MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
Latest editorial
A tale based on magic that lacks… magic
Unfortunately this seasonal family show will not add to the company’s past triumphs, writes GORDON PARSONS
A magnificent, life-sized puppet, seems to offer hope
[Manuel Harlan]
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
The missing sister, the vengeful WAG, cruise ship claustrophobia, and reanimated Avengers
Three great releases of lost concerts by Duke Ellington Orchestra, John Taylor & Stan Sulzman, and Joe Henderson
To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
The Magician’s Elephant
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon
FOR their first live main house Stratford theatre production in 18 months and with Christmas coming up, the RSC needed another Matilda-type smash hit.
To decide on a stage adaptation of US prize-winning children’s author, Kate DiCamillo’s fable about a boy’s search for a lost sister aided by an elephant, already earmarked for a Netflix animated film, must have seemed a cert.
Oddly, for a tale based on magic, that is what this show lacks.
Similar stories
GEORGE FOGARTY is dazzled by a breathtakingly skillful puppet version of Shakespeare’s greatest love poem
GORDON PARSONS salutes the apt return of Brecht’s vaudevillian cartoon drama that retains the vitality of the boxing or the circus ring
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today