Re-lay Race
Hedda
by Tanika Gupta, inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler
Orange Tree Productions at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond until 22nd November
Review by Eleanor Lewis
Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, written in 1891, seems to be having a bit of a moment at present. Earlier this year Matthew Dunster adapted it for modern times with Lilly Allen in the leading role and just last month a spectacularly reimagined film, Hedda, starring Tessa Thompson hit the cinemas.
Ibsen’s original Hedda Gabler, in which a strong, clever woman needs to live life on her own terms, but is trapped within the social constraints of the late nineteenth century does not easily translate into today’s world: unhappily married women these days have options. It does, however, adapt to different issues which writer Tanika Gupta has recognised. This latest Hedda is set in 1948, just after the Partition of India and, being inspired by the life of Merle Oberon, it reflects a different trap, that of having to conceal your racial identity when both your glittering career and your social status depend absolutely on passing for white in a racist world.
Read more…Assisted Lying
Arsenic and Old Lace
by Joseph Kesselring
Teddington Theatre Club at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 25th October
Review by Steve Mackrell
Dated? Probably. Corny? Possibly. Implausible? Completely. Entertaining? Entirely.
Arsenic and Old Lace, as a title, has an unfortunate tendency to be theatrical code for an old pot-boiler, but this revival by the Teddington Theatre Club, at the Hampton Hill Theatre, is full of fun and entertaining energy. Written by American Joseph Kesselring, this classic black comedy opened on Broadway in 1941 and was later adapted into a successful film in 1944 starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra.
Despite its age, the play still delivers a wicked mix of comedy, farce and spoof horror, served with wit and dark humour, plus a splash of poisoned home-made elderberry wine. The core of the play centres around a family with an unfortunate habit of murdering people, as if murder is somehow built into their DNA. The count of dead bodies reaches a staggering 24 or, spoiler alert, could it rise to 25?
Read more…A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever
La Fille mal gardée
choreography by Frederick Ashton, music adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery after Ferdinand Hérold
The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden until 9th June 2026
Review by Michael Rowlands
La Fille mal gardée, or The Wayward Daughter, is a complete joy and it is a perfect way to escape from the troubles of everyday life. Its classic Frederick Ashton choreography is highlighted by the bucolic backdrops designed by Osbert Lancaster. Lancaster was a prominent architectural historian and for many decades a cartoonist at the Daily Express, so he picks the right note in representing the perpetual sunny countryside of this comic rural tale. First performed, in this version, in 1960, it was musically reinterpreted and orchestrated by John Lachbery. He incorporated a lost dance found in a box at The Paris opera to a melody from Donizetti from L’elisir d’amore, the so-called Fanny Elssler pas de deux from 1837. Frederick Ashton took him to see some Lancashire clog dancing at the Royal Albert Hall, which was then included for Widow Simone (amusingly danced by Thomas Whitehead). It has not aged one bit.
Read more…Putting in the Boot
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial
by Liv Hennessy
Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre until 18th October
Review by Heather Moulson
I was, as my footie f(r)iends say, “Over the moon” to go along to Putney Arts to see the endlessly versatile resident company’s take on a trial that itself became a piece of theatre, in spite of feeling a bit apprehensive about a production based on a court case that was relentlessly covered by the media at the time.
However, the blow was softened seeing an open set of a courtroom overlaid with hushed green lighting and the soundtrack of a football match. This was all very encouraging and I was ready to put on my strip. But for which side?
Read more…Millers’ Tale
Hindle Wakes
by Stanley Houghton
Questors Productions at the Questors Studio, Ealing, until 25thOctober
Review by Andrew Lawston
One bank holiday weekend, Christopher and Mrs Hawthorn wait for their daughter to return home, to confront her about her whereabouts. It gradually emerges that young Fanny Hawthorn has spent the weekend in Llandudno with the son of the local mill owner, and not in Blackpool as she claimed.
This being 1912, there seems no choice but for Christopher Hawthorn to visit his old friend, Nathaniel Jeffcote, to confront him with the news of their children’s dalliance and to insist that his son Alan do the decent thing and marry Fanny. The trouble is, Alan is already engaged to Beatrice, daughter of Nat’s friend and fellow mill owner, Sir Timothy Farrar.
