Recent times have taught us that the novel ‘dark romantic comedy’ genre can work in popular culture. Tim Burton even created such a style that is now synonymous with his namesake. Corpse Bride, for example, shows that the motif can succeed in straddling the line between the macabre and the touching without falling too far onto one side or the other. It Happened […]
It is remarkable that the principal themes of Machinal, an expressionist 1928 play by Sophie Treadwell, should resonate so acutely with the dominant questions of the modern world. Ideas of a woman’s role in an industrial and patriarchal society, whether one can be trapped by society and whether there is any ‘way out’ are in many […]
Follies is, in one way, exactly what you might expect from a 1971 work by the noted musical dramatist Stephen Sondheim, in that it’s a true spectacle, with lyrics that bounce effortlessly off its superb score, and huge, colourful and bombastic set-pieces that leave the audience in awe. On the other hand, the latest revival […]
As the festivities on London’s South Bank get under way the big purple tent opens its bovine-adorned folds up to a fitting act of spectacle and astonishment. Catch Me (or Attrape Moi) comprises a group of young artists and circus performers from Quebec—a proving ground for the talented entertainers of this sort of thing. Running […]
With a rock opera-esque musical, you usually know the kind of thing you’re going to get: a focus on song over story, a tendency for melodrama over subtlety and a production design which more resembles a rock concert than a traditional stage; these quirks can succeed if the songs and performances are strong. Lizzie adheres […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2016 MyTheatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Nominated for Best Original Work in this year’s London My Theatre Awards, Neil McPherson is the writer behind It Is Easy To Be Dead, a play which follows the life of war poet, Charles Hamilton Sorley, […]
It must be difficult basing a play around a group as well-known and held in such high esteem as the Marx Brothers while still retaining the sense of individual character that a standalone play offers. Such a concept can be an opportunity to investigate and explore the wider, metaphysical nature of its subject matter in […]
Having completed my first run-through of Dishonored 2 (the sequel to the excellent 2012 original from Arkane Studios), I feel some sort of pride in my ‘sneak around and don’t kill anyone unless absolutely necessary’ approach. Sure, I probably didn’t have as much fun as I could have had if I had taken the ‘high […]