The lights are off at the Underbelly Festival, with the Southbank’s annual comedy & cabaret takeover well underway for another year.
The lights are off at the Underbelly Festival, with the Southbank’s annual comedy & cabaret takeover well underway for another year.
“Currently on international tour, Cheek By Jowl’s tale is a modern telling replete with creative solutions to a tricky Problem Play, balancing truth and a sense of play.
Hailing from Chicago, veteran improv performers, TJ and Dave, take their eponymous show to Soho Theatre. After a few perfunctory words of introduction, the pair launch into a long-form improvised set, running just under an hour.
Simon Stephens and Imogen Knight have teamed up once more to mix dance with theatre. Call me simple but a production titled Nuclear War does invoke expectations that there will be some global crisis in its make-up. This is not the case with Stephens’ latest piece.
Artist Director Paul Miller directeds this run of The Lottery of love and it definitely seems a lucky dip of highs and lows.
When Albert Camus wrote his novel The Plague in 1946, it was considered a metaphor for the rise of fascism. Although director Neil Bartlett usually shies away from adapting novels because it is so very difficult, he felt that this particular work remains highly relevant today. Bartlett keeps all of Albert Camus’ – translated – words and only cuts and reworks the novel according to his concept.
Chinglish is brought to us by David Henry Hwang. Not only is he a Tony award winner and Pulitzer finalist but he has had a successful sell out show at both The National theatre and The Park. To say his credentials set the bar high would be an understatement.
Can the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ ever become a thing of history? Sadly, probably not. Who or what creates this notion of ‘the other’? Is it an event? A series of events? The ruling power at that point in time? An influential publication or speaker? Or a combination of these factors? What’s paramount in the West is that daily life has been directly effected by the devastating events of 11th September 2001, we now live in a world where we are constantly on alert and are told that we live in threat of one of our biggest enemies. The media have created a narrative of who to fear, and dangerously building up stereotypes about certain cultures and faiths.
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s production of Madama Butterfly has been revived once more for the Royal Opera House. Leading roles are played by Ermonela Jaho as Madama Butterfly and Marcelo Puente as the naval officer Pinkerton.
Theatre is a collaborative medium, and Company XY are true advocates of this. The power of the ensemble is second to none and knowing that for a certain amount of time, everyone is on the same page is priceless.