Read more…Let’s Twist Again
Private Lives
by Noël Coward
Octagon Theatre Bolton, Mercury Theatre Colchester and RTK Productions at The Rose Theatre, Kingston until 25th October, then on tour until 8th November
Review by Polly Davies
This production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives won the celebrated RTST Sir Peter Hall Director’s Award. It’s not difficult to see why. This talented innovative director has taken a well-known play and given it several twists. The essential plot, about two couples on their honeymoon at the seaside who unexpectedly run into the last person in the world they would wish to see, remains. Tanuja Amarasuriya’s treatment turns a lightweight witty play into a much more meaningful drama of bad choices, and disappointment.
The comedy is still there but if anything, under-played, the oft quoted “Very flat, Norfolk” line, suitably fell a bit flat, though there were some lovely comedic moments remaining. Not least the physical comedy as the couples came to terms with the consequences of their actions when they met in Paris.
Read more…Scaled-down Herring, Big Catch on Humour
Albert Herring
by Benjamin Britten,libretto by Eric Crozier
English National Opera at the London Coliseum until 16th October, then at The Lowry, Salford until 22nd October
Review by Helen Astrid
English National Opera has entered its twin-city era, moving part of its operations to Salford while maintaining a reduced programme at London’s Coliseum. Its first joint venture, Antony McDonald’s semi-staged production of Britten’s chamber opera Albert Herring, opened on 13th October in a slimmed-down format.
ENO has long been a champion of Britten’s work – it famously premiered Peter Grimes in 1945 – yet this marks its first performance of Albert Herring. The choice seems a bid to reach new and broader audiences, with economy central to its approach. For a chamber opera, however, it verges on grand-opera scale, running to 140 minutes excluding the interval.
Read more…Top Down
Top Hat
by Irving Berlin, adaptation by Matthew White and Howard Jacques
Kenny Wax and Jonathan Church for Chichester Festival Theatre Productions at the New Wimbledon Theatre until 18th October and then on tour until 11th April 2026
Review by Patrick Shorrock
Chichester Theatre’s musicals tend to be outstandingly good and often transfer from the south coast. Recent examples include Crazy for You, South Pacific, and Oliver! (the last of which is still a West End hit). If this version of Top Hat isn’t quite at that level, it’s still a damn good show and makes for an enjoyable evening.
Read more…On a Hi
Sixtieth Anniversary in Music
Donovan at Richmond Theatre, 12th October
Review by Vince Francis
Its good to see a job through, isn’t it? On the 12th September, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Donovan, an influential musician who embarked on his career in the 1960s. The objective or our meeting was to promote the short European tour Donovan was embarking on, celebrating his sixty years of work in the business, and which was to culminate in in a week of activities in London, including film screenings, book and album signings and the concert at Richmond Theatre on the 12th October, where I found myself in the front row, in possession of a back-stage pass for the after show reception. All of which has a certain pleasing roundness to it, I feel.
A pleasingly wider range of ages than I expected formed the enthusiastic and vocal sell-out audience to this celebration, some of whom had travelled considerable distance for the sole purpose. One chap I spoke to, originally from Arkansas, interrupted his own tour of European cities, on vacation in this instance, and had flown in from Prague that morning having secured a ticket.
Read more…Resplendent Restaging
Turandot
by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni
Instant Opera at the Courtyard Amphitheatre at the TownHouse, Kingston until 12th October
Review by Richard Copeman
Instant Opera revived its ambitious production, sung in Italian, of Puccini’s final (unfinished) opera, Turandot, in a new venue, designed by Grafton Architects, which has won several prestigious architectural awards for its clean and open format. The Courtyard, an auditorium in the Town House at Kingston University, offers a large performance space for the chorus and soloists, especially with the 38-piece orchestra behind the acting area. The steeply stepped arena with hard seating on three sides gave excellent sightlines and clear surtitles were projected onto a large screen, together with images of the moon and various backgrounds, including devastated cities. Writing in the programme, Instant Opera’s artistic director and producer, Nicholas George explained his concept of a post-apocalyptic dystopian society set in 2184,. This imagined a cruel, medieval type society not dissimilar to the original Gozzi Chinese setting. The first difference I noticed was the comedia del arte trio of ministers being in paramilitary costume.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 