DEATH OF A SALESMAN at Bath Theatre Royal

DEATH OF A SALESMAN at Bath Theatre Royal

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Last night we had a lesson in the value of an actor, that is, what an actor can bring to a script. Following the untimely death of Tim Pigott-Smith who was to play the lead role in Miller’s bitter bouquet to a lost way of life and filial love, Nicholas Woodeson has bravely stepped into the part with a mere two weeks to learn the lines. Unsurprisingly last night’s performance could only reach the heights of a well-rehearsed read-through with Mr Woodeson understandably some way from being ‘off book’.

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RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY at Oxford Playhouse

RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY at Oxford Playhouse

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★★★★☆ The first act consists of Tangent, where the dancers enact the movement of the seasons to Jason Ridgway’s piano music. It’s no reflection of the skill of the dancers or the quality of Ridgway’s accompaniment that I found this the least interesting of the pieces. Certainly the troupe do a good job of evoking the flirtations of spring and the dourness of winter, etc. . . . the Richard Alston Dance Company performed a holistically impressive show.

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THE MARKED at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol

THE MARKED at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol

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★★★★★ It’s clear that Theatre Témoin have done their research for this piece and are passionate about the themes it tackles. Their program notes and website list the organisations they have collaborated with and include quotes from the homeless and those with mental health issues, and they have organised symposiums around the topics as part of this play’s touring programme.

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MEDEA at Bristol Old Vic

MEDEA at Bristol Old Vic

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★★★☆☆ Writer, Chino Odimba’s BC/AD mash is a very Euripidean project of reimagining characters from traditional myth as contemporaries, with all the psychological nuance that we might now expect. So a modern tale of marital infidelity and familial breakup is superimposed on Euripides’ original with Medea becoming a present day Maddy . . . this is a novel reworking of a much interpreted classic which has enable the Old Vic to present some noteworthy talent.

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A JUDGEMENT IN STONE at the Cheltenham Everyman

A JUDGEMENT IN STONE at the Cheltenham Everyman

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★★★☆☆ Ruth Rendell’s lauded crime novel has been newly adapted courtesy of Bill Kenwright and directed by Roy Marsden – himself a veteran of appearing in and directing crime procedurals, not least in Cheltenham last year with Rehearsal for Murder. This is very much a successor to the work of the Agatha Christie Theatre Company’s work and will prove very satisfying to fans of police procedurals and crime thrillers.

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