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Aliya Al-Hassan
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Review: FLAMENCO FESTIVAL: SI, QUIERO, Sadler's Wells
Mercedes de Córdoba's work Sí, quiero (meaning ‘yes, I want’) looks at a group of women creating their own wedding ceremony. And as such occasions normally unfold, we’re promised “peace and passion, hope and madness”. ...
Review: FLYING DUTCHMAN, Grand Junction
A mixed beast that roars when it comes to the music but is ultimately let down by issues surrounding the conception and dramaturgical realisation....
Review: ROCKSTAR, King's Head Theatre
Olly Medlicott’s vision is crystal clear, but this iteration looks and sounds more like the workshop of an early draft. It lacks punch and falls short in atmosphere at this stage, but it can gain it, doubtlessly....
Book Review: EXPLORING SHAKESPEARE. A DIRECTOR'S NOTES FROM THE REHEARSAL ROOM by Bill Alexander
The process of bringing the works of the Bard to a modern stage is full of challenges, as director Bill Alexander explains in his new book, Exploring Shakespeare. A Director's Notes from the Rehearsal Room. In an absorbing glimpse into the rehearsal room, we are introduced to the choices which fac...
Review: CUCKOO, Royal Court
Blood is thicker than water and love is stronger than hate. There is a deep sentimental heart beating at the core of Michael Wynne’s new play that asks us what it means to connect as a family in our increasingly absurd lives. ...
Review: FLAMENCO FESTIVAL: LA CONFLUENCIA, Sadler's Wells
Let's talk stereotypes for a moment. Joaquin Cortes definitely changed any fixed narratives about flamenco when he entered the global stage circa 1995, but the general consensus would still be ‘woman in frilly red dress’ I imagine....
Review: FLAMENCO FESTIVAL: LA LEONA, Sadler's Wells
Sadler’s Wells' Flamenco Festival really is a festival. As in the programme includes a wide range of approaches and possibilities when dealing with the genre. It makes the relevance of flamenco in 2023 something to ponder - as there's clearly an interest, and different generations of creatives ver...
Review: DR SEMMELWEIS, Harold Pinter Theatre
A sombre warning against dogmatism adherence has resonances today. It's just curiously unclear what they are....
Review: BONES, Park Theatre
With society bursting with an array of social issues to tackle, creative platforms hold great potential in providing complex and transformative commentary on such issues. Bones, a co-production between production company Refine and leading rugby mental health organisation – LooseHeadz – is a pro...
BWW Review: IN DREAMS, Leeds Playhouse
Set in New Mexico, the story revolves around the former lead singer of a country-rock band, who, at a critical moment in her life, invites her old bandmates to join her for “the party of a lifetime” while keeping her true motivations a secret. In Dreams will take you on a joyous uplifting but al...
Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ, London Palladium
Familiar and safe it may be, but the show delivers spectacle and entertainment as only theatre can...
Review: BENEATHA'S PLACE, Young Vic
Written a decade ago, the piece is perhaps more significant now than it was in 2013. Beneatha’s Place is unquestionably and ideologically hefty, academically relevant, and socio-politically topical. It very much rides on the coattails of Raisin, covering the same points with an added first-hand re...
Review: BALLET FLAMENCO SARA BARAS: ALMA, Sadler's Wells
“I am the soul that dances chainless. I am the moon’s insatiable dream. I am a witness in life’s shadow…there is no need to tell you that this is my flamenco heart which has a bolero soul.” And with this, Alma's opening speech lays bare the poetic nature of this legendary flamenco dancer�...
Review: FISHEYE, Omnibus Theatre
Fisheye is the crown jewel of the first edition of Omnibus Theatre’s AI Festival. If expanded and developed accordingly, it might have the reach and impact of a new earth-shaking classic. Pout’s world-building is ambitious but consistent and decisive, as is his attention to detail and allegoric ...
Review: SECRET THOUGHTS, Omnibus Theatre
There are plenty of riveting reflections, from the science versus belief argumentation, to how the awareness of mortality plagues our race, pushing us to research a more significant meaning to make sense of it. ...
Review: AGATHA, Theatre503
In today’s more progressive world, society still tells women the most fulfilling part of life is to have children. So often they’re told “give it a try” or “you’ll change your mind,” but Florence Howard’s debut play Agatha at Theatre503 boldly says sometimes women don’t want childr...
Review: CHESTER MYSTERY PLAYS, Chester Cathedral
Originally performed in Chester as early as 1375, The Mystery Plays have been performed every five years in the city since 1951, with a cast of 150 actors, singers and musicians of all ages staging the 2023 production in the historic setting of the city’s beautiful cathedral....
Review: CRAZY FOR YOU, Gillian Lynne Theatre
With a plot packed with clichés that are older than the hills and gags of pure corn which may be even older, it’s just as well that Crazy For You is an utterly spectacular feast for the eyes and ears....
Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Opera Holland Park
With June being a prime time to get hitched, now should be as good as any time to dig up and put on stage Felix Mendelssohn’s 1842 incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a score which features the famous Wedding March. Despite the play’s themes, this melding of classical sound and dra...
Review: COMPANY OF ELDERS, Sadler's Wells
The Company of Elders' Saturday matinee performance at Sadler's Wells finished with a nightclub atmosphere. It saw the cast of the last piece coming into the auditorium and inviting the audience members onto the stage to dance the afternoon away. ...
Review: A STRANGE LOOP, Barbican Theatre
Hot off Broadway with a Best Musical Tony and a Pulitzer Prize for its script, Michael R Jackson’s A Strange Loop comes to London for a summer run at The Barbican....
Review: DUCK, Arcola Theatre
In the light this week's report into exclusion and racism in cricket, this lovely one man show could not be more timely....
Review: A PLAYLIST FOR THE REVOLUTION, Bush Theatre
The summer season of the Bush opens with a politically charged show about the delicate, complex connection between Jonathan, who lives in Hong Kong, and Chloe, an ambitious second-generation Hongkonger in England. Their long-distance relationship works through music recommendations and sweet message...
Review: THE SWELL, Orange Tree Theatre
The world premiere of Isley Lynn’s The Swell is a head scratching affair. It’s a short sharp 90 minutes, but there’s a lot to get your head around. Buckle up....
Review: THEN, NOW & NEXT, Southwark Playhouse
The writers want so badly for this to be a soberly romantic mix between The Notebook and The Bridges of Madison County via Dear Evan Hansen, but only manage to hit the nails of its coffin. It’s unexciting, unengaging, and as deep as a rivulet. The characters are one-dimensional figurines, includin...
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