After the success of The Cursed Child, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany team up again. for The End of History. This time, they have focused their attention on a family based in Newbury, detailing their lives through time; first in 1997, then 2007 and finally in 2017.

Courtesy of Johan Persson.

Jack Thorne and John Tiffany are usually a dream pairing, and after having created one of the most successful cultural hits of this decade (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), the duo reunite at The Royal Court, yet this time they create a slightly lukewarm production, which doesn’t reach its full potential.

Courtesy of Johan Persson.

We can all agree that parenting can be tough at times, but imagine raising a son who looks so different that everyone thinks you’ve kidnapped him. BAFTA nominated writer Gabriel Bisset-Smith has based Whitewash on his own experiences as the white passing son of a mixed race woman, and the complexities of race in the gritty London of the 1990s, through to the property obsessed 2010s.

In an ambitious new performance event from Stuart Laing and Pamela Carter, Them! explores questions of identity amidst the daunting landscape of the twenty-first century. The play comprises three stages beginning with a chat show like performance hosted by the spunky and energetic Kiruna Stammell.

Rock of Ages comes to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on the first leg of its UK tour. A musical packed full of classic rock anthems, Rock of Ages is a fun, toe-tapping show full of Rock ‘n’ Roll debauchery.

This stage adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg’s 2012 film The Hunt (Jagten) explores the false accusation of Lucas (played by Tobias Menzies) for sexual assault and paedophilia. Lucas, a schoolteacher is falsely accused by one of his pupils, Clara (played by Abbiegail Mills). As other children then come forward with more accusations, ambiguity settles in regarding Lucas’s conduct.

There isn’t much to fault in Nancy Medina’s production of Caryl Phillips’ Strange Fruit, currently running at the Bush Theatre. Part of the Passing the Baton initiative, the play details the lives of those that struggle to imagine their futures; people that are trapped by oppression, anger and cultural difference.

Courtesy of Helen Murray.

From February 14th to 16th, the Kammerspiele presented four productions by the next generation of Polish directors. The focus was on new plays that diverged from dominant Polish theatre traditions and generated their own new stories and forms. The festival was accompanied by discussions and lectures that dealt with the collapse of democracy, the strengthening of right-wing populism throughout Europe and feminism as an international counter-movement. Experts in the fields of philosophy, sociology, art, and political science discussed important issues that concern not only Polish society but the whole of Europe.

Courtesy of Patrycja Mic.