All stories by Michael Billington on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Beyond Bollywood review " Munich to Mumbai epic is lost in a fog of dry ice by Michael Billington

London PalladiumOffering endless exhortations to follow your heart, swirling movement and a chorus of blokes in skimpy shorts, this lavish spectacle is in search of a story Continue reading.…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:10AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 11, 2015

Great performances: Eileen Atkins in All That Fall by Michael Billington

Atkins's turn as Mrs Rooney in the 2012 revival of Samuel Beckett's play showed off all her skills, subtlely and emotional directnessI was recently sent a DVD of the BBC's 1960s Shakespeare …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 7, 2015

Matchbox Theatre review " sketchy Michael Frayn show proves revue still resonates by Michael Billington

Hampstead theatre, LondonTheatre's quaint rituals are satirised in this set of 23 short scenes that prove the playwright is an acute observer of absurdities Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Vote review " James Graham's all-star election-night farce by Michael Billington

Donmar Warehouse, LondonJudi Dench, a wonderfully twitchy Mark Gatiss, Catherine Tate and other famous faces make appearances at the polling station in Graham's entertaining ballet-box drama…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:01PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The Audience review " Kristin Scott Thomas is an icy, imperious Queen by Michael Billington

Apollo theatre, LondonPeter Morgan's play about the monarch and her prime ministers is essentially a series of sketches " and has less to say than King Charles IIIWith Helen Mirren enthroned…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36PM[SHARE]

As Good a Time As Any review " Peter Gill's chorus of London lives by Michael Billington

Print Room at the Coronet, LondonThis play for voices offers a compassionate portrait of mothers, wives and daughters in the capital city Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:38AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 4, 2015

The Apple Family Plays review " exemplary American ensemble tells a nation's story by Michael Billington

Brighton Dome Corn ExchangeRichard Nelson's extraordinary quartet of plays precisely charts the shifting moods within one family " and the national psyche Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:08AM[SHARE]

Great performances: Michael Gambon in A View from the Bridge by Michael Billington

In Alan Ayckbourn's 1987 National Theatre revival, Gambon demonstrated his massive physical presence, and Brando-like gift for suggesting the sensitivity withinMichael Gambon has talked open…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:59AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 1, 2015

At Shakespeare's Globe, Emma Rice must both respect and deconstruct the classics by Michael Billington

Dominic Dromgoole's successor is known for her inventive and irreverent Kneehigh shows " her key challenge is maintaining the audience balance of active engagement and silent appreciationEmm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:00AM[SHARE]

The Merchant of Venice review " Jonathan Pryce is a Shylock of weight and complexity by Michael Billington

Shakespeare's Globe, LondonIn Pryce's deeply considered performance, which dominates Jonathan Mumby's moving production, the moneylender is both tyrant and victim. Jonathan Pryce, making his…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:50AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 30, 2015

Way Upstream review " reckless Ayckbourn river cruise by Michael Billington

Chichester Festival theatreAlan Ayckbourn's 1981 cabin-cruiser play remains a problematic moral allegory, but this is a well-acted, technically brilliant revivalThere is an obvious reason wh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM[SHARE]

Everyman review " Chiwetel Ejiofor's rich sinner feels modern wrath of God by Michael Billington

Olivier theatre, LondonDirector Rufus Norris gets off to a striking start at the National with Carol Ann Duffy's stunning update of the medieval morality playIt may, at first, seem strange t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:41AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Bugsy Malone review " splurge-gun turf wars and cutesy molls by Michael Billington

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonThe young cast strut, smoulder and hoof their hearts out, but this adaptation of Alan Parker's 1975 film has nothing new to say about the gangster-movie traditionThi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 27, 2015

American Buffalo review " Damian Lewis is right on the money in Mamet classic by Michael Billington

Wyndham's, LondonDaniel Evans's production is meticulous is its psychological and physical detail, and there are fine performances from Lewis, John Goodman and Tom SturridgeA sign in the foy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:30PM[SHARE]

Great performances: Vanessa Redgrave in As You Like It by Michael Billington

At Stratford in 1961 the star set a gold standard for the role of Rosalind. Her whole interpretation was about the poleaxing effect of passionVanessa Redgrave is one of the most thrillingly …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 26, 2015

