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Theatre

The Lehman Trilogy

Many of my friends who go irregularly to the West End Theatre cite the same reasons: 1) it is expensive; 2) the theatres are old with poor amenities; 3) it’s a rush and the choice of supper beforehand or after is unattractive; 4) you emerge late at night in an insalubrious part of London; 5) [...]

August 15, 2019 // 0 Comments

History as bunk (or maybe not)

It inevitably comes with the territory that dramatic depictions of historical figures and events have a tenuous relationship with the actualité. On several levels there is nothing particularly bizarre in that statement if you think about it. Let’s begin with the fact that virtually all dramatic [...]

January 4, 2019 // 0 Comments

Biopics – the complexities of a difficult art form

Today I take the risk of venturing into territory upon which I am no expert – movies, and a particular genre at that – without any justification for doing so other than, like any observer travelling upon the time-honoured proverbial (legal) Clapham omnibus, I am entitled to hold opinions and [...]

October 24, 2018 // 0 Comments

Me and My Girl/Chichester

I did not expect my guest – the actress who starred in the London production alongside Robert Lindsay and then Enn Reitel – to like this Me and My Girl but I thought I might. I did not. The story resembles Pygmalion. A cheeky working class South Londoner (Bill Snibson) is located and [...]

August 14, 2018 // 0 Comments

Weimar Cabaret /The Barbican Theatre

In my last post I reviewed a nonogenerian still going strong (Burt Bacharach) and now an octogenarian Barry Humphries, still performing with aplomb. Born in Melbourne in 1934, law and philosophy graduate Humphries is something of a renaissance man. He starred in Oliver! as Fagin in the sixties but [...]

July 27, 2018 // 0 Comments

Spreading the gold dust around

There’s a slight tendency among Rust contributors to poke derision and/or fun at what they see as slavish modern politically correct ‘pro-diversity and/or female equality’ attitudes and initiatives. We possessed of a liberal frame of mind allow them a little latitude on the [...]

May 19, 2018 // 0 Comments

Present Laughter /Chichester Festival Theatre

Directing a lesser-known Noel Coward play sets a challenge: do you make it a period piece or do you find some way to make it more contemporary? Director Sean Foley took the latter route and it did not really work. Perhaps he had at the front of his mind the success of James Corden in A Servant of [...]

May 8, 2018 // 0 Comments

Gender equality revisited

At the risk of becoming the Rust’s ‘gender equality’ correspondent I return today to this subject. I’m minded to do so for two reasons. Firstly, earlier this week we were treated to the news that actress Sierra Boggess – someone whose existence I was previously unware of – has withdrawn [...]

April 27, 2018 // 0 Comments

Quiz/ Chichester Festival Theatre

James Graham is definitely the playwright flavour of the month. To the two hits he has written playing in the West End This House and Ink he can add Quiz which is transferring there from Chichester in 2018. I saw it last night and found it an unsatisfying theatre experience. The play is based [...]

December 2, 2017 // 0 Comments

How the Other Half Loves/Alan Ayckbourn

Alan Ayckbourn’s play made its debut on the 31st July 1969 at the Library Theatre Scarborough but after that had a troubled time. At Scarborough the actor playing  Frank Foster, Jeremy  Franklin, slipped a disc and Ayckbourn had to take over the role,reading his lines from  a book which [...]

November 24, 2017 // 0 Comments

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