Reviews Written by J

Dealer's Choice was the first play written by Patrick Marber, debuting in 1995. The play subsequently garnered much acclaim among critics, winning  various accolades and receiving numerous revivals across the globe.  Now, at the Donmar Warehouse, it returns for a 30th anniversary production directed by Mathew Dunster.  You are first struck by the incredibly c hic staging: a modern and minimal kitchen, downstage (the dining area) sits a single table with two chairs - mid-century in style. A v ery subtle but effective use of lighting and sound design, helps to designate the front of house and the back of house t hroughout the first act. I found it took a minute for the play to warm up, and for the dialogue to feel natural. The w hole ensemble cast are actually rather phenomenal, but seem to lack chemistry with each other, and a natural cadence. I saw an early preview, and I believe as the run continues the cast will find their footing.  Alfie Allen plays Frankie, a wai...

George Balanchine is perhaps the most influential choreographer of the 20th century. He along with Lincoln Kirstein set up the New York City ballet which has since become one of the world's foremost dance institutions. His move towards non-narrative choreography laid the groundwork for much of the dance landscape as we now know it. Balanchine's legacy is undeniable, although he has perhaps overshadowed the contemporaneous work of Martha Graham, who for me was the greater innovator.   The Royal Ballet has recently put on a programme consisting entirely of Balanchine's works: Serenade, Prodigal Son, and Symphony in C. It was more than worth attending.  — Serenade was the first work Balanchine created in America. I loved the use of a kind of false mimicry in the choreography. Dancers would seem to emulate the movement of each other without fully copying, most notable when the ensemble ebb and flow in response to the soloists. For me, o...

It would be unfair to do anything other than make my biases clear from the start. Robert Icke's version of Oedipus that completed its run at the Wyndham's Theatre only a few months ago was perhaps the finest production I have seen. It had such a profound impact on me; it felt unbelievably well-crafted and exceptionally acted. It is with regret that the production I review for you now is not Icke's meticulously devised adaptation, but rather the version of Sophocles' tragedy that is currently on show at the Old Vic.  Ella Hickson directs Rami Malek in the title role, relying heavily on contemporary dance, lighting and sound design. This offering presents as a surface level approach to modernisation, incorporating ideas and techniques indiscriminately, in a way that hindered understanding of the text and suppressed opportunities for heartfelt and complex performances from its cast.   Malik is no natural stage actor, and never seems to submit fully to the role, it is h...

There are not many that can integrate a quad bike to the opening scene of a Chekhov play, but Thomas Ostermeier somehow manages it with his radical, star-studded adaptation of The Seagull. Thomas Ostermeier first directed a production of The Seagull over a decade ago for the International Theatre Amsterdam; it is clear that for a theatre production to be considered truly great these days (Eline Arbo's The Years, Robert Icke's Oedipus, Ivo van Hove's A little Life) Dutch origins are a prerequisite. Now being performed at the Barbican, Ostermeier has refined the production, with a script adapted by Duncan Macmillan and a changed set courtesy of Magda Willi, but its deck chairs, microphones, and fourth-wall-breaks persist.  A quad-bike-riding, Telecaster-wielding, Billy-Brag-belting Zachary Heart (playing the role of Simon Medvedenko) acts as the show's hype man, as charismatic as he is multitalented. In the particular production I had the pleasure of seeing, the actor...

Anna Mackmin's Backstroke depicts the chaotic life, past and present, of Bo (played by Tamsin Greig) as it pertains to her relationship with her mother, Beth (Celia Imrie) caring for Beth in declining health. Backstroke makes its home at the always forward-thinking Donmar Warehouse, which has provided some of greatest moments of theatre in recent memory. Backstroke balances joy and despair, by offering some great witty lines like: "you're only a true craftsperson when you've gifted someone your work and have had to endure their ambivalence" (paraphrasing) alongside its broadly dark themes. Unfortunately for Backstroke, the pacing is somewhat off. We suffer a long and grueling first half, which perhaps engages too much in sorrowful tone setting, rather than more complex narrative building. The play's second half felt comparatively short, with greater incidences of charming humour, in addition to better exploring the depth of the dynamic between m...

My first experience of Pina Bausch was through her 1975 rechoreographing of The Rite of Spring. I saw it performed by a company assembled from dancers across Africa at the Edinburgh International Festival and was captivated completely by its intensity. Premiering in 2006 Vollmond, one of her last works, is more restrained in its use of typical balletic beauty, with moments that cross the line more so into performance art as is characteristic for her later projects. By this point Bausch has cultivated a highly unique working methodology and has cemented herself as a daring choreographer of great influence. Described as a series of extended solos Vollmond is a two-hour epic that meanders throughout ideas and scenes, attempting to balance and juxtapose collaboration and independence, the ominous and the childlike, romance and humour. A 12 strong ensemble consisting of dancers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal company perform Vollmond, with t...

Annie Ernaux is an individual who needs little introduction. G enre-bending  a uthor of an extensive, critically-acclaimed oeuvre. Nobel Laureate in literature, 2022. Nothing encapsulates Ernaux's ability to construct such an intimate portrait of a life than her  2008   memoir  The Years . Adapted into a play by  Eline Arbo  for the Dutch audience, and subsequently  revised by  Stephanie Bain for London stages, The Years gained praise at the Almeda Theatre before now making its transfer to the Harold Pinter.  A dynamic cast of just five perform and narrate  the life of Annie, managing to  switch   effortlessly between roles.  The narratorial style, along with t he occasional fourth walk break,  allows for the prose of the book to be maintained, as well as create a kind of respectful distance between the story told by the women on stage and the "real" life of Ernaux - a charm that would be lost in an overly polished Ho...