I went to see David Hare's new translation of The House Of Bernarda Alba at the National last night. It got middling to good reviews which I think is right. I liked the first two acts a lot, however in the third act things dive into melodrama rather rapidly, spoiling things somewhat. Michael Billington complains about the set design but I thought ( Read more... )

I went to see War Stories at Oxford House in Bethnal Green last night. This was three short plays, performed by the same cast, connected by the theme of war.

Atsumori by Motokiyo Zeami (English Language Premiere)

Zeami is the founder of Noh theatre and if this is indicitive of the style (which it seems to be) then it is not one I have any time ( Read more... )

I went to see The Elephant Vanishes at the Barbican on Wednesday. It is an adaption of the short stories of Haruki Murakami co-produced by Complicite and Setagaya Public TheatreIt's three acts covering three different stories that are linked by a sense of urban alienation. It starts (and loops back round to) the title piece, where a kitchen ( Read more... )

Italy versus Sweden: A great match. Sweden were barely in the game for three quarters of the match, Italy scored in the first half (a beautiful header from Cassano) and absolutely dominating the field. Then in the second half Sweden made some good substitutions, whilst Italy made some bad ones, and suddenly they were threatening the Italians. This ( Read more... )

I went to the theatre last night to see The Skin Of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. It was at the Young Vic which is being rebuilt and looks a lot like a building site at the moment but inside there's an amazing, articulated runway of a stage bisecting the auditorium ( Read more... )