PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
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A playhouse that’s perfect for Jacobean acts
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
IN JANUARY the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London opened for its inaugural production The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Dominic Dromgoole and starring Gemma Arterton.
The space itself is a remarkable addition to London’s cultural landscape. It’s a recreation of a Jacobean indoor theatre which, while drawing on the 17th-century Blackfriars Playhouse, makes no claims to be an exact replica. It is an “archetype” but, whatever the space’s configuration, its productions have been fantastic.
Right from the opening of John Webster’s play, the atmosphere was electric. A remarkable sense of claustrophobia was immediately established and to sit in close quarters with David Dawson’s Ferdinand was unsettling and uncomfortable.
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GEORGE FOGARTY is dazzled by a breathtakingly skillful puppet version of Shakespeare’s greatest love poem
ANGUS REID applauds the potential of an ambitious show about Gaza, and encourages it to keep its nerve
MARY CONWAY becomes impatient with the intellectual self-indulgence of Tom Stoppard in a production that is, nevertheless, total class
