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Is this how a grown-up behaves?
I preferred “Delroy” to “Michael” on pretty much all counts other than props – Michael had more props and they were a more pronounced aspect of the performance, which I enjoyed. In “Delroy”, the dialogues between characters enacted by the same person were less jarring, the acting more powerful, and the story maybe a bit…
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What has died, exactly?
Apparently, ‘Death of England’ is a ‘critically acclaimed’ trilogy – that statement in of its own should have been a warning signal. “Scorching and fearless play which asks explosive and enduring questions about identity, race and class in Britain” I am told. But is asking difficult questions enough to make a play good? Not in…
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Who is meant to be the victim?
I want to like this play, I really do. It draws on the reality of what we have seen happen – the harassment female MPs have been subjected to, most recently Rosie Duffield forced to withdraw from hustings. It even appears to have some predicative powers, with the character of the police officer selling photographs…
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Why we love the King of misrule
With the new trend of ultra-long films, I will admit that I have been struggling to get through them in one go. Dead Reckoning at 164 minutes , left me dying of boredom some half way through, but I preserved as it was part of family movie night. I gave up on Napoleon 30 minutes…
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Very long day’s journey
Sometimes its hard to tell, whether you simply do not like the play, or whether it is the production that is at fault. In this case, I think it is a little bit of both, but maybe its one and the same. There is probably an element in me that feels embarrassed that I seem…
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The fight goes on
I had not come across this play before, even though apparently it is quite well known in the UK The plot reminded me of a Shakespearean comedy, where the author decided to substitute the happily ever after with a gore-fest. But because of the speed at which some themes evolved, or occurred rather, there was…
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All the shades of grey
The Shakeaspears, the Chekovs, the Ibsens, they are greats because their work transcends time. But I get the urge to modernise them for today’s context – when done well, not only can existing themes be amplified, but new perspectives can also be woven through. That is the genius of some of the books within the…
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Unsex me now
I have seen a couple of Macbeths on stage before, obviously read the play, and more recently Jo Nesbo’s book, part of the “Hogarth” series. All my past experiences blur together to create the Macbeth imprint in my head, so I will readily admit that I cannot discern what exactly Emily Burns adapted in this…
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And the moral of the story is?
I really enjoyed the play, at first. The dialogue is quick and sharp from the start and the laughs keep coming. In a way, it is refreshing to see some really difficult topics addressed through satire. Exposing the hypocrisy of declared liberals who are in fact paying lip-service to feminist ideals; showing up the contradictions…
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Misogyny and patriarchy
I had not read or seen this play before, so I do not know how much Joe Hill-Gibbins adapted the original written in 1881, but it felt incredibly current and contemporary. I also do not know, whether it is through his directing that the performance, at least to me, seemed to be centred on the…
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