The Nutcracker Leads an Abundance of Dance in London This Festive Season The Nutcracker The Nutcracker – The Royal Ballet – Sir Peter Wright’s sumptuous, transporting production of the ballet without which Christmas would not be Christmas returns to Covent Garden to mark Sir Peter’s centenary. A firm favourite since its debut in 1984, the […]
Cloud 9 – Lyttelton National Theatre
A still relevant deconstruction of power, gender and colonialism with marvellous ensemble acting. The opening of Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill reveals a Victorian family in nineteenth-century colonial Africa – they are carefully arranged and their black and white costumes and crinolined dresses suggest the cardboard cut-outs of a toy theatre – they sing a […]
Visionaries: Robbins and MacMillan
Two masterpieces of pure dance in the Royal Ballet’s latest bill Visionaries brings two hours of pure dance to the RBO main stage, a radical change from the detailed storytelling of MacMillan’s Manon, which preceded it in the schedule – no sets, unobtrusive lighting and unadorned costumes; the visual simplicity of a practically denuded stage […]
Iphigénie en Tauride – ENO
A Dramatically Compelling Iphigénie en Tauride at the Coliseum First nights at the ENO always bring out the dandies. Philip Sallon looked dashing in his cavalier’s outfit, and Michael Portillo was taking a break from his train journeying in a striking plum jacket. But the real star last night was the music. It was the […]
Germán Cornejo’s Tango After Dark
Where the Soul of the Tango Went to Die Germán Cornejo’s Tango After Dark marks the return to a Sadler’s Wells stage of the tango champion dancer and choreographer and his company of dancers and musicians after a long absence. Time was when the tango was a popular, sell-out staple of Sadler’s Wells’ programming, regularly […]
Speculations — Marylebone Theatre
A misjudged riff on famous deaths Speculation already defines American public life. I am writing immediately after midterm election results; over the last two weeks, all kinds of conjectural graphs, polls and far-flung theories have flashed onto my phone. Speculation still delivers a kick. Marylebone Theatre’s latest play runs with this idea. Stage veteran Trevor […]
The Last Hamlet
A Hamlet Like No Other From Ben Duke’s Prodigious Imagination Hamlet is widely considered one of the masterpieces of English literature. So, when theatre director Katie Mitchell pleaded in a radio interview for fewer productions of the play, stating she was tired of “angry, depressed, misogynistic men”, she caught the imagination of quintessential theatre man […]
Madam, Linbury Theatre
The Royal Ballet Honours Ninette de Valois It’s no exaggeration to say that we owe what British ballet is today to Madam. That’s how everybody within The Royal Ballet universe still refers to Ninette de Valois, the visionary Irish-born woman who, exactly one hundred years ago, founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, which would become […]
Tosca, English National Opera
Tosca-Art as Resistance ENO brings Tosca, this titan of the opera canon to a contemporary, vaguely ’80s Eastern European, setting. In its most successful moments, it is rousing and infused with urgency, but the dramatic punch of Act Two doesn’t land, and the cast is uneven. The entire drama is set in a concert hall. […]
Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at the Royal Opera House
Costa-Jackson Brings her Signature Swagger to Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen Director Damiano Michieletto’s take on George Bizet’s Carmen opened last night for its third outing at Covent Garden. Italian-American mezzo-soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson as fiery Carmen and American tenor Russell Thomas as the jealous and despairing Don José are heading up a top-notch cast. Carmen is one of […]