Theatre review: Here We Are

Stephen Sondheim's final completed musical makes its UK debut at the National with a transfer of Joe Mantello's original off-Broadway production, although "completed" might be a bit of a stretch: The composer had given permission for this version to be staged, but mainly because he was aware he was unlikely to live to write a final version. So we end up with a show whose music and lyrics are very recognisably Sondheim, but which doesn't actually have that many songs mixed into David Ives' book. Inspired by two films by the avant-garde filmmaker Luis Buñuel, Here We Are looks at first to be a fairly straightforward social satire of the criminally rich: Leo (Rory Kinnear) and Marianne Brink (Jane Krakowski) are surprised by a visit from Marianne's sister Fritz (Chumisa Dornford-May.)

Stage-to-screen review: The Boys in the Band

Last seen in London four years ago, Mart Crowley's seminal 1968 gay play The Boys in the Band got a Broadway revival in 2018, which responded to the calls to let gay actors be the first choice to play gay roles by using an all-openly gay cast. Given that's something clearly close to TV mogul Ryan Murphy's heart as well, it's not too surprising that he's behind a movie adaptation of Joe Mantello's production that was released as a Netflix original a couple of weeks ago. Michael (Jim Parsons) is hosting a birthday party for Harold (Zachary Quinto,) the only member of his friend group who can rival him for bitchiness. Five more of their friends have been invited, and two unexpected guests also arrive, with one of them, Michael's straight former college roommate Alan (Brian Hutchison,) dredging up such strong self-loathing emotions in the host that he goes on an emotionally destructive rampage.

Theatre review: The Humans

Stephen Karam’s The Humans was a Pulitzer nominee and Tony winner; if your preconception of plays that New York critics go crazy for means you’re picturing a family sitting down to a lavish Thanksgiving dinner, only to have all their problems, secrets and lies exposed, and the family’s finances turn out to be in dire straits nobody suspected, then shame on you for stereotyping: The dinner isn’t actually all that lavish. Brigid (Sarah Steele) has just moved into a split-level basement apartment in New York’s Chinatown with her boyfriend Rich (Ariyan Moayed,) and although they’re still in the process of unpacking they’ve invited her Irish-American family to visit from Scranton, Pennsylvania for the holiday. Her father Erik (Reed Birney) has been working at a Catholic private school for 28 years, part of his benefits package being that his daughters could study there for free, so they’ve had an education that allowed Brigid to become a musician and her sister Aimee (Cassie Beck) a lawyer.