THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Waiting For Godot starring Ben Whishaw & Lucian Msamati at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 28 September (matinee), runs through 21 December 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot and, apart from that, it’s possible to read any number of interpretations into what Samuel Beckett’s classic 1948/49 play is actually about.

  • Read on for reasons including how this production warmed our heart in a way we weren’t expecting
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THEATRE REVIEW: Juno and the Paycock starring Mark Rylance at the Gielgud Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Tuesday 1 October, runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Rylance is the titular peacock – pronounced ‘paycock’ in an Irish accent – who plays workshy father-of-2 ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle, a man never short of tall tales of adventure.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the funniest comedy in London’s West End right now with a very memorable central performance
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THEATRE REVIEW: Giant starring John Lithgow & Romola Garai at the Royal Court Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 28 September, runs through 16 November 2024 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval) Update: Transfers to Harold Pinter Theatre 26 April through 2 August 2025

Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony award winner John Lithgow plays author Roald Dahl here under fire for an antisemetic article he had written on the eve of the launch of his 1983 book The Witches.

  • Read on for reasons including how it’s the central performance of Lithgow’s which will both shock and enthral you
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Other Place after Antigone starring Emma D’Arcy at National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Friday 27 September, opens Tuesday 8 October and runs through 9 November 2024 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

You may be most familiar with actor Emma D’Arcy from their role as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s impressive House Of The Dragon but with this modern day re-imagining of a Greek tragedy they have made 2 of the most interesting theatrical choices of 2024 so far.

  • Read on for reasons including how this was flawed but features an intelligent performance from 1 of this country’s brightest up-and-coming stars
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THEATRE REVIEW: Look Back In Anger starring Billy Howle, Ellora Torchia & Morfydd Clark at Almeida Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Wednesday 25 September 2024, runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Middle class Alison irons while her educated husband Jimmy and their Welsh working class lodger Cliff read the Sunday papers as the weekend in their Midlands flat draws to a close.

  • Read on for reasons including how this remains a fascinating if difficult watch that is occasionally funny but will make you think about class and masculinity
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THEATRE REVIEW: Mean Girls at the Savoy Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 31 August (matinee), runs through 23 February 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Is brat summer over?

  • Read on for reasons including how this doesn’t have the catchy musical numbers so necessary for this to take flight
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THEATRE REVIEW: Death Of England: The Plays starring Paapa Essiedu, Erin Doherty, Thomas Coombes & Sharon Duncan-Brewster

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****/*****/****

WHEN?: Saturday 24 August and runs through 28 September 2024 RUNTIME: 3 successive 100-minute plays without interval

Paapa Essiedu (The Effect, National Theatre) plays Delroy in the 2nd of these intertwined state-of-the-nation dramas and it’s a performance so electric it draws an immediate standing ovation from an audience including Pedro Pascal and Russell Tovey (Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre) who are sitting together near our front row seat.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is brutally honest and unflinching work unafraid to take a deep dive into the nation’s heart
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THEATRE REVIEW: Why Am I So Single? at the Garrick Theatre starring Jo Foster & Leesa Tulley

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Thursday 29 August and runs through 13 February 2025 RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute interval) Update: now closing 19 January 2025

It’s such a simple idea – 2 best friends on a sofa discussing their lack of romantic success as big song and dance numbers break out all around and starring them – that it really shouldn’t work.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the best new musical of the year so far
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Real Thing starring James McArdle at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Friday 23 August, opens 3 September and runs through 26 October 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval) RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The best thing about Max Webster’s (Minority Report, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith) production of this revered comedy is the ridiculous performance of McArdle (pictured left, The Tragedy Of Macbeth, Almeida Theatre) who won our 2021 Best Theatre Actor monsta.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a rather functional re-run of a dated favourite
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THEATRE REVIEW: Red Speedo starring Finn Cole at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 9 August and runs through 10 August 2024 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (without interval)

Professional stage debuts are always exposing but Cole from TV’s Peaky Blinders and Animal Kingdom completes his in only 2 pairs of the titular swimming trunks.

  • Read on for reasons including how Red Speedo is an intense highboard dive into a world where the stakes are high and the emotions heightened
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