SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Thatcherite blues
PAUL DONOVAN applauds a new production of Stoppard’s dated, yet witty study of middle-class morals and misdemeanours
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
The Real Thing
The Old Vic, London
THE latest production of Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play, The Real Thing, does not disappoint.
Impressive performances from James McCardle as Henry and Bel Powley as Annie keep the audience gripped, and the slick scene changes, bring a minimalist 1980s feel to proceedings. The strong blue of the latter part is in some way reflective of the Thatcherite timbre of the times.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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PAUL DONOVAN applauds the dogged determination of the Old Vic to stage Dickens’s classic Christmas moral tale in support of Waterloo food bank
MARY CONWAY is impressed by a deeply thought provoking and immensely topical new play
PAUL DONOVAN recommends a skilful adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1980s epic TV drama
LYNNE WALSH sees form suffocate all-important content in a groundbreaking 1928 play