85 stories by "Tom Birchenough"
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
We are bowled over!Â
The Globe stretches the theatrical experience with this bilingual BSL production
More surely than any other London stage, the Globe has opened up our theatrical perspective on different lang…
Katori Hall is back in her native Memphis with an exuberant ensemble piece
There's an exuberant comedy from the start in Katori Hall's The Hot Wing King, which comes to London after an initi…
A female cast rips into toxic masculinity in a rebalanced treatment of villainy
There's a fierce, dark energy to the Globe's new Richard III that I don't recall at that venue for a fair whil…
Awkward mix of knockabout laughs, heartfelt tribute and feminist messaging never quite settles
There are genres of theatre that demand buy-in from the audience " musicals, opera and the…
Peter Gill's new memory play is a wistful recreation of gay loves lost and found
As its title suggests, Peter Gill's Something in the Air is an elusive piece " it's about catching at instinc…
While bravado support from Bill Pullman practically steals the show
For sheer extremes of family dysfunction Theresa Rebeck's Mad House must be aiming to set new records in American drama. T…
The first in his 'Century Cycle' catches the fabric of life that August Wilson made his own
It's great to see August Wilson's early play " the first of his "Century Cycle", that remarkable d…
James Fritz's play explores the spoken and unspoken ripples of grief with fine naturalism
The title of James Fritz's play is allusive, oblique even. I assume it refers to how, in the afterm…
Jeremy O Harris's scintillating drama poses questions about possession, in life and art
Danya Taymor's production of "Daddy" A Melodrama has a huge exuberance: a tour de force in itself, it'…
Alexis Zegerman's new play feels less than the sum of its parts
The Fever Syndrome has an ambition that places itself firmly in the tradition of the great American family drama (comparisons …
Agent supreme Peggy Ramsay returns to the stage in accomplished Alan Plater revival
Was Peggy Ramsay a "woman out of time"? The legendary London literary agent, who nurtured the talents of …
Blanche McIntyre regenders the Duke and relishes the London low-life
Measure for Measure may be the quintessential Shakespearean "problem" play, but just what has earned it that epithet rem…
The intensity of studio theatre only fitful in Bill Alexander's updated adaptation
What's in an article? Director Bill Alexander has titled his new production A Merchant of Venice, leaving u…
Stockard Channing explores the essentials in Marsha Norman revival
'Night Mother remains a play of piercing pessimism, something that's not necessarily the same as tragedy, though the two of…
Overcoming lockdown challenges, a broadcast first for RSC
It has been a hard coming for this RSC Winter's Tale but, mirroring the action of the play itself, considerable travail has brought …
Affectionate aplomb from Oliver Ford Davies and Stephen Boxer in Ben Brown's new play
There's such a genial feel to the pairing of Oliver Ford Davies and Stephen Boxer in Ben Brown's new pl…
Jenny Caron Hall's production, with sister Rebecca starring, offers 'mechanical' treats
Just what the Zoom era has brought to theatre " to performers and audiences alike " is something we wi…
Jemma Redgrave and Adrian Scarborough excel in Peter Barnes radio solos brought to screen
The four monologues that make up Barnes' People were filmed in the grand surroundings of the Theatre…
Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani in their skins in Lolita Chakrabarti's new play
Contact without touch: among the many readjustments that the pandemic has brought to theatre, its demands that…
Nina Raine's urgent story of hospital stress rings truer than ever today
If ever there was a "play for today", it's surely this.
Breffni Holahan's bravura performance controls a monologue of mental malaise
There's such remarkable symbiosis between material and performance in Irish dramatist Margaret Perry's Collapsibl…
A strange meeting across the boundary of race: John Kani co-stars in his two-hander with Antony Sher
John Kani's Kunene and the King is history in microcosm. Its premiere at the RSC last yea…
Ian Rickson's exemplary production relishes the nuances of Conor McPherson's adaptation
Uncle Vanya must surely be the closest, the most essential of Chekhov's plays, its cast " just four ma…
Relocation from the Russian provinces to Sixties Biafra brings insight and immediacy
Inua Ellams' Three Sisters plays Chekhov in the shadow of war, specifically the Nigerian-Biafran seces…
