Review: Oedipus, Wyndham's Theatre - gripping family tragedy

Oedipus Wyndhams theatre poster'This is dreadful,' the old man sat next to me said rudely during Oedipus at the Wyndhams Theatre.

I vigorously ignored him. It wasn't dreadful, far from it. In fact, I was gripped by Robert Icke’s production, which stars Mark Strong as the eponymous character and Lesley Manville as his wife, Jocasta.

Writer/director Robert Icke has a knack for turning grand, classic stories into family-focused dramas, placing them in a contemporary setting with modern references that make them all the more familiar. And there is power in that.

Oedipus is a politician rather than a king, and the story is set on polling day, on what is expected to be his landslide victory.

We first see video footage of him talking to supporters and making two promises if elected: He will reveal his birth certificate to silence debate about his background, and he will also investigate the death of his wife's first husband, Laias.

His brother-in-law Creon (Michael Gould) isn't happy that he has gone off script during the televised address, and if you know the source material, you'll understand that both of those promises are threads that do not need to be pulled.

The stage is dressed as Oedipus' campaign office, complete with a digital clock counting down to when the polls close and the final exit poll is revealed. The clock is also a subliminal countdown to revelations that even the uninitiated will have an inkling are coming.

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Review: Richard Bean's new play Reykjavik, Hampstead Theatre

The Reykjavik company_credit Mark Douet
Reykjavik, Hampstead Theatre. Photo: Mark Douet

Richard Bean's new play Reykjavik at the Hampstead Theatre is set in the 1970s among a community of Hull-based trawler fishing men.

It is hard and dangerous work, taking the men away for three weeks at a time as they head further and further into potentially dangerous waters to find fish.

Boats returning without a good catch risk big losses for the owner of the company, Donald Claxton (John Hollingworth), and potentially the sack for the skipper.

But tragedy strikes and one of Claxton's boats sinks in freezing seas off Iceland, resulting in the death of 15 crew. Donald goes from being the disliked "capitalist" boss to being hated by those he employs and their families.

The first half is set in Donald Claxton's dim, solid, dark wood-furnished warehouse office (set design by Anna Reid), where interactions with a string of visitors reveal more of the boss and life in the community.

While Claxton is a businessman, he isn't without heart and respects the traditions built up around tragedies of this sort.

The community is like any other in its mix of relationships and gossip, and long stretches away at sea suit some families and workers more than others. Their's is an inherent practicality in their approach to life and work, but it is wrapped in a thin veil of superstition and myth. 

This is something that gets explored in the second half of the play, which is set in a hotel in Reykjavik where four survivors from the sunken ship are holed up before they get a boat home.

Claxton flies out to meet them, and with visible tensions, they settle in for a night of drinking and storytelling to pass the time.

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Review: The War of the Worlds, Wilton's Music Hall - spirited whirlwind of a play that packs a lot in

NYT REP Company members performing The War of the Worlds (credit Johan Persson)).jpg
NYT REP Company, The War of the Worlds, Wilton's Music Hall. Photo: Johan Persson

On 30 October 1938, the broadcast of Orson Wells' radio play version of H G Wells's sci-fi novel The War of the Worlds caused panic. Its realistic news programme style led some to believe a real alien invasion was happening.

In this National Youth Theatre production, created by Rhum + Clay and written with Isley Lynn, people's reaction to the radio play becomes the topic of a podcast by fledgling British podcast journalist Meena (Talitha Christina).

She comes across the story of a New Jersey family who apparently took fright and left their daughter at home to fend for herself. With the 2016 election campaign in full flow, Meena travels to the US to try and find the truth but unearths a bigger story.

The play is injected with snippets of stylised movement that add a quirky edge to the narrative. It mixes the tone and style of 1930s radio drama with a more contemporary feel, which cements the play's themes.

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Review: Waiting For Godot, Theatre Royal Haymarket starring Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati

Waiting for Godot Theatre Royal Haymarket Lucian Msamati and Ben Whishaw

Waiting For Godot is a play I love; I studied it for A-level, so I'd buy tickets regardless of the casting, but the combo of Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati was definitely an added draw.

It is a play that tends to attract starry casts - I've seen productions with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Hugo Weaving - I suppose it helps sell tickets for a surrealist play that isn't going to be for everyone.

