Tag: Bush Theatre

The Invisible by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Bush Theatre, 4 July 2015

This was an interesting play about a legal aid lawyer and her cases. It raised a great many issues about that corner of our society.

Click here for the Bush Theatre stub, which explains the play/production well.

I have a playtext for this one; which is a good read.

It worked better as agitprop than as drama, in truth, although there were also some good dramatic moments.

Well written, well acted, well produced.

It got me and Janie talking about the issues anyway. Well worthwhile evening.

 

Islands by Caroline Horton, Bush Theatre, 24 January 2015

We thought this play and its production were just awful.

I seem to recall that it ran straight through without an interval; had there been an interval we would not have returned for the second half of this one. Perhaps there was and we didn’t. The whole experience was so bad we’ve mostly blotted it from our minds.

The subject matter – tax havens and the greed of the super rich – is fair game for theatre. But this was like a really bad copy of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi style with almost no substance – opportunities missed.

If you want to know more about the production, the Bush has a decent stub on it – click here.

I could go on, but I won’t.

 

Visitors by Barney Norris, Bush Theatre, 6 December 2014

This was a really excellent piece, performed beautifully.

We went to see this only a month before mum died, by which time her dementia was getting rapidly worse. So I went with a mixture of trepidation and eager expectation.

I needn’t have worried – the play handled dementia as its central theme with great balance and dignity. An excellent effort from a young playwright in his 20s.  Barney Norris, you are now on our watch list.

Here is a link to the Bush resource on this play/production.

All of the performances were good, but Linda Bassett and Robin Soans were both exceptional.

There’s a neat little interview with Barney Norris (playwright) and Eleanor Wyld, one of the performers:

Mostly well received by the critics – click here for a search term that finds the reviews.

Albion by Chris Thompson, Bush Theatre, 13 September 2014

Gosh this was a powerful piece about a fictitious far right group in East London, centred around an enthusiasm for karaoke as well as unpalatable politics.

Really well written, excellent performers and well directed too.

It reminded us why we like the Bush so much…if for some reason we needed reminding.

Here is a link to the Bush resource on this play/production.

Below is the trailer:

The reviews were good, but the critics were not as unequivocally impressed with this piece as we were – click here for a link to a search term for the reviews.

This was a challenging piece that mad us think and question some of our preconceptions. Perhaps that made it harder for the reviewers. Me and Daisy – for sure we’re up for this sort of thing.

Perseverance Drive by Robin Soans, Bush Theatre, 5 July 2014

This is the sort of play/production that reminds us why we like the Bush so much.

The play is set in Barbados and London; the play is a mature drama, full of insight into Bajan life and culture. Robin Soans has previous of course – not least Life After Scandal…

Life After Scandal by Robin Soans, Hampstead Theatre, 21 September 2007

…but this play is quite different as when we had seen his previous work it had been verbatim theatre before this play.

Here is a link to the Bush’s resource on this play/production.

Excellent cast, excellent production. Janie and I were discussing the issues and the relative merits (and demerits) of the characters deep into the weekend.

Below is a trailer:

More interesting, here is a short interview with Robin Soans and director Madani Younis:

Finally, here is a link to a search term that finds the (mostly excellent) reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

Incognito by Nick Payne, Bush Theatre, 31 May 2014

We really liked this play/production.

We had been blown away by Nick Payne’s Constellations, so our expectations were high…

…this piece met those expectations.

It is all well explained on the Bush’s excellent on-line resource – click here.

This search term link will find you independent reviews and resources, although you shouldn’t much need them because the piece was very well received so the above Bush resource covers most of the bases.

Here is a very interesting interview/explanation from Nick Payne:

Below is a tantalising trailer which says little but looks spectacular:

A super evening of theatre. This one really deserves a revival and/or a major theatre run.

We Are Proud To… by Jackie Sibblies Drury , Bush Theatre, 15 March 2014

This was a very unusual piece about the Herero people of Namibia and the tragedy that befell them at the hands of the German colonial power in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The whole title is unfeasibly long.

It is written & performed in the post-modern style of a group of young people trying to put together a performance about…

It occasionally grated but mostly it worked well; a very moving, informative and entertaining piece.

Here is a link to the Bush resource on the play/production.

It divided the critics, did this one – a search term with links to reviews is here.

Here is a YouTube with the playwright and director:

 

The Herd by Rory Kinnear, Bush Theatre, 21 September 2013

An engaging play at the Bush with an excellent cast, not least Kenneth Cranham and Amanda Root. This must have been Rory Kinnear’s first go as a playwright. Howard Davies directed.

We found it witty as well as moving – basically about a birthday party for a young man with severe learning difficulties.

Click here for the Bush resource on the play/production.

Below is the promotional interview vid:

It subsequently transferred to the Steppenwwolf Theatre in the States, which counts as a big win for a British playwright’s first play, I think.

Click here for links to the reviews, which were mostly, deservedly, very good ones.

Josephine And I by Cush Jumbo, Bush Theatre, 13 July 2013

Not normally our type of show, but we loved the idea of this one – performed cabaret style and about Josephine Baker, who had such an interesting life.

Cush Jumbo, who wrote and performed this show, is clearly a very talented young person.

We enjoyed our unusual evening at the Bush. In truth, though, we thought the show a victory of style over substance – we wanted to learn a lot more about Josephine Baker and or experience more drama. We were there very early in the run – in effect at a preview – so the show might have matured/improved after we saw it.

Click here for a link to the Bush resource on this production.

Below is a little promo vid/interview with Cush Jumbo about the show:

Click here for a link to a search term that finds the reviews – which were mostly excellent.

The show got a transfer to New York too, so our relative indifference towards the show wasn’t shared by the critics nor the producers.

Janie and I also recall running into our theatre friends John and Linda at this show – this is a couple we often see at the theatre – but because of the nature of this show we got a chance to have a proper chat with them in this cabaret-style setting of the Bush.

Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, Bush Theatre, 18 May 2013

We thought this was a very interesting and engrossing night at the theatre.

Ayad Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize for drama with this visceral play about a Muslim corporate lawyer, Amir, in New York, whose life unravels during a dinner party.

Amir is a Westernised Muslim, who admits to feeling anti-Israel, on largely “tribal” grounds. But is Amir’s position anti-Semitic and is this issue the cause of his corporate undoing and more?

Here is a link to the Bush resource on this play.

Writing this up in March 2018, I am reminded of the play we saw last week, Checkpoint Chana – click here or below:

Checkpoint Chana by Jeff Page, Finborough Theatre, 11 March 2018

Although Disgraced (like Checkpoint Chana) rather unrealistically rushes the central character’s disintegration, it emerges from a far more subtle and interesting debate. It is also a far better piece of drama.

Excellent cast and production for Disgraced at the Bush too.

Below is the trailer vid…

…follwed by an interview with the author:

This search term – click here – finds the reviews (mostly very good) from the Bush production.