dougiebannon

dougiebannon

  • Joined: August 12, 2023
  • Articles: 12

REVIEW: Uncle Vanya

Reading Time: 3 minutesTrevor Nunn has directed every Shakespeare play, and a fair few of Chekov’s. And plenty more to boot. He is Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket, having previously been in the same position at the RSC and the National Theatre. In short, a play adapted and directed by him is an event in and of itself. That it is Uncle Vanya, a play which has so far eluded him, makes it even more so. And it pays off, in spades. The Orange Tree is just such a wonderful setting for this claustrophobic play oscillating between boredom and passion, love, tenderness and murderous rage, and Nunn’s direction is immersive placing every audience member as a fly on the wall. 

REVIEW: INK

Photo by Julian Mommert

Reading Time: 2 minutesThis was my main question throughout this piece. Papaioannou (an erstwhile painter before his illustrious career as a director, choreographer and performer) creates beautiful images, awesome tableaus onstage before allowing them to crumble, or in this case melt away. The stage is set under a fair few inches of water which keeps coming for most of the show. Papaioannou, as the Dressed Man is sat contemplatively, spinning a bowl of water, allowing it to spill out again. Eventually Šuka Horn crawls on as the Nude Man and disrupts this peaceful, soggy solitude. What follows borders on erotic, tender, loving and eventually violent, traumatic and sad. Outstanding sound design from David Blouin and intelligent and effective lighting from Lucien Laborderie and Stephanos Droussiotis illuminate the performance which verges on the edge of contemporary dance without ever plunging deeper into it.

REVIEW: REWIND

Reading Time: 2 minutesThis powerful, emotional, lovingly crafted gem is not one to miss Ephemeral Ensemble have created something wonderful. By focusing on the work of forensic anthropologists in Latin America and inspired by the testimonies of refugees and migrants,…

REVIEW: Infinite Life

Photo by Marc Brenner

Reading Time: 3 minutesAnnie Baker’s funny, poignant, thought provoking meditation on pain and longing is well worth seeing Annie Baker’s new play Infinite Life fulfils what is becoming a tradition for this multiple-award winning playwright in having its UK debut…

REVIEW: Fell

Reading Time: 2 minutesA production lacking in surety which could do with more character definition Chris Salt’s new play Fell, with Edgeways Productions, presents the story of a Cumbrian schoolboy, outsider and Elvis Costello fan Lyle, who finds himself teaming up with…

REVIEW: The Architect

Photography by David Levene

Reading Time: 3 minutesConceived and written to commemorate 30 years since the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, the 18 year old South East Londoner who himself dreamt of a future in architecture, The Architect and The Architect’s Dream – two adjoined yet separate productions from The Actor’s Touring Company and Greenwich+Docklands International Festival – takes us on a curated journey from Deptford to Woolwich tracing as it goes the various quotidian lives and loves and dramas and conversations of a regular Black family.

REVIEW: The W.I.G of Life: A Conference

Reading Time: 2 minutesBy offering the chance for us to cosplay as advanced Artificial Intelligence in a far-flung future, Psychonaut Theatre’s latest production: The W.I.G of Life allows us to examine humanity’s impact on the world around us by presenting us with the binary choice as to whether to preserve biological life or allow it to extinguish.