Category: National Theatre

The National Theatre always puts on a more family-friendly show over the festive season – last year they delighted us with a brilliant adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which was thoroughly charming and quite the spectacle. It was so impressive, in fact, that we wondered how this year’s offering could possibly top that. We needn’t have worried: this new production of beloved children’s novel Ballet Shoes, adapted by Kendall Feaver, is absolutely wonderful. It tells quite a ludicrous story: at the top of the show we’re introduced to Great…

Complicité, the renowned British theatre company led by Simon McBurney, has revived its 1999 play Mnemonic in a reimagined production at the National Theatre. It’s something of a rollercoaster ride: at two hours straight through (no interval) it relentlessly drives its dual narratives forward, and it’s far from a conventional play, with more of a focus on the sensory experience and creating visually-striking imagery. It starts with actor Khalid Abdalla directly addressing the audience, talking about his own memories and asking us to partake in a small amount of audience…

We’ve been looking forward to seeing Boys From The Blackstuff: this adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s 1980s hit TV show opened last year at Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre, produced by Kevin Fearon, and was met with almost universal acclaim. It has now transferred to London, opening this week at the National Theatre for a brief stint before transferring to the West End. It’s written by James Graham, one of our leading political playwrights – we’ve previously covered his shows Dear England (recent recipient of the Olivier Award for Best New Play)…

We’re big fans of the Dorfman Theatre – the smallest of three spaces within London’s National Theatre, it regularly hosts some exciting new plays. Underdog: The Other Other Brontë opened earlier in April and is another fresh and inventive original play: written by Sarah Gordon, it tells the story of the three Brontë sisters – Charlotte (Gemma Whelan), Emily (Adele James) and Anne (Rhiannon Clements) and their brother Branwell (James Phoon). Directed by Natalie Ibu, it moves at a punchy pace, with two acts of about an hour each. Stylistically…

When Till the Stars Come Down began, we wondered whether now was really the right time for this show to be staged. Set during a family wedding in the former mining heartland of Mansfield, it initially seemed to focus on Eastern European immigration, specifically the number of Polish people who had moved to the town to seek work in its factories. This seemed to be a hot topic of political debate in the run up to the EU referendum, but the conversation seems to have moved on a bit since…

Infinite Life is a slight, subtle play – at just over 100 minutes straight through (no interval) it breezes by with seemingly not much happening. The play is set across about 10 days: during this time we meet five women who are recuperating at a somewhat dubious health spa in California (no treatments are offered beyond relaxation, accompanied by either a water cleanse or a juice cleanse). We learn a bit about their various ailments, alongside their backgrounds and interests. Not much else really happens, although a male character appears…