Waiting For Godot is essentially a play in which nothing happens. Twice. But it's also a play in which everything happens and that's one of the reasons I like it.

Estragon/Gogo (Lucian Msamati) and Vladimir/Didi (Ben Whishaw) are waiting for someone called Godot. Who Godot is and why they are waiting for him is open for interpretation, which is another reason I love the play. 

"Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" says Gogo at one point. But that isn't strictly true, Pozzo (Jonathan Slinger) and his servant Lucky (Tom Edden) come along. Twice.

What passes during the encounter is, again, open for interpretation.

It might not seem like it on paper, but Waiting For Godot is a funny play, and this is a funny production. It is not rolling around in the aisles funny, but it draws out the amusing absurdity and its inherent truth. It's irony and silliness.

There are bubbles of laughter, particularly during the second half when Didi and Gogo's routine becomes familiar.

The play's subtle layers require a lot of the actors to deliver, and Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati didn't disappoint.

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Review: Foreverland, Southwark Playhouse Borough

Antwi  McDonald  York (c)Charlie Lyne
Valerie Antwi, Emma McDonald and Christopher York in Foreverland, Southwark Playhouse Photo: Charlie Lyne

If medical science made it possible to live forever, frozen at the age you have the procedure, would you do it? The ability to stay young and live way beyond what is normal is the premise of Emma Hemingford's play Foreverland at the Southwark Playhouse Borough.

The idea is explored through the life of teacher Alice (Emma McDonald) and her entrepreneur husband Jay (Christopher York), who pass the criteria and, crucially, have the money to undertake the procedure.

Attracted by the idea of fulfilling their dreams and leading the perfect life where time is on their side, they put last-minute nerves to one side and go ahead.

The future world in which this play is set is kept mostly at arm's length in the first half of the play as it focuses on Alice and Jay's relationship. Given that they don't age, it is difficult to tell how much time is passing as the narrative cycles through snippets of their daily lives until the arrival of their daughter Annie (Emily Butler).

It seems like they are indeed living their dream life, except there are hints that all is not content; time doesn't erase the past, it seems. And Annie grows up (Una Byrne) and sees things differently from her parents.

The adult Annie brings the outside world into their 'fulfilling' lives and shines a different light on the procedure and its implications for society. However this comes quite late in the story to generate much of a debate.

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Review: Ostan, Park Theatre - car washing and gaming in busy immigration play

Ostan credit Jack Bush _0010
Serkan Avlik and Ojan Genc in Ostan, Park Theatre. Photo Jack Bush

Arzhang Pezhman's play Ostan is set in a car wash where owner Shapur (Dana Haqjoo) employs asylum seekers. Rebin (Ojan Genc) doggedly chases progress on his application for indefinite leave while trying to train newbie Gorkem (Serkan Avlik) how to use all the different cleaning products.

The car wash faces stiff competition, and Shapur is not happy with the amount of money it is making. The financial situation is not helped by customers like Noah (El Anthony), who don't always have the money to hand to pay.

Performed in Park Theatre's smaller space, with the audience on either side, the small stage is busy with its car wash set and characters coming and going.

The story is also busy. There are the car wash's struggles, asylum struggles, cultural clashes and racial tensions, and a side-line in people smuggling. There is also Gorkem's fledgling rap career and online computer gaming obsessions.

Conversations primarily take place in the car wash, but there are also a lot of one-sided phone calls and chatting through headsets while gaming.

The latter is performed among the audience, with Noah and Rebin sitting on either side of the stage in the back row. A screen hanging above the performance space shows snippets of the game they are playing.

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Review: Coriolanus, National Theatre - cancel culture in Roman times

Coriolanus National Theatre David Oyelowo
The National Theatre has given its new production of Coriolanus an epic feel. The stage has a series of huge concrete-looking columns which rise and fall to create different spaces in and around which the action is set.

Ancient artefacts are dotted around, sometimes giving the feel of a modern museum, which is a visual representation of how the production blends old and new. It has one foot in the past and another in the present.

Coriolanus (David Oyelowo), the soldier extraordinaire who has delivered so many victories for Rome, is admired and revered by the elite and common people alike until he does something which is seen as disrespectful. 

