Alone in Berlin: swansong of a hesitant ally

Charlotte Emmerson (Therese Raquin, The Duchess of Malfi), Denis Conway (The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Brooklyn) and Joseph Marcell (King Lear, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) lead a small ensemble cast directed by James Dacre, Artistic Director of Royal & Derngate Northampton, in the world premiere production of Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada’s acclaimed novel translated and adapted for the stage by Alistair Beaton; a York Theatre Royal and Royal & Derngate Northampton co-production, in association with Oxford Playhouse. Continue reading

When The Rain Stops Falling: inherited tragedies

A York premiere and launch production for new theatre company Rigmarole, Andrew Bovell’s award-winning 2008 play When the Rain Stops Falling addresses the most important issue of our times: “Are we prepared to pass on the damage from the past to our children?” Continue reading

The Beauty Queen of Leenane: theatre at its best

Martin McDonagh’s dark, comic thriller set in 1990 Galway, Ireland, follows great success in the West End and Off-Broadway to appear in a new guise at Hull Truck Theatre, directed by Mark Babych. Tony Award-winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane is an exhilarating character study of 40-year-old Maureen Folan (Siobhan O’Kelly) and her 70-year-old mother Mag (Maggie McCarthy). Continue reading

A View From The Bridge: “How dark the room became when he looked at me”

Directed by Juliet Forster (Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre; Sense and Sensibility for Theatre by the Lake), Arthur Miller’s potboiler case study of commuco-production between York Theatre Royal and Royal & Derngate Northampton. Continue reading

The Night Watch: our quietest battles

Adapted by Hattie Naylor and directed by Alastair Whatley, The Night Watch is a fairly faithful adaptation of Sarah Waters’ World War II domestic romance novel, co-produced by York Theatre Royal and Original Theatre Company. Continue reading

Colder Than Here: A season to grieve in

Wildgoose continue their run of plays new to York with Laura Wade’s first published script, Colder Than Here. The text is gentle, poetic, acutely observant. It dwells on familial responsibility, what we expect and need from those closest to us, how we remember each other in ways we have forgotten our younger selves. Continue reading

Monogamy: A Portrait of the Grand and the Delicate

York Theatre Royal’s proscenium arch becomes a cross-section of TV chef Caroline’s (the West End’s Janie Dee) show-home kitchen: a faux-Swedish minimalist Pinterest fantasy of muted teal glossy tiles and pine with a modest botanic garnish and a family dinner table modest enough to tell an on-screen story that will resonate with the wider audience. But it doesn’t take long to make a mess on these counters. Continue reading

The Be All And End All: What would you sacrifice?

Jonathan Lewis’s new modern domestic drama poses the question, “Where would you draw the line?”, putting patriarch Mark (Lewis himself) in temptation’s path when it comes to a critical moment in his son Tom’s (Matt Whitchurch) education. This middle-class show-home family of established and prospective politicians debates and philosophises like lawyers sparring before court; the smug elite flexing their wits for pleasure as well as for business – indeed, there is little distinction between the two and it is clear which is their priority. Continue reading