★★★★☆ As with any Laurence Boswell production we enjoy the interplay of characters. Rubin looks daggers and spits blended scotch – being a malt man – and like any halfway decent spider knows exactly where the prey is in his web. Considered in his movements, Mr. Abraham is an actor who knows exactly what his body is doing and when and how to use it; there’s no waste and nothing lacking.
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★★★★☆ An anniversary is as good a reason as any for mounting a revival of a popular success. Willy Russell’s one woman hit is now thirty years old and re-emerges into a changed world that has made huge strides in some areas whilst stubbornly dragging its feet in others . . . Jodie Prenger delivers an impressive piece of acting that hints at much more to come.
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★★★★★ The ‘Messiah’ becomes ‘The Beloved’ and his followers, a crestfallen bunch of activists, rummage around looking for some meaning and direction following his death. The chorus, much loved by Handel who was very sweet on the English choral tradition, particularly following the waning of our love affair with Italian opera, here takes a role similar to that of the chorus in classical Greek theatre . . .
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★★★☆☆ Like many a folk tale the story reeks of allegory. An immigrant Italian ice cream seller, Jim (Valeria Compagnoni) meets a beautiful American girl, Alice (Lexie McDougall) whom he rescues from drowning and the unkind attentions of a shark, off the beach of 1950’s Coney Island.
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★★★★★ The National are at it again; knocking out a huge crowd pleaser with international appeal and bringing it home skipping as light on its feet as ever for a return national tour. I first reviewed the production a couple of years ago when it was stretching its legs at the Bristol Hippodrome. My original assessment after last night’s viewing has not changed
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