ALISTAIR FINDLAY recommends the simple cadence, common prose, free verse, and descriptive power of a new collection by Julie McNeill
Thatcherite blues
PAUL DONOVAN applauds a new production of Stoppard’s dated, yet witty study of middle-class morals and misdemeanours
LOVE IN THE AGE OF THATCHER: James McArdle (Henry) and Bel Powley (Annie) in The Real Thing at The Old Vic
[Manuel Harlan]
FRANK McCAULEY gets Laid
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about a two-handed theatrical homage to jazz’s most mercurial musician
ANDY HEDGECOCK is enthralled by a collection of South Korean ghost stories where human behaviour is as chilling as any spectral activity
DAVID YEARSLEY examines the soundtrack and filmic predecessors of the execrable Melania
SIMON PARSONS is charmed by a hilarious tender show that will open the eyes to the delights and possibilities of puppetry
SCOTT ALSWORTH suggests that video games have a lot to learn the rich tradition of Marxist theatre
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.
Similar stories
Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials