It's a wee bit eggy...

Based on minor characters from Shakespeare’s much-loved tragedy ‘Hamlet’, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is, to this day, Tom Stoppard’s most famous play, combining deeply philosophical thoughts on the inevitability of death with humour and comedy that even myself, your average twenty-year-old, can find deeply hilarious. Half a century after its premiere on The Old Vic stage, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead returned to the beautiful setting once more, and although I was unable to attend the live showing of the play, I was able to attend the National Theatre Live viewing at a local cinema (which was a lot better than I had expected). For those unaware of the plot, which I was too prior to a quick google search five minutes before the show started, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead focuses on two characters, Rosencrantz (Daniel Radcliffe) & Guildenstern (Joshua McGuire), two old friends of Hamlet who set off to Denmark under the orders of the new King, to p...

William Shakespeare is one whom I would commonly refer to as the literary equivalent to marmite: you either love his work with a passion or utterly despise it. I guess you could blame the fact that it is commonly force fed down your throat at school reading ‘thou’ after ‘thus’ until the English lesson finally ends – yet, I feel appreciation would grow more if everyone was taken to the theatre to see Shakespeare’s work where it is at its best, just as I was for Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre, London. Image by Miles Aldridge Having only read a couple of pages of the play, and previously seeing an amateur dramatic group’s rendition, my knowledge only stretched to the basic plot, as well as knowing the common line “to be, or not to be”, but due to the number of deaths that many of my peers have told me about, I knew this would be something of interest to me, not to mention the incredible casting that had been achieved. Surrounding the lead protagonist of Prince Hamlet (Played...

Warning: Spoiler Included For a Spoiler Free Review, CLICK HERE . William Shakespeare is one whom I would commonly refer to as the literary equivalent to marmite: you either love his work with a passion or utterly despise it. I guess you could blame the fact that it is commonly force fed down your throat at school reading ‘thou’ after ‘thus’ until the English lesson finally ends – yet, I feel appreciation would grow more if everyone was taken to the theatre to see Shakespeare’s work where it is at its best, just as I was for Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre, London. Image by Miles Aldridge Having only read a couple of pages of the play, and previously seeing an amateur dramatic group’s rendition, my knowledge only stretched to the basic plot, as well as knowing the common line “to be, or not to be”, but due to the number of deaths that many of my peers have told me about, I knew this would be something of interest to me, not to mention the incredible casting that had been achie...

Crowding into the small, eerie space of the New Theatre Royal, an anxious audience took to their seats, awaiting the horror and psychological torment that was to haunt their evening. Many years ago, I had saw The Woman In Black in London with my school, and hoped that having previously seen it, some of the fear would be removed…this was not the case. The play tells the story of Arthur Kipps, played by David Acton, an elderly man who writes a manuscript of his previous horrors, in the hope that the psychological torment of his past, and the woman in black, would finally leave him in peace. With the aim of performing to a small audience of friends and family, Arthur seeks help from The Actor, played by Matthew Spencer, to improve his performance, yet the pair then decide that The Actor will play a young Arthur Kipps, whilst Arthur plays supporting roles. In front of your eyes, the pair discuss their plans for their performance, before immersing you deeply into the major plot line it...

With only a distant memory of the plots skeleton, I found myself being dragged to the King’s Theatre Portsmouth last night, with my family, to endure ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’. Like a moody teenager, dressed in all black with the look of bemusement in my eyes, I took my seat in the half empty theatre and forced a smile to my face, preparing to tolerate almost three hours of overly cheerful torture…and yet, I instead found myself in awe of the spectacle in front of me. Set in a 1920’s New York, a young, ‘modern’ by the name of Millie Dillmount escapes her life from Kansas, with hopes of marrying a rich husband in the big city. With a mind set on money as opposed to love, we see Millie battle between her head and heart as she makes the choice between her rich boss, Mr Graydon, or the attractive, yet penniless, Jimmy Smith. Away from Millie’s love life, a coinciding plot occurs, focusing on the Hotel Priscilla where Millie is staying. Run by Mrs Meers, leader of a white slavery ring...

First performed in in 1968, Mart Crowley’s ‘The Boys in the Band’ has been revived once again, featuring appearances from the likes of Mark Gatiss, Ian Hallard, and James Holmes. Described by James Holmes as “gays in a room”, the play revolves around a group of gay friends in New York, who meet up to celebrate Harold’s (played by Mark Gatiss) fortysomething birthday. Organised by Michael (Ian Hallard), the birthday party commences, but comedy quickly deteriorates as alcohol is drunk and weed is smoked, leading to, what can only be described as, despair (but let’s face it, we’ve all been there before).  Characters are drip-fed onto stage throughout Act 1, and as each of them enters, their clear independence is displayed, as you would expect from a group of friends. They interact well with each other, but without losing who they truly are, which certainly helped to create one of the most realistic pieces of theater that I haves seen to date. On top of this, there are clear...