New releases from Bill Callahan, The Delines, and Beck
Missing the Kew
PETER MASON is unimpressed by an unsubtle production that disregards its woodland setting
KEW JUMPING: Fairies in Theatre on Kew's production of Midsummer Night's Dream
[Zac Cooke]
STEPHANIE DENNISON and ALFREDO LUIZ DE OLIVEIRA SUPPIA explain the political context of The Secret Agent, a gripping thriller that reminds us why academic freedom needs protecting
TONY BURKE speaks to producer and broadcaster LUCY DURAN about her new project — Guitari Baro
JONATHAN TAYLOR is intrigued how good storytelling can make a hobby as obsessional as metal detecting seem fascinating
ROB HARGREAVES is moved by the way that memories of the Spanish civil war still stir our passions
RON JACOBS sees similarities between the personality of the the Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco, and Donald Trump
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Theatre on Kew, Kew gardens, London
LOVELY setting, less lovely production.
With stepladder platforms on stage and maintenance trucks as props, not nearly enough is made of the verdant surrounds of Kew Gardens, and even less of its evening-time botanical atmosphere, which should perfectly suit this fairyland comedy.
Similar stories
MARY CONWAY becomes impatient with the intellectual self-indulgence of Tom Stoppard in a production that is, nevertheless, total class
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
GORDON PARSONS squirms at a production that attempts to update Shakespeare’s comedy to a tale of Premier League football
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by characters so un-nuanced as to be unreal, a stereotypical plot and a conceptual vampire