93 stories by "Not Exactly Billington"
Curve, Leicester 17thJuly, 2018 “Wherever there’s trouble, I can guarantee you I’ll be there” Apparently this stage adaptation of Raymond Allen’s 1970s’ c…
Fun Home exceeds all expectations. It's one of those productions where everything " book, music, performance, design " comes together in perfect harmony and by the final notes you know you'v…
If I have been overly harsh, I apologise, and I'm sure many audience members found aspects to enjoy in The Final Curtain, however, if 'cosy crime' is your thing, I think you'd be better off …
In all of the hot air, there's been lately about the 25 greatest plays since Angels in America, I cannot argue against the decision to include An Octoroon high on the list.
Mischief Movie Night is enormous fun and the cast clearly loves what they do. The sense of kinship is refreshing and invigorating as we giggle alongside the actors on stage at the absurdity …
Polly Stenham has updated August Strindberg's 1888 play Miss Julie to contemporary London. Why? Well, it would be foolish to think that this new version is modern only because of its languag…
In their latest touring production, Ken Ludwig's musical comedy, Crazy For You, Paul Hart and the Watermill Theatre have enhanced a much-loved classic with flights of fanciful footwork and a…
I was thrilled that a new generation (myself included) could get an opportunity to see the play and experience a plethora of luscious characters that are frightened of their selves as much a…
Gérald Garutti's production of Molière's Tartuffe hasn't convinced me that it's the finest play in the French canon. Yet, for its sexy design, its novelty, and its ambition, it is oddly en…
Now, Soho Theatre and DryWrite (the latter of which is run by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones) are taking Fleabag on the road again, handing down the performing reins to Maddie Rice.
Here, Agatha Christie's and Frank Vosper's 1936 play is in the assured hands of Lucy Bailey in a production for the Royal & Derngate. Where the play flounders, the production remains en…
In summary, stage adaptations of films should be justified by bringing something new to a well-known story, and Strictly Ballroom misses the mark on this point.
This new musical adaptation of An Officer and a Gentleman, receiving its world premiere at Curve, makes no apologies for embracing the melodrama of the movie. In doing so, it delivers a poli…
Robert Hastie once said that the director's role is "to provide the clearest conduit between a writer and an actor". Such an approach, effectively of getting in the way as little as possible…
While Puig's masterpiece Kiss of the Spider Woman doesn't quite work when fleshed into a physical entity, I am reminded of the unique and all-conquering power of the human imagination, and I…
Matilda is THE family musical of this generation and a must-see for musical theatre aficionados for Minchin's score alone. The fun and mischief are infectious and I can't remember the last t…
As well as being a damn clever meditation on the creative process, the writing in The Inheritance is also emotionally searing, nuanced and consistent, never glib or rushed.
Has there ever been a more hotly anticipated new musical? A rhapsodic biography of America's 'forgotten' founding father, Hamilton has whipped up a hurricane (pardon the pun) of frenzy, spec…