I Wish to Die Singing review " a searing account of the Armenian genocide by Michael Billington

Finborough, LondonNeil McPherson's documentary drama is a powerful reminder of the 1915 massacre of Armenian civilians and the tragedies that ensued Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:25AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 24, 2015

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire review " Caryl Churchill's portrait of a historic moment for England by Michael Billington

Lyttelton, LondonChurchill's civil-war drama has become an epic folk play under Lyndsey Turner's directionThe new regime at the National begins with a welcome revival of Caryl Churchill's ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:15AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 23, 2015

Clarion review " toxic tabloids superbly skewered by Michael Billington

Arcola, LondonGreg Hicks is hilarious as a demonic newspaper editor in Mark Jagasia's scorching satire on the anti-immigration rhetoric infecting parts of Fleet Street Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:51AM[SHARE]

Nicole Kidman in the West End " 'she is not just a star: she delivers the goods' by Michael Billington

From the archive: The first night review, published on 23 September 1998, for The Blue Room, David Hare's version of Schnitzler's erotic masterpiece La Ronde at the Donmar Warehouse Continue…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:43AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Ah, Wilderness! review " Eugene O'Neill remembers walking in the sand by Michael Billington

Young Vic, LondonThe American playwright's nostalgic look at middle-class life gets a visually seductive revivalEugene O'Neill wrote expressionist plays such as The Hairy Ape and Dynamo. He …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:10AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Love's Sacrifice review " sharply staged John Ford revival by the RSC by Michael Billington

This first major production of Ford's play since the 1630s makes conspicuous the work's debt to Shakespeare, but finally looks forward to Restoration comedy Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:38AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 20, 2015

Who Cares review " NHS under the knife by Michael Billington

Royal Court, LondonMichael Wynne's ingenious verbatim drama is zealously researched but lacks polemical punchHow do you dramatise a subject like the NHS? In this 90-minute play, Michael Wynn…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00PM[SHARE]

Great performances: Judi Dench in Antony and Cleopatra by Michael Billington

In Peter Hall's 1987 National Theatre production, Dench took Shakespeare's character and re-created it from her own personality and imaginationIn the case of Judi Dench, one is confronted by…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 19, 2015

Carmen Disruption review " compelling deconstruction of Bizet opera by Michael Billington

Simon Stephens's extraordinary and haunting new play peoples the Carmen story with vivid, isolated characters from our modern urban world Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 17, 2015

Death of a Comedian review " neatly captures a Faustian bargain with fame by Michael Billington

Soho theatre, LondonOwen McCafferty's play is an oversimplified morality tale, but the acting is first-rate and it packs a lot into 80 minutes Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 16, 2015

Gypsy review " Imelda Staunton gives 'one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in a musical' by Michael Billington

Savoy theatre, LondonEverything's coming up roses for this Chichester transfer of the Sondheim show about a starstruck mum who steers her children into showbizJonathan Kent's production of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Against Captain's Orders review " Punchdrunk's voyage runs aground by Michael Billington

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonThe immersive theatre stalwarts load this family show with nautical atmosphere and gizmos, but there's too little dangerPunchdrunk are famous for a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:59PM[SHARE]

The Twits review " Enda Walsh monkeys with Roald Dahl's diabolical duo by Michael Billington

Royal Court, LondonEnda Walsh has invented a new cast of fairground misfits to stretch Dahl's tale for the stage, but the titular couple are still the funniest thing in this anarchic farce C…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:34AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 13, 2015

Great performances: Mark Rylance in Jerusalem by Michael Billington

As Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, Rylance transformed himself into a strutting, muscular figure in Jez Butterworth's haunting study of a changing England Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 12, 2015

Lampedusa review " a brave excursion into the dark waters of mass migration by Michael Billington

Soho theatre, LondonAnders Lustgarten's drama boldly contrasts the lives of a fisherman retrieving the bodies of refugees drowned at sea and a Chinese-British woman who collects debts for a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:35AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 10, 2015

After Electra review " fear, resentment and brutality in this vengeful family drama by Michael Billington

Tricycle, LondonAs an 81-year-old artist announces that she plans to kill herself, April de Angelis asks: is old age a curse from which we are entitled to escape? Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:15AM[SHARE]

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