Tag Archives: Arcola Theatre

The Canary and the Crow

Arcola Theatre, London *****
Runs: 1hr 10 mins without interval
Box Office:  020 7503 1646
Online: www.arcolatheatre.com

Review of perf seen Feb 3, 2020:

© The Other Richard, Daniel Ward (centre), with Rachel Barnes and Laurie Jamieson (cellos and actors) – marvellous multi-skilling…

There have been many plays about racism over the past half century but I don’t remember any that hit so hard, so fluently or so entertainingly as the Hull-based company, Middle Child’s The Canary and the Crow written by Daniel Ward. Continue reading

Until the Flood

Arcola Theatre, London ****
Runs: 1hr 10 mins without interval
Box Office:  020 7503 1646
Online: www.arcolatheatre.com

© Alex Brenner, remembering Michael Brown...

© Alex Brenner, remembering Michael Brown…

Review of perf seen Sept 20, 2019:

When it comes to capturing the soul of a nation, America can certainly field some big hitters.

Last year it was the mother of verbatim theatre, Anna Deveare Smith who appeared briefly in London with Notes from the Field, a searing, intense investigation into discrimination seen through the penal and education systems – the disproportionate number of African-Americans in prison, excluded from schools and shot by police.  Continue reading

Napoleon Disrobed

Arcola Theatre, London (****)

Paul Hunter as Napoleon

© Manuel Harlan, Paul Hunter as Napoleon

Who writes history? History is never permanent though the victors always like to think their version will be the one that survives into the millennia. Continue reading

Eugene Onegin

Arcola Theatre, London ****

© Andreas Grieger, Anthony Flaum as Lensky, Felix Kemp as Onegin. The duel scene

© Andreas Grieger, Anthony Flaum as Lensky, Felix Kemp as Onegin. The duel scene

Something very exciting is happening in small scale opera. This is the third one I’ve seen in as many months, all striking in their own ways but Onegin is by far the most enjoyable. Continue reading

The Cunning Little Vixen

Arcola Theatre, London (***)

© Robert Workman, Alison Rose as the Vixen

© Robert Workman, Alison Rose as the Vixen

Even if Czech is not your first language, nor Leos Janáček’s music for that matter, Guido Martin-Brandis, Oliver Till and The Opera Company’s chamber version, part of the Arcola’s excellent Grimeborn festival, will still touch you in unexpected places. Continue reading

These Trees Are Made of Blood

Arcola Theatre, London (****)

© Helen Murray, Alexander-Luttley-Anne-Marie-Piazza-Rosalind-Ford-and-Eilon-Morris

© Helen Murray, Alexander-Luttley-Anne-Marie-Piazza-Rosalind-Ford-and-Eilon-Morris

It began 40 years ago, the Mothers of the Disappeared, the `madres of the Plaza de Mayo’, circling the square, in white head scarves demanding answers as to why their children had `disappeared’. Continue reading