739 stories by "Susan Elkin"
Last week I picked up what I thought was probably a training book of sorts from my ever-high desk-side pile and shoved it in my bag to read on the train " one of my...
For fifteen years Y Touring Theatre Company has been producing and touring plays which present and explore complex science-based issues. The company is supported in this work by Wellcome Tru…
Stratford Circus, London: Tiny, barefooted children swarm around a circular sandpit in this multi-sensory show. They can physically feel the sand and the wind as well as seeing the action an…
Mumford Theatre, Cambridge: The All-Male Amateur Dramatics Society of Creakebottom in remote Suffolk (sort of) stages a nativity play as its entry to a national drama festival. The play with…
Hazlitt Arts Centre, Maidstone: Maybe you don't look to pantomime for originality, but this one - which also includes traditional ghost gag and slapstick set pieces - also splices in so…
On Saturday I attended an up-beat Christmas concert in St Paul's Covent Garden, the actors' church. It included numbers from musicals, carols, some traditional Christmas hymns and readings b…
Churchill, Bromley: There's a lot to commend in this show. Andrew Agnew gives us an unusually avuncular Scottish Buttons who spares us all that excruciating 'be in my gang' st…
Olivier, National, London: Bunny Christie's designs, with their deep black, angular shapes, lamp posts and reversible flats pushed downstage, make imaginative use of the Olivier's …
One of the USPs of the franchise chains of stage schools is that they can " and a lot of them do " bring members of the various sites together for large scale performances in...
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury: Paul Hendy, whose company Evolution Pantomimes has eight different shows running this year, has a great gift for scripts which work in specific places and this o…
Arts Theatre, London: Irreverent, witty, fast-paced and outrageous, this enjoyable show offers a musical version of the key points of Dickens' life punctuated with some sort of account …
Brighton Dome Studio: Already very good when I first saw it earlier in the year, this show for pre-schoolers has really bedded down and matured on its tour - with two out of four new cast me…
Polka Theatre, London: Rosamunde Hutt has a real gift for sparkly interpretations of children's books - as many of her Unicorn shows have demonstrated - and it's good to see her in…
Little Angel Theatre, London: It is quite a challenge to create a Christmas show which works well for both adults and children and charms rather than offends, but this pretty, witty piece su…
Soho Theatre, London: This no-frills showcase makes no attempt at a classy ensemble opener or finale and there is no music. It simply presents the work of 27 students - 20 women and seven me…
Canada Water Library, London: This powerful, atmospheric reworking of Buchner's 200 year old play as a three-hander is set in the aftermath of the First World War with graphic flashback…
Churchill Theatre, Bromley: This brave, uplifting, affirmative, feminist - yes, feminist - piece explores the experience of poor, working class young women in the East End by turning the Fif…
Lyric Hammersmith: It's an inspired idea to set a story about shepherds, sheep and wolves in the heart of English wool country especially if the production emanates from York and you ca…
Garrick, London: This slick entertaining show is the usual mix of pantomime, song and serious historical titbits all spiced and spliced with deliciously irreverent incongruities and puns, su…
Hackney Picture House, London: Marrying live acting with projection based on illustrations, that many of the young audience will recognise, is an ingenious way of introducing theatre to unde…
Unicorn Theatre, London: The stage is festooned with sandcastles, helium balloons and an empty toy chest, which later turns into a pretend ship. The attractive sandpit is in France and that&…
Little Angel, London: A talented trio of intense, black-clad puppeteers control avian puppets in this extraordinarily effective, pared down version of Macbeth which plays up imagery and symb…
When Peter Glanville, Artistic Director of Little Angel Theatre, started the Suspense Festival (Puppetry for adults … no, surely not?) it seemed to some of us to be something of a wacky id…
Greenwich Theatre, London: A trademark Theatre Centre four-hander, Roy Williams' disturbing new play explores the riots of 1958 and 2011 through a skilfully written and directed series …
Polka Theatre, London: Tinsel streamers, flashing lights, maps, pinboards, primary colours and giant flat screens festoon the stage and much of the auditorium in this show for nine to 13 yea…
