Theatre review: My Brilliant Friend

The quartet of Italian books known collectively as The Neapolitan Novels are apparently A Big Deal, and one that I had absolutely no idea existed until I heard about April De Angelis' stage adaptation (which originally played at the Rose Theatre Kingston, and now transfers in expanded form to the Olivier.) All I've really gleaned is that their author, Elena Ferrante, doesn't actually exist, being a pseudonym shrouded in secrecy. It's no doubt a huge part of the novels' popularity and mythos, given that their narrator is a popular novelist called Elena, better known as Lenù (Niamh Cusack,) who flashes us back to 1950s Naples and her first meeting with Lila (Catherine McCormack,) who stole her beloved doll and threw it into the cellar of the local mob boss. Lenù did the same to hersin revenge, and their (unsuccessful) adventure into the cellar to retrieve the dolls bonded them in a tumultuous friendship.

Theatre review: The Only True History of Lizzie Finn

Sebastian Barry's The Only True History of Lizzie Finn, set in the late Victorian era, introduces us to Lizzie (Shereen Martin,) an Irish can-can dancer in Weston-super-Mare. When she falls for troubled Boer War veteran Robert Gibson (Justin Avoth) her marriage takes her back to the home country she'd hoped not to return to. The daughter of a pair of travelling entertainers, her new life as mistress of a grand house is a big change however: She may appear to have risen in the world, but the Gibsons no longer own as much land as they once did, and the close-knit community don't take well to a lady of the manor with a past like Lizzie's, and the family are snubbed. Blanche McIntyre's production at Southwark Playhouse is played out on a multi-level set surrounded by tea-lights and with a channel of water running along the front of the stage, a fire-and-water theme running throughout the play.