Author: Hugh Simpson
A Night at the Cinema in 1914
★★★☆☆ Charming:
Varied and constantly intriguing, A Night at the Cinema in 1914 provides both historical perspective and live entertainment.
Death of a Salesman
★★★★☆ Haunting
A quiet profundity burns at the heart of the Royal and Derngate, Northampton’s touring production of Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman at the King’s. Largely eschewing the showy and portentous, it is anchored by a couple of outstanding performances.
Shackleton
★★★☆☆ Committed
There is an undeniable poetic charm to Blue Raincoat’s Shackleton, at the Traverse to Friday and touring to the Tron next week.
The Diary of Anne Frank
★★★★☆ Necessary:
Combining delicacy, steel and emotional truth, Edinburgh People’s Theatre’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank is both timely and accomplished.
War in America
★★★★☆ Timely:
The Attic Collective’s War in America is passionate, emotional and committed – but not over-earnest, and certainly not polite.
Daphne Oram’s Wonderful World of Sound
★★★★☆ Engaging:
There is a freshness and infectious enthusiasm to Daphne Oram’s Wonderful World of Sound. This, allied to a magnetic central performance, overcomes oddities in the script and staging to create a thoroughly pleasing whole.
Glory on Earth
★★★☆☆ Accomplished:
Extreme care has been lavished on the Lyceum’s Glory on Earth. It has a clarity to its storytelling and performances, backed up by some excellent staging, but never engages the heart or mind as fully as it promises.
Jane Eyre
★★★★☆ Pure theatre:
Resolutely theatrical and visually arresting, the version of Jane Eyre at the Festival Theatre retains the flavour of that well-loved book while succeeding admirably on its own terms.
My Country – A Work in Progress
★☆☆☆☆ Limp:
My Country – A Work In Progress, the National Theatre of Great Britain’s touring response to the Brexit vote, may very well have its heart in the right place.
The Ladykillers
★★★★☆ Dead funny:
Assured comedy performances and ambitious staging combine to make a success of The Ladykillers for the Grads, at the Assembly Roxy to Saturday.
