Theatre review: Land of the Free

simple8's return to the stage in 2024 saw them revive an old hit, and now premiere a completely new play - although I'm not sure Land of the Free will have quite as much call for revival as Moby Dick. Sebastian Armesto (also directing) and Dudley Hinton's play looks at a classic American villain, John Wilkes Booth, the first successful presidential assassin. Wilkes (Brandon Bassir) was an actor who we first meet as a teenager with his siblings, rehearsing the assassination scene from Julius Caesar behind their father's back. Junius Booth (Owen Oakeshott) was a successful Shakespearean actor who forbade his children from following him into the profession, but he was also an alcoholic and bigamist whose career, and family reputation were ruined when these secrets were exposed, somewhat undermining his authority.

Theatre review: Moby Dick

After a few years away, simple8 are returning with a new play later this year, but first they're reviving a former hit with a touring production of Moby Dick. I last saw Sebastian Armesto's adaptation of the book that set the template for the Great American Novel 11 years ago at the Arcola, but for the London leg this time it relocates to Wilton's Music Hall, a venue whose long history does include a connection to sailors and sea shanties, so seems a good match for a demented revenge drama that takes place mostly at sea. Ahab (Guy Rhys) captains a 19th century whaling ship, on a mission to hunt down sperm whales and use their blubber to power the world's lamps. But for him the mission he's actually being paid for is secondary, as on a past voyage he encountered a notoriously aggressive, unusually white whale nicknamed Moby Dick, that's been known to turn the tables on whalers and sink the ships.