The Stage / Reviews

Peach Boy - The Adventures of Momotaro, Old Fire Station, Oxford

2009-11-06T16:35:00Z

Old Fire Station, Oxford: With the festive season imminent, theatre troupes are dusting off the red slippers and magic carpets in preparation for their family shows - or in Oxfordshire Theatre Company's case, their kotos and kimonos.

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Busted Jesus Comix, Above the Stag, London

2009-11-05T17:15:01Z

Above the Stag, London: Based on the real life trial and conviction of an underground comic book writer, David Johnston's pitch-black comedy acts as an indictment of censorship, while never quite focusing clearly enough to land any killer blows.

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Agon/Sphinx/Limen, Royal Opera House, London

2009-11-05T13:30:01Z

Royal Opera House, London: Premiering last night, Limen, Wayne McGregor's exploration of limits and thresholds, is a beautiful sensory contradiction.

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A Murder Has Been Arranged, Queen's, Hornchurch

2009-11-04T17:50:00Z

Queen's, Hornchurch: On stage in an abandoned thirties theatre, they're celebrating Sir Charles Jasper's inheritance. The cast have polished up their best RP accents for the upper classes with misplaced aspirates for the lower orders in this revival of Emlyn Williams' cliched, rarely performed backstage mystery.

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The Good Soul of Szechuan, Library, Manchester

2009-11-04T17:35:00Z

Library, Manchester: How refreshing to see Chris Honer's exhilarating new production inject fresh life into Bertolt Brecht's sometimes cumbersome classic.

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The Fever Chart, York Theatre Royal Studio

2009-11-04T14:00:00Z

York Theatre Royal Studio: The Fever Chart brings the shock and confusion of the Middle East within touching distance. Its characters are tragic and they are profoundly, movingly human. Whatever they are and whoever they are, they need each other.

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The Pros, the Cons and a Screw, The Theatre, Derby

2009-11-04T12:20:02Z

The Theatre, Derby: Tim Elgood's brilliant new play achieves the almost impossible in depicting a bunch of credible prisoners who aren't caricatures and who have the power to revolt or endear. How we feel about them parallels to some extent the crime they're inside for, which seems to be how it works in prison too.

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This Much is True, Theatre 503, London

2009-11-04T12:05:03Z

Theatre 503, London: Four years after the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes and a series of theatre, film and TV dramatisations later, and you may feel that there isn't a Stockwell transcript left to be given the verbatim treatment - but this is a production that nonetheless finds something new to say.

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Uncle Vanya, Theatre Royal, Bristol

2009-11-04T11:40:06Z

Theatre Royal, Bristol: The apron at the Theatre Royal has been specially extended to its original Georgian shape for this exemplary co-production by the Bristol Old Vic and Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory of Chekhov's masterful mix of humour and sadness, brimming over with the realities of life.

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Tread Softly/Carnival of the Animals/The Comedy of Change, Sadler's Wells, London

2009-11-04T11:40:05Z

Sadler's Wells, London: The Comedy of Change is set to a commissioned, untuneful and discordant score by Julian Anderson and stark black and white costumes designed by Kader Attia. Choreographer Mark Baldwin mixes dance and science into an interesting performance that tantalises the senses and stimulates the mind. This abstract dance work honours the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and celebrates the 150th anniversary of his influential book On the Origin of Species. How similarities become differences is seen as dancers move from performing in unison into solos, an interplay between past and the future and the nature of camouflage are other explored themes. Opening with a good piece of imagery, the hatching of chrysalises, the piece develops but becomes less fun and engaging as it lacks emotional warmth. Dancers Pieter Symonds, Gemma Nixon and Jonathan Goddard excel.

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Babylone, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

2009-11-03T12:15:00Z

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry: A chance meeting between a vagrant and city businessman in the lobby of the smart apartment block on Christmas eve is not all it is seems. Initially they play their roles - the vagrant asking for spare change; the businessman looking uncomfortable and accusing the stranger of making him feel guilty, as he only has a few coins to give. A few pithy facts are dropped into the script about the numbers of homeless people sleeping rough. However, this is not a play about homelessness particularly. Peter Tate plays the vagrant with an air of having been someone in a previous life. Even though he is grubby and sleeping rough, he is evidently more than he appears, with a profound and deadly purpose.

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Origin of the Species, Arcola, London

2009-11-03T10:00:00Z

Arcola, London: Through the tale of a female archaeologist's relationship with a prehistoric woman, Bryony Lavery injects the evolution of humankind with the sparky appeal of an Alan Bennett kitchen-sink drama. The result is a funny, touching and refreshingly surreal look at our shared history, told with enough heart to draw in even those who are sceptical about the science/drama theatrical hybrid - an increasingly popular genre in 2009, Darwin's 150th anniversary year and an occasion that has clearly motivated this UK revival.

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Michael Bruce, Apollo, London

2009-11-02T18:35:02Z

Apollo, London: Two years ago, a young composer called Michael Bruce won the Stage-sponsored Notes for The Stage competition, as a result of which his entry, Children, was heard as part of the 2007 Christmas in New York concert at the West End's Lyric Theatre. I should declare an interest here - I was part of the judging panel that made that choice. And now I'm relieved to be able to report that our faith in this exceptional talent was fully justified - but more importantly, so has the faith that the producers Neil Eckersley and Paul Spicer have invested in him, in every sense, in nurturing him to the next stage.

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Mrs Klein, Almeida Theatre, London

2009-11-02T18:10:01Z

Almeida Theatre, London: If Socrates asserts that the unexamined life is not worth living, then Nicholas Wright's brilliant play, with its coruscating dialogue and knowing humour, seems to suggest that too close examination renders familial harmony impossible.

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Michael Feinstein, Palladium, London

2009-11-02T14:45:01Z

Palladium, London: Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and now the London Palladium, where he took a standing ovation from a near capacity audience. Michael Feinstein, having collected five Grammy Nominations, has come a long way from his days as research assistant to Ira Gershwin which began his love affair with the Great American Songbook.

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