The Complaint by Nick Whitby, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 25 May 2012

This was one of the first plays/productions we saw at the Hampstead Downstairs, which helped to cement our view that the small house down there is a happening space.

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

In truth, this particular piece did not really float our boat – we’ve seen rather a lot of Kafkaesque pieces about absurd bureaucracy, yet there was enough in this one to keep us motivated and wanting to come back for more.

No formal reviews down there, but this search term will find what little informal stuff is floating around on-line.

Drag-On by Emmanuel De Nasciemento & Local by Arzhang Pezhman, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 11 November 2000

This evening in the theatre was part of that year’s Royal Court “Exposure Young Writers 2000” programme. Janie and I were especially impressed by the second play we saw.

Dominic Cavendish agreed with our assessment, while being pretty impressed with all of it, including the pairing of plays we didn’t see.

Exposure Cavendish Telegraph Exposure Cavendish Telegraph 25 Oct 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Thackray in The Guardian was less sure about all of it:

Exposure Thackray Guardian Exposure Thackray Guardian 21 Oct 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Halliburton in the Standard pretty much agreed with us, liking both but especially liking Local.

Exposure Halliburton Standard Exposure Halliburton Standard 20 Oct 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We have subsequently seen a lot of plays on these subjects, but at that time the subject matter and style seemed, to us, very fresh and encouraging for British theatre.