Tezza's Theatre Place

Ciarán Hinds (Hugh), Colin Morgan (Owen), Adetomiwa Edun (Lieutenant Yolland). Image by Catherine Ashmore Love it or loathe it, the British Empire is a rich source of material that is ready-made for novels or plays – usually suggesting the English were bad while everyone else good. However, some writers have approached the subject in less obvious ways and one of those is Irish playwright Brian Friel, whose 1980 play  Translations  has recently been revived at the National Theatre. 1833 and in the quiet community of Baile Beag, life continues much as it always has. The inhabitants are an insular lot who speak Irish, Greek and Latin – thanks to a knowledge of the classics and the teachings of the Catholic church – but who don’t speak English, the language of their rulers. In the local ‘hedge’ school, aspiring teacher Manus (Seamus O’Hara) is working with Sarah (Michelle Fox) a local girl with a severe speech impediment. His father, schoolmaster Hugh (Ciarán Hinds) has not ye...

Patrick Baldwin. Cécile Leterme, Christophe Grégoire, Camille Cayol I love the fact that theatre is so much more than just a proscenium arch and a stage. Immersive, site-specific, promenade, there are so many ways in which a play can be put on to entertain an audience. For example, at the Barbican, Cheek By Jowl productions have brought their version of  Périclès, Prince de Tyr  by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins. In a very blue hospital ward, a man (Christophe Grégoire) is lying in bed. Although a radio is playing, the man appears to be in a coma. He is being looked after by a Doctor (Cécile Leterme) and two nurses (Guillaume Pottier and Martin Nikonoff). As he lies there, the man’s family (Camille Cayol, Valentine Catzéflis and Xavier Boiffier) come in and sit with him. All though is not as it would seem, and in a series of switches between the reality of the hospital room, and the journey of Périclès he travels a world of pirates, magic and double-crossing to f...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197762/review-macbeth-olivier-theatre-national-theatre/ Macbeth: Royal National Theatre London – Credit Brinkhoff/Mögenburg Once again Shakespeare has come into my life. This time it is the turn of ‘The Scottish Play’ to be given a makeover and presented in a new format to the theatregoing public. So, off I go to the South Bank and the National Theatre to see  Macbeth . In the wilds of Scotland, three witches (Hannah Hutch, Anna-Maria Nabirye and Beatrice Scirocchi) are preparing mischief. They meet with Macbeth (Rory Kinnear), Thane (Duke) of Glamis and his bosom friend Banquo (Kevin Harvey). Hailing Macbeth first they tell him that he shall be “Thane of Cawdor,” and “be King hereafter”. When Banquo asks for a prophecy for himself, the witches answer “that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one.” the witches disappear and another Thane runs in d...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/196952/a-passage-to-india-park-theatre-london-review/ As a British person, I am meant to be ashamed by the UK’s colonial past. And in some ways, I can understand that. Certain regressive laws introduced during the days of ‘ the empire on which the sun never set ’ are still in place in some of the former colonies, and let’s be honest, the colonial power often abused their position and the local populace. To get an idea of how things were, you can head to the Park Theatre to see Simon Dormandy’s adaptation of E. M. Forster’s classic  A Passage to India . In the city of Chandrapore, in British India, there are two very different types of people – The British and the Indians. They exist side by side, working ‘together’ – with the British in the positions of power – but the two races don’t mix outside of working relationships and they definitely don’t socialise. However, Dr Aziz (Asif Khan) doesn’t entirely believe that this is true. He for exam...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/195858/review-mad-as-hell-jermyn-street-theatre/ Vanessa Donovan and Stephen Hogan in Mad as Hell, credit of Eddie Otchere. There is always a frisson of real excitement when I find out the production I’m off to see is a world premiere. Knowing I will be one of the first people to view and comment on a show is both exciting and humbling at the same time. So, it is with some trepidation that I write about  Mad as Hell  receiving its world premiere at the Jermyn Street Theatre. In a Jamaican bar, a local girl is having a good time. Her name is Eletha Barrett (Vanessa Donovan) and works as a dance hostess with an enlarged moral sense. Yes, she will accept money to dance with men but that is as far as it goes. Sitting watching her is a middle-aged white guy (Stephen Hogan) in a rumpled suit. The two strike up a conversation and Eletha seems unimpressed with the man, even when he boasts that he is the renowned actor Peter Finch. Peter may be...