Edition # 3
"A thousand years from now man will still be sighing, "Oh! Life is so hard!" and will still, like now, be afraid of death and not want to die.” (Three Sisters - Chekhov)
One Day
There was no email last week as I was in Venice dressed up for Carnival (evidence below) so apologies for the silence; I would highly recommend February as a time to go - turquoise waters, silent streets and empty numinous churches. Our favourites were San Giorgio Maggiore (pictured) and the Frari Church for its breathtaking Titians.
Last week, Kwame Kwei-Armah announced he would be stepping down as Artistic Director of the Young Vic - he is yet another casualty of the sector’s litany of challenges: Covid’s impact on theatre, the soaring cost of living, cast illness, box office unpredictability as advance bookings dwindle. In his departure note, he called for government intervention to stem thirteen years of standstill funding in the subsidised sector. The last year has seen an extraordinary number of departures from the top jobs at major theatres, including the Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, Chichester Festival theatre, Theatr Clwyd and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Kwame can leave with his head held high.
Shows To Book Now
The Comeuppance at The Almeida, 6 Apr - Sat 18 May
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon was an extraordinary play, working as both an adaptation of a 19th-century melodrama and a perplexing postmodernist critique of it. His latest play, transferring from New York, centres around a post-pandemic high-school reunion interrupted by the Grim Reaper - expect a gorgeous, surprising, and deeply funny play.
The Little Foxes at The Young Vic, 4 Dec 2024 - 8 Feb 2025
Lyndsay Turner (The Witches, The Crucible) directs this retelling of Lillian Hellman’s story of greed, ambition and a family on the edge. Written in 1939 but set in 1900, Hellman's play deals ostensibly with the Hubbard family's avaricious dreams.
When You Pass Over My Tomb at The Arcola until 2nd March
Director Daniel Goldman and Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco reunite after their collaborations on Thebes Land in 2016 and 2020’s The Rage Of Narcissus. Now, the two reunite with the UK premiere of When You Pass Over My Tomb, a darkly comic story about a writer who decides to donate his dead body to a necrophiliac. Sounds disturbing.
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy at The Garrick Theatre 29 Feb – Sat 4 May
For Black Boys was something of a sensation when it transferred from the New Diorama to the Royal Court’s main stage last year. Now the show returns for a limited West End run. Six young Black men meet for group therapy, and let their hearts – and imaginations – run wild. Come for the music and the physicality and for a seriously powerful event.
TV Shows to Watch:
One Day (Netflix)
Romcoms are well and truly back. One Day (based on the cult novel by David Nicholls, who has exec-produced the show) follows two will-they-won’t-they friends annually on St Swithun’s Day, 15 July, the date they first met at their graduation ball at the University of Edinburgh. Leo Woodall (White Lotus) is smoking hot. Ambika Mod (This Is Going to Hurt) is a revelation. Sunday night binge viewing.
Reflections:
Till The Stars Come Down
Beth Steel’s terrific Chekhovian drama about three working-class sisters is a bruising and hilarious triumph, stuffed with beauty and pain - this is new writing at its absolute best. Its authenticity comes across in the salty humour of the setting - a vodka-fuelled wedding party. The play’s opening scene will go down as one of the great play openings as the women do their hair and make-up. It’s uproarious, it’s thrilling and is a highlight of the 2024 theatre calendar. Tickets here
Leo Woodall has my heart