Summer and Smoke

First things first: how great is it to see a Tom Scutt design in action again?! I sometimes worry that since he’s returned from…

Beginning (National Theatre)

People keep saying this is one of those warm and fuzzy plays that makes you feel hopeful about the world and the people in it etc. It’s not. It’s a horrific tragedy, the absolute worst. Desperate people settling for second best for no other reason than because they have a…

John (National Theatre)

Simultaneously the most interesting and most boring play I’ve seen in a long time.

Parliament Square (Bush Theatre)

I was disappointed by this, but I think I am partly guilty; I had somehow convinced myself that it was going to be electrifying. Thinking back, I know what influenced my pre-impressions, but I know I should know better than to fall for them.

Suzy Storck (Gate Theatre)

Suzy Storck is the second show in Ellen McDougall’s first season as AD of the Gate, but I think it’s the first that the critics have properly reviewed. So many of the reviews for The Unknown Island were, at least beneath the surface, statements of approval for Ellen having got the…

Network (National Theatre)

Him off of Breaking Bad! In the flesh! Having a breakdown! OMG!

This is going to be a quick blog because TIME, but also because there isn’t really much to say.

Albion (Almeida Theatre)

Mike Bartlett’s state of the nation Brexit play has that kinda Chekovian feel. Not just because of the upper middle class London family at the centre of it, or the matriarch obsessing over a bit of old garden, but kinda because everything’s so loaded, so meaningful. I suppose it’s…

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Gate Theatre)

This was FANTASTIC. Like, startlingly good. It’s a period of history that interests me culturally (from a privileged white British perspective obviously, growing up with Rage Against The Machine albums and, more recently, absolutely lapping up that…

Wild Life FM (Unicorn Theatre)

This collaboration between Kim Noble, the guys at CAMPO, and a bunch of the most brilliant teenage musicians ever is a weird mix of the effortlessly cool (I mean, come on — Kim Noble, CAMPO, teenagers making beats and singing and playing the fucking HARP — you can’t tell me…