With love, it’s a case of either following your head or your heart, how we navigate this beautiful, multi-faceted quality of life unique to us all. Having debuted in 1943 on Broadway, and marking Rogers and Hammerstein’s first musical partnership, Oklahoma! follows lead Laurey Williams’ pursuit to find the one, as she finds herself consumed with the prospect of either settling with cowboy Curly McClain or farmhand Jud Fry, the production showcasing the fallouts and heartbreaks of decisions made, highlighting love’s often chaotic grace.

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The Collaboration is a paint-by-numbers sort of a play. Simple yet satisfying. The show is set up as a boxing match between two of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, Andy Warhol (Paul Bettany) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeremy Pope):

1. Warhol and Basquiat’s art-dealer, Bruno Bischofberger (Alec Newman), sees an opportunity to make a lot of money by getting them to work together.
2. Warhol, the cynic who is all about money, is reluctantly convinced to work with Basquiat.
3. Basquiat, the new kid on the block, unsure of what to do with all their money, is reluctantly convinced to work with Warhol.
4. Warhol is intimidated by Basquiat’s freedom.
5. Basquiat is frustrated by Warhol’s lack of soul.
6. Basquiat softens Warhol.
7. Warhol falls for Basquiat.
8. They end up making art together and living happily ever after.

Courtesy of Marc Brenner.

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The stories we repeatedly tell ourselves are imperative to how we navigate life. Our school years our most formative when it comes to setting the foundations for what we’ll possibly expect in later life. An exploration of the ever moving stream of subtle messages planted within childhood, Crying in the Wilderness’ Conundrum observedly tackles the process of continual external messaging vs the internalising of such stimuli.

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Courtesy of Sarah Hickson.

As we continue to build up a wealth of theatrical stories from the Black British perspective, we help to form a nuanced view of both recent and old British history, something incredibly important for society moving forward. Adding to the wealth of stories now gracing our stages, Crying in the Wilderness’ Artistic Director Paul Anthony Morris presents Conundrum, a show exploring the displacement and various experiences of a first generation Black Briton. Due to show early next year at the Young Vic, Paul tells us more about staging the piece nearly 2 years after its postponement due to the pandemic, the importance of placing a greater focus on well-being for both artists and audiences and what to expect from the show!

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Politically relevant new play by James Graham at the Young Vic delivers in all departments with high production values. Set in the volatile year of 1968 America, the play tells the story of broadcast network ABC’s televised debates between William F.Buckley and Gore Vidal. The two rivals were invited on to save ABC’s dwindling ratings and in doing so ushered in a new age of American politics which moved away from well-informed journalists and political experts and towards celebrity punditry.

Courtesy of Wasi Daniju.

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Hamlet – Prince of Denmark, is left grief stricken after the murder of his father by his tenacious uncle, Claudius who now resides the thrown alongside his mother, Gertrude. A tale of revenge, Hamlet’s melancholic mental state is clear, this dictating how he navigates the world moving forward.  One of Shakespeare’s most iconic tragedies, Cush Jumbo takes on the complex lead in Greg Hersov’s adaptation.

Courtesy of Helen Murray.

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Artificial Intelligence is being developed around the world to write anything from novels, to songs, to marketing blurb, and now script. What the Young Vic have put together, in line with their frequently provocative and innovative work, is a live workshop where the audience are able to work with the full creative team and see how a play might be put together, with GPT-3 OpenAI technology as a co-writer.

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A somewhat sharp, almost timely reinterpretation of the Ibsen classic, subtly and nuance lack an authenticity and believability that let this show down. Stef Smith’s dialogue shows real potential and has its moments, but never follows on this, thus preventing you from fully diving in.

Courtesy of Marc Brenner.

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Risking life and death for the opportunity of a new life in Kent might not seem all too appealing to many. But for the thousands of refugees escaping war torn countries it is a journey that they can only hope to achieve.  The Jungle, newly transferred to the Playhouse Theatre from the Young Vic maps out the complexities of the European migrant crisis that led to upwards of 8,000 people  living in squalor on a former landfill site.

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