By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN? Saturday 29 March, opens 8 April and runs through 3 May 2025 RUNTIME: 110 minutes (without interval)
What would former England football star Gazza have said to Raoul Moat, the subject of the UK’s largest manhunt, had police let him access the 2010 stand-off?
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Saturday 5 October, runs through 4 January 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes without interval
Robert Icke won the 2016 best director Olivier for Oresteia and perhaps in a nod to that there is a digital clock counting down above the stage until past secrets explode into the present.
Director Robert Icke gave us Oresteia (Almeida Theatre) and reimagines another Ancient Greek tragedy starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville (Talking Heads, Bridge Theatre and film Back To Black) at the Wyndham’s Theatre 4 October through 4 January 2024. Tickets Our review
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 6 April 2024, opens 11 April and runs through 22 June 2024 RUNTIME: 220 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
McKellen (Mother Goose, Duke Of York’s Theatre) dons a fatsuit and gives the performance of a lifetime as Falstaff in writer/director Robert Icke’s (Oresteia and Hamlet, Almeida) combination of Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts 1 and 2.
Director Robert Icke (Oresteia and Hamlet, Almeida) combines Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and McKellen (Mother Goose, Duke Of York’s Theatre) plays Falstaff alongside Richard Coyle’s (Ink, Almeida) Henry and Toheeb Jimoh’s (Romeo and Juliet, Almeida) Hal. Runs at the Noel Coward Theatre 1 April through 22 June 2024. Tickets McKellen’s ‘performance of a lifetime’ Player Kings review
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE? Almeida Theatre RUNTIME: 170 minutes (with 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 12/8, opens 20/8 and runs to 28/9/19
STOP PRESS: The Doctor transfers to the Duke Of Yorks in the West End from April 2020 Tickets
Welcome to writer/director Robert Icke’s final production as Associate Director at this venue in a remarkable run which has seen 3 West End transfers at 5 attempts.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE? Almeida Theatre RUN TIME: 2 hours and 35 minutes (including a 20 minute interval)
WHEN?: 25/10, runs to 17/11/18
Andrew Scott won our Best Theatre Actor monsta last year for his titular role in Robert Icke’s re-imagining of Hamlet which transferred into the West End from the Almeida.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Almeida Theatre
WHEN: 2/3, runs to 6/4
Such was our excitement about this Robert Icke production that we had second row tickets for the first preview on 17/2.
Europe’s premiere Eurovision selection show launches on 4/2 at 7pm English time with the return of 1999 winner Charlotte Perrelli, who also won Melodifestivalen in 2008, MF favourites Ace Wilder, Dinah Nah and Boris Rene. 2012 Eurovision winner Loreen also competes in heat 4 25/2. Prime-time Saturday nights in February sorted. Picture via YouTube from the Take Me To Your Heaven performance in 1999’s Eurovision.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Almeida
WHEN: 9/12, runs to 21/1/17
‘A majority does not mean a thing is always in the right’. There aren’t many laughs in this but it’s a moment of hilarity for this north London audience.
