Simon Ward reviews The Boy at Soho Theatre The blackboard outside the theatre, and the theatre staff, warn as one enters that Joakim Daun’s beguiling new play deals with sensitive issues – a warning all the more ominous for being so vague. And, indeed, the themes touched upon […]
Simon Ward reviews Oils at RADA Studios Oils by Jessica Rachid, which ran for two nights at RADA Studios as part of the Bloomsbury Festival, deals with the theme of domestic violence and abuse. Based on her own mother’s experience of horrendous abuse while she was pregnant, it […]
Simon Ward reviews Dead Dad Dog at the Finborough Theatre This is the first major revival of a play that first ran in 1988, to much critical acclaim, first in the Traverse in Edinburgh followed by the Royal Court in London. It is therefore something of a period […]
Simon Ward reviews Lessons On Revolution at the Hope Theatre In this thrilling and thought-provoking piece of documentary theatre, writer-performers Samuel Rees (Sam) and Gabriele Uboldi (Gab) skilfully, wittily and movingly weave together a narrative which encompasses, among many other things, Cecil Rhodes and his conquest and exploitation […]
Simon Ward reviews Twisted Tales at the Cockpit Theatre In an otherwise dark theatre, a large book is illuminated in the centre of the stage. As the troupe of actors approach this peculiar object, one of them works out that it can be opened to reveal its secrets. […]
Simon Ward reviews in|Secure at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre As a Ukrainian who moved to the UK some six months before Russia’s invasion of her country, Valery Reva has created her own one-woman black comedy about the war, in a deeply personal exploration of the challenges currently […]
Simon Ward reviews The Tragedy of Macbeth at Southwark Playhouse. Flabbergast Theatre have spent years working and re-working this noisy, exuberant, muscular and unnerving version of Shakespeare’s infamous Scottish play. Entering the auditorium is like stumbling onto the enactment of an ancient pagan ritual in a woodland clearing. Characters […]
Simon Ward reviews How To Break Out Of A Detention Centre at the Riverside Studios This is the world premiere of a piece whose themes and message arguably transcend the world of theatre and render any review meaningless. Performed in many languages by performers passionately and deeply engaged […]
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 […]
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