Simon Ward reviews Chekhov’s Dildo at The Hope Theatre If you had never heard Chekhov’s famous dictum regarding the duty owed to the audience by a playwright, ie that it you introduce a gun in the first act, it must be used before the play is over, writer […]
Simon Ward reviews How Not To Drown at Theatre Royal Stratford East This is a powerful and important piece of theatre. It provides a counterblast to the prevailing anti-immigrant rhetoric from the government and commentariat and it offers a personal account of a lived experience which could not […]
Simon Ward reviews Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor at The Park Theatre One chilling aspect of Paul Morrissey’s suspenseful new thriller is that it is based on a true story. On 26th December 1900, a relief ship designated to bring supplies and take one of the […]
Jasper Cunningham-Ward reviews KillyMuck at Edinburgh Fringe Set on a council estate in Northern Ireland, KillyMuck tells the story of a Catholic girl called Niamh. This one-woman show deals with all the heavy issues that are expected from a story focused on growing up in Northern Ireland. Whilst […]
Abigail Bryant reviews Adam & Eve at The Hope Theatre, Islington In today’s political and media climate, the very definition of ‘truth’ is as ambiguous as it is dangerous. Taking a step back from Trump and Hollywood, Adam & Eve confronts a post-truth era against the landscape of […]
Abigail Bryant reviews Shanter at Old Red Lion Theatre The transition from teenager to adult is a notoriously colourful and precarious time, and the age of social media brings with it a new layer of complexity and identity politics. Shanter explores ‘lad culture’ against the backdrop of a […]
Abigail Bryant reviews The Sea at Camden People’s Theatre It’s not difficult to feel alone in a room full of people, and Tom Froy’s The Sea explores isolation against the saturation of physical company in a city like London. With creative use of film, photography, music and props, […]
Abigail Bryant reviews Girls & Boys at the Royal Court Theatre It’s not often that something leaves you speechless, but Dennis Kelly’s Girls & Boys delivers such a powerful and visceral impact that language just doesn’t suffice for effectively conveying the experience housed within the renowned walls of […]
Abigail Bryant reviews The Drill at Battersea Arts Centre ‘If it’s not your thing, you are free to leave at any point.’ You’d be forgiven for feeling slightly dubious about a play that begins on this ominous premise, but multimedia theatre-makers Breach’s The Drill is certainly not for […]
Abigail Bryant reviews Eggsistentialism at Arcola Theatre At a time when the very notions of motherhood and reproduction are rich with fluid debate, Joanne Ryan’s Eggsistentialism is a poignant, engaging and illuminative exploration of gender and fertility. Narrated autobiographically, 35-year-old Joanne invites us to delve into her innermost […]