Deborah Sims, Author at StageTalk Magazine

Mark Thomas CUCKOOED at the North Wall, Oxford

Posted by Deborah Sims | 16 Oct 2014

“. . . Cuckooed opens with Mark Thomas saying, “I’m a very good liar, but everything I’m telling you today is the truth.” He then plays with us a bit, adding “apart from a bit you’ll hear later involving the number 12.” Issues of trust are at the crux of this show – trust is the basis for relationships, for politics, for civilisation itself. . . Thomas is a brilliant performer – he’s quick, he’s witty, he’s angry. Sometimes his brain, and mouth, seems to work so fast that it’s hard to keep up, but it’s exhilarating trying to.”

The Paper Birds present BLIND at the North Wall, Oxford

Posted by Deborah Sims | 15 Oct 2014

” . . . this show really opened my eyes (despite the blindfold) to an area that I simply knew nothing about, and Grace Savage is a great ambassador. The final musical number that we hear, incorporating everything that we have heard throughout the play, feels electric, plus any piece of grown up theatre that gets an audience where the vast majority are under 25 years old is something to get really excited about.”

THE ANGRY BRIGADE at the Oxford Playhouse

Posted by Deborah Sims | 9 Oct 2014

“. . . James Graham’s new play, The Angry Brigade, is set against a backdrop of anarchy in the UK in the 70s, but paints a pretty damning picture of our current situation. . . It’s an ambitious undertaking, with the cast of four playing fifteen characters, and a raft of issues being covered, but in its boldness The Angry Brigade provides a satisfying response to the political and emotional issues that, though feeling so of the moment, have clearly been around for years”

THE FEVER at the Old Fire Station, Oxford

Posted by Deborah Sims | 1 Aug 2014

Is it possible to make the world a fairer place? “A sympathy for the poor does not change the life of the poor,” the narrator of The Fever tells us toward the end of her 90 minute monologue. “Artists who create works of art that inspire sympathy and good values do not change the life of the poor.” Being forced to confront the question of equality and what we tell ourselves is the inherent injustice of the world, having just had a nice dinner, with a comfortable bed waiting at home, makes sitting on that cushioned theatre seat a little less comfortable.