This play may be about a situation in Italy half a century ago, but the parallels with the UK today are obvious, even before they are telegraphed by the script and production. This version of Fo’s 1974 political farce Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!—commonly known in English as Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! but there… Continue reading No Pay? No Way!
Month: May 2023
Accessible: Nottingham venue awarded quality mark
Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall has been recognised for its commitment to making the venue accessible for everyone. Nottinghamshire Carers Association has awarded the theatre a carer friendly organisation quality mark. The Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall has regular sign language interpreted, captioned, audio described and relaxed performances, a guide dog-sitting service, large… Continue reading Accessible: Nottingham venue awarded quality mark
Once On This Island
Based on Rosa Guy’s novel My Love, My Love (itself a version Hans Andersen’s Little Mermaid), this story of love across the class divide is framed as a story told to a little girl frightened by a savage storm. Director Ola Ince updates that to a marketplace where militia disrupt life, her production reflecting the… Continue reading Once On This Island
Bigger casts at 2023 Buxton Fringe
Around 190 events have been scheduled for the 2023 Buxton Fringe, with companies from all over the UK and beyond offering more than one show or presenting productions with bigger casts. Fringe chair Stephen Walker said, “now that COVID is hopefully in our rear-view mirror, entrants are approaching this year’s Fringe with confidence and we’re… Continue reading Bigger casts at 2023 Buxton Fringe
The Book of Will
Director Lotte Wakeham writes in the programme that, according to a 2017 article in The New Yorker, Lauren Gunderson is by far the most performed playwright in the USA after Shakespeare, but her name isn’t familiar to most people on either side of the Atlantic (we’ve reviewed just one of her plays, I and You at Hampstead in 2018).… Continue reading The Book of Will
RSC casts two summer plays in Stratford’s Swan
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to stage two “timely and evocative” plays, The Empress by Tanika Gupta and the world première of Falkland Sound by Brad Birch, in the Swan Theatre, Stratford in summer 2023. RSC acting artistic director Erica Whyman said, “the RSC has always believed it’s essential to support and celebrate living writers who can expose new… Continue reading RSC casts two summer plays in Stratford’s Swan
A Brief List of Everyone Who Died
“The meaning of life is that it stops.” These words, by Franz Kafka, are essentially what Graciela learns in Jacob Marx Rice’s play A Brief List of Everyone Who Died, which is receiving its first staging at the Finborough Theatre, following an online rehearsed reading in 2021. Scarred by the loss of her dog, Buster,… Continue reading A Brief List of Everyone Who Died
Maverick takes play back to Birmingham pub
Maverick Theatre’s production of Jim Cartwright’s comedy drama Two which finished a run in April at Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick is to return to Birmingham to the pub where Maverick started. Artistic director Nick Hennegan said, “we’ve had a great run in London and I love that we’re now ‘transferring’ the show to the… Continue reading Maverick takes play back to Birmingham pub
Williams leaves after 30 years with Birmingham Royal Ballet
Anna Williams is to step down as chief operating officer after almost 30 years with Birmingham Royal Ballet. She said, “it’s been an absolute privilege and an exceptional experience to have worked within the Birmingham Royal Ballet team first as finance director and then as chief operating officer. Looking back, it’s nothing short of thrilling to… Continue reading Williams leaves after 30 years with Birmingham Royal Ballet
Brokeback Mountain
Annie Proulx’s short story about the secret love between two Wyoming cowboys has already been made into an Oscar-winning film by Ang Lee and an opera by Charles Wuorinen for which Proulx wrote the libretto. Now writer Ashley Robinson, with the approval of Proulx, has made this stage adaptation in which songs by Dan Gillespie… Continue reading Brokeback Mountain