The People's Theatre, Newcastle. I went with some trepidation to the People's Studio space on opening night. Pinter's work can, in the wrong hands, go disastrously wrong, and even in skilled hands can be tough to sit through. I needn't have worried. Director Mary MacDonald and the cast have put together a programme of one-act … Continue reading Harold Pinter: short plays – 5 stars

Above The Stag Theatre, London. It's testament to the exuberant fun and sheer spectacle - not to mention the first class performances - of this production, that I didn't look down at my little pad once to make a note during the 90-minute running time. Fresh from a hugely successful run at this year's Edinburgh … Continue reading My Big Gay Italian Wedding – 5 stars

Theatre Collection, London. Victor Sobchak's dire production fails on pretty much every level. He shuffles his actors around the stage like a novice chess player blindly pushes the pieces around the board, but beyond that he appears to have bestowed nothing whatsoever of a director's eye on this piece. Settings are unclear and scene changes … Continue reading Ivanov – 0 stars

Arch 61, London. Four seemingly disconnected and dysfunctional people, through a series of short intermittent monologues, take us on their roller-coaster ride of increasing frustrations over the course of a day, in this short piece by Spanish playwright Miguel Morillo and translated by Daniel Curshen. The play drips with misanthropic cynicism. The theme is very … Continue reading Hamlet Smith – 4 stars

Producing theatre for children is a tricky thing to get right. Playing for easy, obvious laughs is a sure-fire way to get and keep your audience on board, but that's not always easy to achieve or the right choice creatively - particularly when you have as serious a subject matter as this. It is to … Continue reading I Have A Dream… – 3 stars