He 'disses' his fans, if you like, and they turn on him, egged on by the tribunes Sicinius (Stephanie Street) and Brutus (Jordan Metcalfe).

Their punishment is to banish him. But it is something they quickly regret when their former hero sets out on a path of revenge.

The costumes have a quasi-modern look, but there are no other modern references. And yet, Coriolanus' treatment, how he is raised up and objectified by his 'fans' only to be brought down by the same, has resonance with social and tabloid media now. He gets 'cancelled'.

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Review: Offroading, Old Red Lion Theatre - light comedy drama about a mismatched couple

Offroading Old Red Lion Theatre Threadbare Theatre
Threadbare Theatre's Offroading, Old Red Lion Theatre

Offroading at the Old Red Lion is an opposites-attract comedy-drama in which the couple's relationship and their imagined futures are tested.

Writer Lucy Linger tells the story through the eyes of Steve (Owen Frost), who recounts his memories of meeting and falling in love with Jane (Elise Verney).

Steve is steady, middle-of-the-road, plodding contentedly through life. He is still in his graduate job after 10 years and still living with his parents. Jane blows like a whirlwind into his life; she is free-spirited, impulsive, bohemian and doesn't like to lay down roots.

Their awkward first meeting is in a pub. Steve is nervously waiting for his blind date to show up and mistakes Jane for the person he is meeting.

It's a slow-burn relationship, frustratingly so for Steve who has been enamoured with Jane pretty much from the start.

But despite their differences and a few bumps, it seems to work. That is until they face a bigger challenge, which throws their differences into stark relief. It turns their differences from quirks to irks and throws into question the paths they see themselves on.

Owen Frost's Steve regularly talks directly to the audience, giving his impressions of the relationship and commentary that comes with the benefit of hindsight.

The two actors spark in their scenes together, convincing as a mismatched couple. The first half bobs along, buoyed by plenty of light humour and wit.

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Review: My Life As A Cowboy, Omnibus Theatre - gentle, fun comedy

My Life As A Cowboy Omnibus Theatre flyer

Country music is cool, and it's going to launch 17-year-old Conor (Harry Evans) into a glittering career as a backing dancer in the US or winning a talent competition in his hometown of Croydon will.

That's the premise of Hugo Timbrell's play My Life As a Cowboy, which has just opened at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham.

Conor is living an average suburban life. He works as a lifeguard at the local leisure centre and is generally cheerful and optimistic but worries that he might be a loser.

His best friend, Zainab (Nusrath Tapadar), reluctantly agrees to help him with his dance routine for the competition and join him in performing.

Zainab is spirited, sharp and kind, but tensions flare when their duo becomes a trio as Conor swaps the chosen Shania Twain song for fellow lifeguard Michael's self-penned country song about...being a lifeguard.

Michael isn't the sharpest person and is not always the most considerate of others.

The action switches deftly back and forth between rehearsals in Conor's bedroom to the poolside chats with Michael and later to Croydon Town Hall for the auditions and performance.

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Review: The Fifth Step, Dundee Rep and Scotland tour - subtler fare from David Ireland but no less funny or sharp

The Fifth Step Dundee Rep poster
The Fifth Step promotional poster, Dundee Rep


David Ireland’s new play The Fifth Step had its first performance with a packed house at the Dundee Rep before transferring for a short run in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

It's a different play tonally to Ulster American (which I was ‘meh about) and Cyprus Avenue, which was grim, shocking (and excellent).

While not shying away from difficult topics, it feels 'relatively' gentler - for Ireland, anyway.

The fifth step refers to the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery stage, whereby wrongs, things you are ashamed of, are confessed to another, having drawn up your list as the fourth step.

The play opens with Luka (Jack Lowden) choosing James (Sean Gilder) as his sponsor. Well, it opens with a typically frank conversation that centres on James’ own sponsor, who was gay and whether gay men inevitably fancy all men.

(Luka thinks so based on his own thoughts about women and sex.)

He is struggling with the adjustment to 100% abstention from alcohol. His social life centres on pubs, and his friends aren't very supportive. He doesn't have a job, and when he’s not trying to get work, he spends his time watching porn and ‘relieving himself’.

He relieves himself rather a lot.

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