does a body start and a human being end? The story of Charles Byrne, the so-called “Irish Giant” is the diving board off of which Composer Sarah Angliss’ debut opera leaps

Review: UNCLE VANYA, Orange Tree Theatre
Review: UNCLE VANYA, Orange Tree Theatre
March 8, 2024

Trevor Nunn's production runs until 13 April

Review: THE LONELY LONDONERS, Jermyn Street Theatre
Review: THE LONELY LONDONERS, Jermyn Street Theatre
March 6, 2024

“The city has eyes and it watches your every move.” There’s no time for welcomes for newly arrived Trinidadian immigrant Galahad. Only warnings from street-smart fellow immigrant Moses. The latter has taken the former under his wing; together they will traverse the twisting streets and interminable bustle of 1950s London.

Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE, London Coliseum
Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE, London Coliseum
February 29, 2024

It’s odd to watch an opera where the actual opera is an afterthought. At least that’s how it feels watching Simon McBurney’s The Magic Flute. His revival production sizzles with circus spectacle, high tech pageantry, and boundary breaking chutzpah. But underneath it all you’ll be hard pressed to find the warmth of a beating heart.

Review: OUT OF SEASON, Hampstead Theatre
Review: OUT OF SEASON, Hampstead Theatre
February 23, 2024

The odd-couple set up is a well worn path, but there’s more than meets the eye to Neil D’Souza’s bittersweet comedy.

Review: AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Duke Of York's Theatre
Review: AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Duke Of York's Theatre
February 20, 2024

German auteur Thomas Ostermeier's production is not as radical as it thinks it is

Review: KING LEAR, Almeida Theatre
Review: KING LEAR, Almeida Theatre
February 16, 2024

Yaël Farber described King Lear as theatre’s Everest. If that’s true, then they might just have scaled the summit.

Review: METAMORPHOSIS, Lyric Hammersmith
Review: METAMORPHOSIS, Lyric Hammersmith
February 7, 2024

Frantic Assembly’s new version, penned by Lemn Sissay, may be poetically vivid and visually mesmerising, but it is terminally plagued by dramatic inertia. Without that key ingredient, the production melts into the looming shadows. An expressionistic mess. But a beautiful one to watch unravel.

Review: TILL THE STARS COME DOWN, National Theatre
Review: TILL THE STARS COME DOWN, National Theatre
February 1, 2024

Till the Stars Come Down is a sparkling bundle of light and luminous love. If you don’t believe me, believe the colossal disco ball hovering above the stage.

Review: THE MOST PRECIOUS OF GOODS, Marylebone Theatre
Review: THE MOST PRECIOUS OF GOODS, Marylebone Theatre
January 25, 2024

The Holocaust is not an easy subject to tackle. Balancing storytelling without over-indulging in  trauma whilst being respectful is a delicate affair. For every Schindler’s List there are swathes of plays, books, and films that drown themselves in schmaltz. The Most Precious of Goods can be added to that list.

Review: AMBERGRIS, Barbican
Review: AMBERGRIS, Barbican
January 24, 2024

Ambergris pits the Jonah and Ahab stories together in what is another moodboard show, one that throws ideas together to see what sticks.

Review: KIN, National Theatre
Review: KIN, National Theatre
January 17, 2024

Breath and breathing and important motifs in Kin, Gecko Theatre Company’s new devised show about migration trauma. Performers inhale in unison as moments of respite and exhale in panting desperation. Sharing the humanity of their experience grants them, and us, hope that they are not alone.

Review: ELEKTRA, Royal Opera House
Review: ELEKTRA, Royal Opera House
January 15, 2024

The Royal Opera House’s new production of Elektra could do with an extra pinch of Saltburn-esque depravity.

Review: THE LAST SHOW BEFORE WE DIE, The Yard Theatre
Review: THE LAST SHOW BEFORE WE DIE, The Yard Theatre
January 11, 2024

The Last Show Before We Die dives headfirst into exploring that ultimate inevitability. This result is a mishmash collage tied together by string, practically exploding off the stage.

Review: STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW, Phoenix Theatre
Review: STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW, Phoenix Theatre
December 15, 2023

It’s very much a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The winning formula of gruesome body-horror thrills, teenage romance, and fuzzy edged nostalgia for the analogue age will feel familiar in this highly anticipated stage prequel. But if that formula is raking in millions who is complaining? If it’s Stranger Things you want, it’s Stranger Things you’ll get.

Review: COLD WAR, Almeida Theatre
Review: COLD WAR, Almeida Theatre
December 13, 2023

It raised eyebrows when it was announced: Paweł Pawlikowski’s Oscar nominated Cold War is hardly five years old, not nearly enough time for it to have fallen off the cultural radar. If a stage adaptation isn’t rejuvenating a lost classic, what does it want to achieve?

'2023 Was the Year The National Theatre Stood Up to the Plate' - Alexander Cohen's Best Theatre of 2023
'2023 Was the Year The National Theatre Stood Up to the Plate' - Alexander Cohen's Best Theatre of 2023
December 13, 2023

The National Theatre somewhat mutedly celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. There was ostensibly little fanfare. No public flotillas, no audiences with royal patrons or forty-one gun salutes. Instead we have been on the receiving end of presents, and a plethora of them in the form of one knockout production after another.

Review: GET HAPPY, Barbican Pit
Review: GET HAPPY, Barbican Pit
December 11, 2023

It’s very much the time of year for seasonal silliness, and whilst run-of-the-mill pantomimes are a safe choice, they are also a predictable one. Theatre company Told by an Idiot’s Get Happy is anything but that.

Review: THE HOMECOMING, Young Vic
Review: THE HOMECOMING, Young Vic
December 6, 2023

Matthew Dunster’s production of The Homecoming promises a “refocusing” of Pinter’s 1965 classic. I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean, but in reality it translates to a plastic production defanged of its guttural animal instincts and brutal bite. If you squint, you can make out Pinter’s genius, it’s sabre sliced cross-section of gendered power dynamics is just about detectable through the smoky haze.



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