Tim's Cooked it, TV BAFTAs and one of the plays of the year
Last Sunday was the TV BAFTAs; the victors ranged from the final seasons of Top Boy and Happy Valley. Other highlights saw Succession and The Bear beaten by an unknown French drama, Class Act. Timothy Spall won Best Actor for his superb role in The Sixth Commandment - a very well deserved win and worth a watch on iPlayer. The scabrous sitcom Such Brave Girls won best Scripted Comedy, penned by and starring the impressive Kat Sadler.
iSmash
This is not just the worst ad Apple have ever put out, but possibly one of the worst adverts of all time. Imagine the endless chains of approval in getting this made and eventually posted on Tim Cook’s X feed. They should all be fired, preferably out of a cannon, into Siberian Russia. The message: "we crush all the the things you love"
To Book Now
Machinal at The Old Vic, on until 1st June
Book this right now. Full review below
Hedda at Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio, from 25th July to 23rd August
Lily Allen is to star as Hedda Gabler in a new version of Ibsen’s play, written and directed by Matthew Dunster, reuniting the team who worked together on 2:22 A Ghost Story and The Pillowman. Expect it to be dark and haunting.
National Theatre’s New Season:
Coriolanus: David Oyelowo plays Coriolanus in this new production of Shakespeare’s timeless political tragedy.
The Other Place: Greek tragedy is all the rage at the moment as Emma D’Arcy makes their National Theatre debut in this reimagining of the classic story of Antigone.
A Tupperware of Ashes: See Meera Syal in this heart-breaking new drama about life, immigration and the Indian spiritual cycle of death and rebirth.
The Importance of Being Earnest: A joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s celebrated comedy, with Sharon D Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa and Hugh Skinner.
Films To See
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Wait what? Trust me. If you watched the 2015 Oscar winning Mad Max Fury Road, starring BJ Walker (aka Tom Hardy), you will know these films aren’t at all as shit as the posters suggest. In fact, the films are adrenaline-fuelled spectacular masterpieces helmed by George Miller; it’s old school cinema at its original best. Premiering at Cannes this week, it hits UK cinemas from May 24 starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) and Chris Hemsworth .
Reflections
Machinal at The Old Vic
On a warm balmy Tuesday night, the Old Vic justified its existence. After the disappointments of the frankly dull Pygmalion here a few months ago, I wondered if the theatre was drifting into an anachronism, wilfully preserving a formal, patrician style of theatre for which the modern world had no use, a programme as remote from reality as a troop of cavalry in an age of turbo-jets. I was shamefully wrong. On this Tuesday night (and running for the rest of the month), the cavalry leapt into action and gave a display of theatrical equitation which silenced all grumblers. Richard Jones helms a sharp, incisive production of Sophie Treadwell’s terrific 1928 play, Machinal, a masterpiece in theatrical expressionism. Jones’s staging is uniquely complete, orchestrating every detail with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, from the snap of a black rubber glove to a flower suffocating in a glass bowl. Rosie Sheehy’s performance is outstanding. She is a serious star and a name to look out for. The cast, choreographed by Sarah Fahie, moves like a jittery, oversized clockwork toy; their shadows elongated and spiky. During a childbirth scene, the shadow of a man with a pneumatic drill looms menacingly like something from a horror movie. Sheehy captures both weariness and fierce resistance, often the only flesh-like presence on stage, blending in until she breaks free; oscillating between docility and wildness like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Treadwell, an American journalist, wrote Machinal after covering the sensational trial of Ruth Snyder, a housewife convicted of murdering her husband. Opting for drama over journalism, she crafted a play about a woman crushed by the mundanity of hostile forces: an uncomprehending mother, a mechanized city and office, a predatory boss and an empty marriage. Society - then and now - has got some serious explaining to do.
Boys On The Verge of Tears at Soho Theatre
Winner of the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award, Sam Grabiner’s play is a striking debut and a worthy winner. Directed by James Macdonald, it’s a compelling abstract drama set in a public toilet that explores the rituals and rites of male behaviour through scenes depicting life stages from childhood (“Daddy I am doing a poo”) to decay (“pass me the stoma bag will you?”). Grabiner balances truthful dialogue with near-silent moments. Children full of innocence form friendships, teenagers boast and dream poetically before turning brutally on their peers, and adults face their pasts. Macdonald directs with authority, drawing memorable performances from a versatile five-member cast playing fifty characters. Calvin Demba and Maanuv Thiara are compelling as young boys daring each other with a stolen knife, Matthew Beard captures the angst of teenage Jack, David Carlyle shines as drag queen Maureen Lip-Man, and Tom Espiner heartbreakingly concludes as the Stepfather facing death. The play presents practical design challenges, met ingeniously by Ashley Martin-Davis with realistic and robust sets, and Peter Mumford’s eerie lighting. This concise, witty, and challenging anthology of masculine behaviour examines how men learn – and sometimes fail – to communicate.