By Book Or By Stage

☆☆☆☆☆ This exquisite piece of art is a play I feel truly passionate about. In my opinion that everyone should go to see Julie. It explores the themes of loss and bereavement, drugs, addiction and infidelity. It dips its toes into ideas of responsibility, trust, growing up and the internal wars some people suffer with. It shocks the audience in a beautiful dance, tossing us around and swaying us up and down in a romantically terrifying way. The way in which actor Vanessa Kirby waltz’s around the stage barefoot in her sparkling skirt and loose jacket, acting with every inch of her body down to her twitching toes, enraptures the audience into this internal whirlwind she is struggling against. Kirby’s acting ability outstanded me and made me believe with my whole heart that she was suffering against her mind. **** To begin loud song blasted, dancers were throwing themselves in and out of dishwashers with artistic and symbolic flare. The sounds then muffled as we were intr...

☆☆☆☆ National Youth Theatres ‘The Fall’ used young, fearless actors to advocate the issues surrounding growing old. Dark subjects that are usually tip-toed around such as euthanasia, renting, growing old and sex are explored in a fresh new way in which dazzles the audience and educates them on the unspoken. It propels the future back to the present; making the audience perplexed at this exquisitely directed and performed piece of theatre. To begin there was a bed placed centre stage; washed with a dark purple light which intrigued the audience that filed in. It later became a solid prop and part of the scenery throughout the whole performance. The bed moved in position and changed the direction in which it was faced to represent both scene and mood changes. However, it remained in the centre. This infers the idea that the bed is a solid structure throughout everyone’s life. It is there when you are born and then when they die. It is where people have sex and where people...

☆☆☆☆ The National Theatre’s re-incarnation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was a tranquillising performance of raw acting talent which clearly presented the story of Julius Caesar in a contemporary fashion; thus shining brightly on the unique nature of National Theatre productions. This contemporary fashion is put into play from the off with the use of a current rock band acting as a rally for Julius Caesar. This gives the subtly intellectual connotation that this play’s moral's can be applied to all; thus making it more current and important to everyone, not just National Theatre enthusiasts, or Ben Whishaw and David Morrisey fanatics. It also connotes how strong dictators such as Julius Caesar can still be in need of populist support.  The dazzling show saw the use of staging to be a major part of the plays configuration and mood. The Bridge Theatre accommodated this exciting use of space. The staging was not set specifically. Instead it chopped and changed; movi...

☆☆☆☆ The Birthday Party, by Harold Pinter is a moving performance which both causes the audience to become uplifted and trigger them to reflect deeply into the compelling story of Meg, Petey and Stanley. It confuses the brain; spiralling it into thoughts bigger than you could ever imagine. Were left perplexed and confused, as Pinter wanted us to be. This led the play to bleed into the audience and stay within their bloodstream long after the curtains had closed. The story focuses on a married couple, Meg and Petey, who run a seaside boarding house, set in the 1950’s. They are ‘on the list’of the best boarding houses in Brighton, yet they only have one lodger: Stanley. However, Petey informs Meg that there are two business men coming to stay. These will be the first lodgers, besides Stanley, for what seems to be a significant amount of time. Stanley’s birthday is then acknowledged by a visit from Lulu, a local girl in her twenties, which gives the new businessmen, whom we h...

☆☆☆☆☆ Things I know to be true is a fragile piece of art created by Andrew Bovell, an artist. He carefully manipulates a story line which moves each and everyone in the room to tears by drawing on their internal conflicts and pinning them into a scenario, which you can almost touch, right in front of your eyes. It seethes into your brain and makes you realise that your love has gone to waste. It nurtures both the young and the old on the maze in which the future has waiting for you; finally it takes you from that lonely place inside yourself where you question how the mechanics of your family work and whether you're ‘doing it right’ as a parent- or even as a son or daughter. It gives comfort to the bereaved as you watch a play reveal your deepest, darkest secrets and all the losses which you can no longer replace in your life. It teaches you the acceptance needed to let things go, to move on and evolve. It’s almost as if you're watching yourself through somebody else...