THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Heathers starring Carrie Hope Fletcher at the Other Palace

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Other Palace

WHEN: 15/6, runs to 4/8/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours and 30 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

UPDATE: Heathers transfers to the Theatre Royal Haymarket 3/9 to 24/11. Tickets

We’ve not experienced this level of pre-show excitement in a theatre since we saw Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, a stone’s throw from this venue.

  • Read on for reasons including how the buzz for this show is electric

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THEATRE REVIEW: Monogamy starring Janie Dee at the Park Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE: Park Theatre

WHEN: 9/6, press night 11/6, runs to 7/7/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours 10 minutes (with 20 minute interval)

Janie Dee starred in our favourite revival of last year, Follies, which also saw her shortlisted for monstas for Best Actress and Performance Of A Song and she returns to it at the National Theatre early next year.

  • Read on for reasons including why Dee is one of our finest actresses

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie starring Lia Williams at the Donmar Warehouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE: Donmar

WHEN: 8/6, press night 12/6, runs to 28/7/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours and 35 minutes (with 15 minute interval)

Star Lia Williams’ last two plays (Oresteia and Mary Stuart) transferred into the West End from their runs at the Almeida and it would not surprise us in the least if that feat was repeated here.

  • Read on for reasons including why Williams’ performance is the best by any actress this year

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THEATRE REVIEW: My Name Is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney at the Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Bridge Theatre

WHEN: 2/6, press night 6/6, runs to 24/6/18

RUN TIME: 90 minutes without interval

UPDATE: This show returns to The Bridge for 26 performances from January 2019

Laura Linney made her UK stage debut last night as the titular Lucy Barton with this monologue adapted from the 5th novel by Elizabeth Strout which was longlisted for the 2016  Man Booker Prize

  • Read on for reasons including how Linney returns to Tales Of The City soon

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THEATRE REVIEW: Julie starring Vanessa Kirby

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE: Lyttelton, National Theatre

WHEN: 1/6, press night 7/6, runs to 8/9/18

RUN TIME: 90 minutes without interval

Hopes are high for this August Strindberg adaptation not least because star Vanessa Kirby won a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA last month for her turn as Princess Margaret in Netflix’s much-admired The Crown.

  • Read on for reasons including sex on a ladder and an unfortunate end for a bird

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THEATRE REVIEW: Leave Taking starring Adjoa Andoh

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Bush Theatre (Press review night ticket)

WHEN: Press night 31/5, runs to 30/6/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours and 10 minutes (including interval)

What was it like to have been born and raised in Jamaica in the last century and to move to the UK for a new life?

  • Read on for reasons including how this mixes both comedy and tragedy to tell an unusual story

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THEATRE REVIEW: Translations starring Colin Morgan & Ciaran Hinds

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE: National Theatre (Olivier)

WHEN: 26/5, press night 30/5, runs to 11/8/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours 35 minutes (including interval)

Brian Friel’s 1980 masterpiece Translations is set in Ireland in 1833 and is about the power of language as the English seek to map the country so they can better tax its people.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is the best play we’ve seen at the National in a long time

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Rink starring Caroline O’Connor & Gemma Sutton at Southwark Playhouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Southwark Playhouse

WHEN: 25/5/18, press night 29/5, runs to 23/6/18

RUN TIME: 2 hours and 20 minutes (with interval)

Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera starred in the original Broadway production of this Kander and Ebb (Chicago and Cabaret) musical and we wonder whether they had as much fun with it as Caroline O’Connor and Gemma Sutton do here.

  • Read on for reasons including how this 1st preview deserved its standing ovation

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THEATRE REVIEW: 3Women starring Anita Dobson, Debbie Chazen & Maisie Richardson-Sellers

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Trafalgar Studios 2

WHEN: 17/5 (matinee), press night 17/5, runs to 9/6/18

A grandmother, a mother and her daughter meet in a hotel suite the night before one of them is to be married for an evening of alcohol and home truths.

  • Read on for reasons including why 3Women is the sort of comedy we’d love to see more of

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Grönholm Method starring Laura Pitt-Pulford and John Gordon Sinclair

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Menier Chocolate Factory

WHEN: 14/5/18, press night 22/5, runs to 7/7/18

Four job applicants arrive for an interview for a top management position in a big company and find the selection procedure will be an unconventional series of mind games.

  • Read on for reasons including where you might recognise Gordon Sinclair from

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