1984 at Bath Theatre Royal

1984 at Bath Theatre Royal

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Orwell’s novel of existential angst (subsequently given the appearance of alarming prescience by events in the Cold War) set in a dystopian future, is well established as a classic of the genre. The mark of its status within the culture is that even those unfamiliar with the novel will likely have heard of Big Brother and Room 101 and thoughtcrime. The story is an ironic take on a post war Britain which has supposedly been subsumed into the super-state of Oceania, that is ruled by the invisible, omnipresent being known as Big Brother and who is not known directly, but only through his iconic image. It is a dark vision in which ‘thought crime’ is relentlessly policed and punished.

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HANDBAGGED at the Oxford Playhouse

HANDBAGGED at the Oxford Playhouse

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Name the two most influential British women of the past 50 years. I can confidently predict (mainly because we are not face to face, so I can happily make up statistics with no fear of repercussions) that 95% of you said The Queen and Margaret Thatcher . . . Seamlessly mixing the serious with the absurd, Handbagged is great fun. It’s a real treat to get to imagine what made The Queen and Margaret Thatcher tick, and to get to know them, just a little bit. Yes they were influential figureheads, but they were also real people.

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The RSC’s HECUBA at the Swan, Stratford upon Avon.

The RSC’s HECUBA at the Swan, Stratford upon Avon.

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In this latest telling of a 3,000-year-old story about the fall of Troy, Marina Carr has amplified the woman’s perspective during times of testosterone fuelled slaughter and mayhem. Her Hecuba stands witness to the worst men can do when released from law and drunk on violence. From a bottomless pit of despair she presents a hauntingly simple but unarguable truth: “Society cannot run if women are unhappy.”

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HENRY V at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

HENRY V at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

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Director Gregory Doran and actor Alex Hassell memorably presented Prince Harry’s riotous youth with the roguish old knight Falstaff in Henry IV. Now he’s under the microscope on the hottest of hot seats, the throne. A process leavened by the introduction of some worthy and valid humour . . . Hassell’s performance too is nigh miraculous. It ranges from isolated, tense fixation as he affects the authority he strives to build – voice and movement full of edgy introversion, to assured soldierly bonhomie as success crowns his efforts.

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SANCHO at Birmingham Rep Studio

SANCHO at Birmingham Rep Studio

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Paterson Joseph delivers a performance that is hard to fault in Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. He begins the show as himself, in plain garbs, introducing his audience to Ignatius Sancho. Joseph’s passion for the subject matter is evident and he sets the tone for what follows: warm, buoyant and didactic . . . He is funny, too. Rarely does anyone (particularly in a one-man show) pull off audience interaction with such charm and humour as he does here. The rapport that he builds with the audience feels genuine and lays the groundwork for later emotional beats that he hits, making them all the more effective.

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ORPHEUS at Bristol Old Vic

ORPHEUS at Bristol Old Vic

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This is an imagined reworking of the Orpheus and Euridice myth by Little Bulb Theatre in which Django Reinhardt, the famed gypsy jazz guitarist of the inter-war years Paris, acts out the role of Orpheus opposite a nightclub chanteuse. It’s a flimsy conceit, but allows a very talented group to entertain with some style. If you like your gypsy guitarists suave, dumb and with a permanent air of noble sacrifice, this Django is for you. . . . The silliness of much of the dumb show mixed with an effervescent bonhomie and vivacity of presentation, together with a great sense of fun and no small musical talent, whisk the whole concoction into a joy not to be missed.

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