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/195750/review-the-soul-of-wittgenstein-the-omnibus-theatre/ Wittgenstein: Richard Stemp and Ben Woodhall- Photographer Lidia Crisafulli When looking for a profound opening statement to a review, it’s not often I delve into the world of musical theatre. But this quote from  The King and I  immediately sprang to mind as being very appropriate to  The Soul of Wittgenstein  which has opened the Omnibus Theatre. The quote goes – “If you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught”, and it fits the bill perfectly. Late 1941 and a middle-aged man – real name Ludwig Wittgenstein (Richard Stemp) – is getting ready for work. He is unhurried in his preparations and meticulously irons each item of clothing before putting it on. We move now to Guys Hospital where, in a private room, a young man by the name of John Smith (Ben Woodhall) is lying in bed. He is joined by Ludwig dressed in a porter’s jacket and here to administer John’s ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/195454/review-arnika-theatre-voliere-bridewell-theatre/ Arnika – Image by Tom Crooke/Bobbin Productions In these days of Brexit and Trump, knowing which country a person is from seems to be more and more relevant than before, so where are you from? I’m British, I have a friend who is Australian, another is American and so on. Simple, I have my identity and so do you. Now imagine that you were from an area of the Europe where your nationality has not just changed hands once but since 450 BC, has actually switched ‘locations’ seventeen times, and since 1900 has been seen a change of owner four times. That is the fate of Alsace, the location for Mick Wood’s new play  Arnika , part of Théâtre Volière’s Marchland festival at the Bridewell Theatre. 1951 and in a village in a forest in the Vosges mountains of Alsace, there is tension in the air. The Mayor of the town, and local hotelier – Josef Seltz (Anthony Orme) – is getting ready for an unwelc...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/193202/edward-ii-review-greenwich-theatre-london/ Lazarus Theatre’s Edward II 2017 – Photo by Adam Trigg “ Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely ” or so the saying goes. But, what is power in this context? For example, an absolute monarch appears to have total power over their domain but, in reality, this is an illusion and their hold on the throne and all that goes with it is very fragile and subject to the will of many others. Lazarus Theatre Company demonstrates this superbly in their new production of Marlowe’s  Edward II  at the Greenwich Theatre. Edward I is dead and his fourth son inherits the throne and assumes the title of Edward II (Timothy Blore). Edward is young, only 23 at the time of his accession, and his youth shows when, despite all the warnings of his court, Edward invites his favourite minion Piers Gaveston (Oseloka Obi) to return to England and join his court. Although not a nobleman by bir...

https://www.carnstheatrepassion.com/review-woman-white/ ♦♦♦♦ Review By Terry Eastham Are you a fan of Victorian melodrama? Are you a fan of Musicals? And finally, are you a fan of the work of ’The Lord’ – you know who I mean? If you can answer yes to at least two of these, then get yourself down to the Charing Cross Theatre where they are staging a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White. The story begins in as drawing teacher, Walter Hartright (Ashley Stilburn) arrives at the rail station that serves Limmeridge House. Through the fog, Walter sees a woman (Sophie Reeves) running as if from someone. Startled by this apparition, Walter makes his way to Limmeridge House where he is taking up a post teaching drawing to half sisters Marian Halcombe (Carolyn Maitland) and Laura Fairlie (Anna O’Byrne). The reason for this is to find the girls something to do, because the elderly Mr Fairlie (Anthony Cable) wants peace and quiet in his last days. As the days go on a strang...