The dance world is all the richer for having different kinds of storytellers - no doubt. But equally, audience members will inevitably gravitate towards makers they feel a connection with. I should be clear - I don't connect with Cathy Marston’s take on narrative dance, or perhaps just Jane Eyre rather than her whole canon.
This production is a treat. Einkvan (Everyman) is a play about connection, humanity, and intimacy. Written by Jon Fosse – the most performed Norwegian playwright after Ibsen and winner of the Nobel Prize in 2023 – it’s a haunting, longing journey. The search for compassion and kinship unfolds through parents who try to relate to their sons, to no avail. Blending dramatic practice with contemporary art and live footage, it’s very experimental, very European, and very peculiar. Directed by Kjersti Horn and presented in the original Norwegian with surtitles, it’s a deliciously highbrow, yet raw, experience.
In this version of the familiar story, we are whisked away to the 1800s American West. The sparring young men are now gun-touting cowboys, the ball is a barn dance, and the soundtrack is all banjos and whistles. It’s a bold transposition of the star-crossed Verona lovers, but one that works surprisingly well.
More lost than gained in this abridged version of Shakespeare's longest play
With plenty of colour, masks, and a mystical ambience, Andrei Șerban’s 1984 production of Turandot feels just as fresh as ever. Paired with a stellar cast on top form, it represents a great success, all around.
With NOW standing for many nows, thens, nowheres, future nows, past nows, and present nows, Jasmin Vardimon offers up revisited classic choreography fused with new material to create a beautiful and intense way to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. Offering a window into the world through movement, music and video, NOW is a playful and political piece.
In 1942 Moscow a top-secret meeting occured between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin as the Nazis rampaged through Europe and into the Soviet Union. This world premiere of Howard Brenton’s play imagines the attempts at diplomacy, political clashes and eye-watering amounts of drinking that may have occured as the two men thrashed out a deal to try to save the world.
Macabre and spectacular, this is Christmas fare as it once was and should still be, fully trusting its audience.
Grand dame Sian Phillips stealing the show, Adam Cooper giving an unexpected twirl and smaller theatre spaces punching above their weight. These are some of BroadwayWorld reviewer Cheryl Markosky's favourite theatre moments of 2024.
Now in its 27th year in London, The Snowman returns to Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre, offering a festive treat for families.
Words run out, as The Voice is lost and recovered
There’s no shame in pulling an old favourite from the vaults but Jonathan Miller’s 1982 gangster-themed production is firing blanks in this latest revival.
The Coronet's co-production with the Norwegian Ibsen Company (NIC) and Bergen's Den Nationale Scene examines the dangers of idealism through the story of the Ekdal family ripped apart by the arrival of Hjalmar Ekdal's childhood friend, Gregers Werle (also the son of wealthy industrialist Hakon). Read the review.
The Royal Ballet season continues with its first modern bill - Encounters: Four contemporary ballets. For some, like me, the four works presented are all new, but in actuality only two of the four are premières. And one of those is in fact a development of an existing (2022) pas de deux into a bigger scale work.
Tobias Kratzer’s production pulls the rug from underneath you writes BWW's critic.
Sir Julian Twombley is in hot water when it’s discovered that his family has been living way beyond his House of Commons’ wages. This isn’t the latest front page of a Daily Mail-made political attack, it’s the premise of one of Arthur Wing Pinero’s later comedies. Though Victorian farce isn’t exactly all the rage at the moment, The Cabinet Minister is so unfortunately relevant and timely you’d never think it was written in 1890.
Deservedly still Tchaikovsky’s most celebrated opera, Eugene Onegin astounds with angelic music that never ceases to amaze. This production by Ted Huffman, in his main stage Royal Opera debut, features a stellar cast with Kristina Mkhitaryan as Tatyana, Gordon Bintner as Onegin, and several choices that, while divisive, raise intriguing questions.
I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again…but what The Coronet Theatre is doing feels new, relevant and exciting. Currently on show is The Belt - Past & Future by Korea's Ambiguous Dance Company. The work is The Coronet's first-ever site-specific event, and I think it's an absolute corker.
The Menier Chocolate Factory just celebrated opening night of Gordon Greenberg’s production of The Baker’s Wife – with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Joseph Stein. Let's see what the London critics are saying!
The Menier Chocolate Factory is now presenting Gordon Greenberg’s production of The Baker’s Wife – with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Joseph Stein. Check out first photos of Lucie Jones and the rest of the cast in action!
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