ajhlovestheatre

PASSION Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by James Lapine Directed by Michael Strassen Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester – until 5 June 2022 https://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/passion “Love as pure as breath, as permanent as death, implacable as stone” – yep, Sondheim. While other, lesser, wordsmiths define love in terms of hearts, flowers and June moons, only […]

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! Music by Richard Rodgers Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Based on the play “Green Grow The Lilacs” by Lynn Riggs Directed by Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein Young Vic – until 25 June 2022 https://www.youngvic.org/ Ah OKLAHOMA! That sunny, optimistic paean to community, New Frontier-ism and just good ole […]

LA BOHÈME Score by Giacomo Puccini New English libretto by David Eaton and Philip Lee Original concept by Adam Spreadbury-Maher and David Eaton Musical Direction by David Eaton Directed by Mark Ravenhill Kings Head Theatre – until 28th May 2022 https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/la-bohme If you imagined that Jonathan Larson’s RENT was the last word in giving a […]

PRIMA FACIE By Suzie Miller Directed by Justin Martin Harold Pinter Theatre – until 18 June 2022 https://primafacieplay.com/ticket-information/ The term ‘prima facie’ means “accepted as correct until proven otherwise” and it’s a fitting title for this harrowing but galvanising monologue in which an incandescent Jodie Comer portrays an ambitious criminal barrister whose life is transformed […]

THE STRAW CHAIR by Sue Glover Directed by Polly Creed Finborough Theatre – until 14 May 2022 https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/the-straw-chair/ It has taken some 34 years for Sue Glover’s strange but rather wonderful treatment of the legend of Lady Rachel Grange to reach London, having premiered in Edinburgh in the late 1980s. In fact it is a […]

THE BURNT CITY Created by Punchdrunk in collaboration with the Company Directed by Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle One Cartridge Place, Woolwich, London – booking until 4 December 2022 https://onecartridgeplace.com/theburntcity/?utm_source=punchdrunk.com&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=TheBurntCity You never forget your first Punchdrunk. Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle’s epoch-making shows have transformed expectations of what immersive, site-specific theatre can achieve, in terms […]

RABBIT HOLE by David Lindsay-Abaire Directed by Lawrence Carmichael Union Theatre – until 1 May 2022 https://uniontheatre.savoysystems.co.uk/UnionTheatre.dll/TSelectItems.waSelectItemsPrompt.TcsWebMenuItem_836.TcsWebTab_837.TcsProgramme_442959 Premiered in New York in 2006 with a cast headed by Sex And The City’s Cynthia Nixon and including the estimable Tyne Daly, David Lindsay-Abaire’s robust yet delicate piece, which considers the fall out from a child’s death, […]

SCANDALTOWN By Mike Bartlett Directed by Rachel O’Riordan Lyric Hammersmith Theatre – until 14 May 2022 https://lyric.co.uk/shows/scandaltown/#performances Because simultaneously having a starry revival of your early play selling out nightly in the West End (Cock featuring Jonathan Bailey) and a barnstorming neo-Shakespearean Trump fantasia wowing them at the Old Vic (The 47th) apparently isn’t enough, […]

SAD by Victoria Willing Directed by Marie McCarthy Omnibus Theatre – until 30 April 2022 https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/sad/ The title of Victoria Willing’d fanciful state-of-the-nation tragicomedy could refer to a number of things: Gloria (Debra Baker) has Seasonal Affective Disorder and has retreated to her loft following the death of her mother, to the bewilderment of her […]

BRAM STOKER’s DRACULA Adapted and performed by James Gaddas Directed by Pip Minnithorpe Richmond Theatre – seen on 27 March 2022 – also touring https://www.draculatheplay.com/ There have been numerous screen and stage versions of the Dracula legend over the decades, including a couple of musicals ranging from the misconceived to the riotously camp, but James […]