Monday, February 24, 2025

Theatre

The Goat Review: ‘raw, absurdist, and honest’

Clarendon Productions brings The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (Edward Albee) to the Michael Pilch studio, painfully, humorously, and soulfully. Seated in the round, the audience is gifted a...

The Busy Body Review: ‘Theatre of the Real’

The Busy Body (1709) is one of the many plays written by Susanna Centlivre....

In conversation with ‘The Children’

‘If you’re curious as to how and why cows, nuclear reactors, tricycles, peperami, and...

Sanskrit drama returns to Oxford

Building on a strong recent tradition of plays performed in Sanskrit (with surtitles!) we...

Review: The Reunion(?) – ‘a subversive new take on the classic murder mystery’

The Oxford Revue's latest show builds up to a brilliant punchline

Review: Your Little Play – ‘a tragic storyline which by now seems all too familiar’

Nightjar Theatre's production tackles themes that are particularly pertinent to our time

Shakespeare Done to Death?

In the wake of the Emma Rice 'scandal' at the Globe, we examine why we keep treading old boards.

Review: Allotment – ‘as if the audience is intruding upon the sisters’ realm’

MuckyOven Productions present an intriguing play about gardening, sisterhood and the passing of time.

Review: Twelfth Night – ‘dispels the myth that Shakespeare isn’t funny’

Brasenose Arts Week puts a contemporary spin on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Review: A Little Night Music – ‘a sophisticated and pleasant performance’

Despite some minor setbacks on the opening night, A Little Night Music delivers a confident performance, including some moments of hilarity

Review: (The Wings of the) Seagull – ‘leaves you frozen’

This one-actor show from mealspiel easily wins over its audience, with laugh-out-loud moments interspersed with stomach-churning horror.

Review: A Woman of No Importance – ‘the best Wilde production I’ve ever seen’

With a terrific cast, a splendid setting, and a deft handling of the script, Magdalen Players' take on A Woman of No Importance proves to be a fourth week delight

Review: Four Men in Their Respective Cells – ‘a whistle-stop psychological drama’

Though hitting the right notes thematically, Four Men in Their Respective Cells lacks polish and a conclusive ending

Preview: Your Little Play – ‘your life is defined by the choices you make’

A piece of new writing about sexual misconduct and power feels particularly timely as it heads to the Pilch in 4th week.

Preview: My Mother Runs in Zig-Zags – ‘shapes the lived experience of war and migration’

A poetic performance about migration, war and family, with an all-BAME cast and crew, heads to the North Wall in fifth week

REVIEW: The Ruling Class – ‘actualises an eccentric and absurdist sense of humour’

Stage Wrong Productions' The Ruling Class delivers an outrageous and satirical examination of English upper-class society

Preview: A Woman of No Importance – ‘promises an informed, thorough and hilarious production’

Magdalen Players reimagine Oscar Wilde's melodramatic comedy in fourth week

The Ruling Class – ‘a new beast, though one they are competently battling’

Stage Wrong Productions tackle the challenging black comedy on at the BT in third week.

LOVE/SICK – ‘Your trip to Tesco’s will never seem the same again’

Matter of Act’s ambitious new production in an “alternate suburban reality” details the joys of falling in and out of love.

Every Brilliant Thing – ‘strikes a staggering balance between serious and joyful’

For a play about suicide, Every Brilliant Thing is an unexpectedly life-affirming and hilarious production

Q&A – a play that ‘takes a turn into the chaotic and absurd’

Witty, absurd, and ultimately hilarious, Q&A is an entertaining one-act play, even if at times the dialogue lacks spontaneity

Electrolyte – an energetic fusion of electronica and spoken word

A dizzying exploration of mental health at The North Wall holds promise, but is undermined by its simplistic ending.

Love/Sick: An anthology of romantic adrenaline and hysteria

A production that tackles what is the most enigmatic of all human experiences: love.

What does it take to be an actor?

Want to be a fantastic actor? All it takes is method acting, audience empathy and a pursuit of the fantasy world.

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