Theatre review: Apex Predator

Hampstead Theatre's prices are getting so high I increasingly need a bloody good reason to fork out for a ticket for the Main House, but the playwright behind one of my past Shows of the Year would fit that bill: In the case of Apex Predator that's John Donnelly, of 2014's The Pass. This time instead of gay men the central pair are straight(ish) women, and instead of starting out at the top of their game one of them at least seems to be spiralling out of control. Mia (Sophie Melville) has recently had her second child, and is suffering from sleepless nights thanks to the baby and an inconsiderate neighbour's loud music. Her husband Joe (Bryan Dick) can't provide much moral support as he works most nights in a special police operation - he's not allowed to discuss it but she suspects it's connected to a grisly recent series of murders.

Theatre review: Tartuffe, the Imposter

Molière’s religious con-man Tartuffe has been around a lot in the past year, but for various reasons (having bronchitis when I was meant to be seeing it in Stratford-upon-Avon; avoiding the Theatre Royal Haymarket like the plague) the National’s is the first of the current crop I’ve caught. And certainly as adapted by John Donnelly and directed by Blanche McIntyre the play shows why so many people have chosen it at this particular moment. Robert Jones’ set is a garishly opulent living room that nods to the play’s origins at Versailles, but the action’s been relocated to Highgate where Orgon (Kevin Doyle,) who made his fortune in unspecified dubious ways, lives with his mother Pernelle (Susan Engel,) daughter Mariane (Kitty Archer,) son Damis (Enyi Okoronkwo,) second wife Elmire (Future Dame Olivia Williams) and her brother Cleante (Hari Dhillon.) All except Pernelle are currently horrified at the puritanical turn the household has taken.

Theatre review: The Pass

Much as I'd like to approach every show I ever see as a blank slate, some inevitably have more levels of anticipation built up around them than others. The latest stage appearance from Big Favourite Round These Parts Russell Tovey is always bound to be a bit of an event. The news that he'd be playing a gay footballer didn't make it any less exciting. The publicity photos confirming the rumours that he spends most of the play wandering around in his underwear... well, you've read this unholy excuse for a blog, you know where this is going. The good news is that The Pass will disappoint only the most demanding of theatrical perverts. The better news is that John Donnelly's play is a bit of a triumph, equal parts funny and disturbing, which would be memorable even if the cast didn't spend most of it in a state of undress. Although just in case it wasn't clear: The fact that the cast spend most of it in a state of undress is a good thing.

Theatre review: The Seagull

I've mentioned many times how much I like it when productions of Chekhov break away from the stereotypical naturalistic staging commonly associated with his work, and how glad I am this is happening more often lately. And now here's a production that not only does that, very successfully, but also looks beyond appearances to throw all sorts of preconceptions about the play out of the window. It's not surprising that the company to do it are Headlong, who've given The Seagull to adaptor John Donnelly and director Blanche McIntyre, and got something new back from them. At the lakeside house of famous actress Irina (Donnelly's text sticks informally to first names) her son Konstantin attempts to get the attention he craves from her by staging an experimental play, starring the local girl he's in love with. When this attempt fails, it sets both Konstantin and some of the people around him on a destructive path his mother remains blithely unaware of.