Category: Theatre

We weren’t entirely sure what to expect from the stage show of Fawlty Towers – would it simply be a nostalgic evening of lighthearted entertainment, drawing sketches from the short-lived but enduringly-popular 1970s TV series? Or would it contain some surprises? Would there be an attempt to modernise the material for a world that’s very different from when the pilot episode aired some 50 years ago? This play very much is an exercise in nostalgia. If you’re a fan of the TV show, you’ll know what to expect – a…

It’s been a while since People, Places and Things last graced our stages: Duncan Macmillan’s drama originally debuted at the National Theatre back in 2015, winning rave reviews and earning Denise Gough an Olivier Award. Macmillan and Gough have reunited with director Jeremy Herrin to revive the play at London’s Trafalgar Theatre, which opened this week and is playing through to 10th August. We’ll say this right away: it’s absolutely brilliant – rarely does theatre feel this important. An urgent consideration of rehab, we meet Gough playing the role of…

Chekhov is one of the great playwrights and there have been a number of his plays revived and reimagined recently on London’s West End. Last year we caught the radical one-man Vanya starring Andrew Scott; the year before we reviewed a minimalist The Seagull, starring Emilia Clarke. Opening this week at The Donmar Warehouse is a bold, contemporary take on The Cherry Orchard – this is a radical new version by director Benedict Andrews. It’s not trying to be traditional: actors use their own accents; wear modern (and quite awful)…