FRINGE
REVIEWS
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HAMPSTEAD THEATRE
Eton Avenue
Swiss Cottage
LONDON NW3 3TU
BOX OFFICE: 020 7722 9301
website: www.hampsteadtheatre.com
Reviews
by Philip Fisher for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
TRICYCLE THEATRE
Kilburn High Road (nearest underground - Kilburn)
BOX OFFICE: 020 7328 1000
Reviews by Philip
Fisher for Theatreworld Internet Magazine Internet Magazine
MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY
51-53 Southwark Street SE1 1TE
Box Office: 020 7378 1712
Reviews by Sarah Monaghan for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
ALMEIDA THEATRE
Almeida Street, London N1 1TA
BOX OFFICE: (020) 7359 4404
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
by William Shakespeare
Now playing until 10 April
It is fortunate that the
leading trio each acquit themselves well in Michael Attenborough's very funny,
modern dress revival.
Had they not done so,
Lloyd Hutchinson playing the minor role of the lewd Lucio
would have taken all of the plaudits with his impeccable comic timing and warm
wit.
Measure for Measure is
more contrived than most of the Bard's works but directed with a light touch
can be fun, as well as exposing human foible most effectively.
Speaking with exceptional
clarity in a cast, all of whom enunciate with care, Ben Miles plays a Viennese
Duke who inexplicably abdicates his throne, leaving the licentious city in the
hands of an able, if repressed deputy.
However, Rory Kinnear's Angelo has hidden depths, proving a sordid and
wholly unprincipled leader eager to get his own way at whatever cost. Kinnear offers a fascinating study of a recognisable type,
the public disciplinarian whose private life plumbs shocking depths of
depravity.
While the Duke skulks
around in monkish robes, despite the efforts of an upstanding assistant, David Killick's Escalus his deputy
rules with a rod of iron, hypocritically condemning a handsome young rake
Claudio, Emun Elliott to death for getting his
girlfriend with child.
Claudio's only hope is his
holy sister, Isabella, a nun in the making, who takes time out to plead for his
life.
Anna Maxwell Martin puts
everything into the depiction of a woman who would willingly give her life to
save the brother who is responsible for his own troubles. The one thing that
she will not sacrifice is what Angelo demands increasingly lustfully, her
honour.
Shakespeare deftly sets
this up and then continues the trickery after the interval, with exchanged
women in bed (cut from the stage in this production) satisfying and then
entrapping Angelo and swapped condemned men revving up the drama.
The final unveiling is
ironically performed by our friend Lucio, who is
finally silenced by the threat, not of death or whipping but much worse,
marriage to a woman whom he has wronged.
Strangely in a
Shakespearean comedy, marriage is used more to make social comment than as a
convenient means of allowing spectators to leave the theatre happy. Indeed, the
Duke's surprise request for the hand of Isabella is received in a most
unorthodox way.
The simple, intimate setting
of the Almeida, helped by the contemporary clothing helps to make what can be a difficult play seem very accessible, as does a running
time of well under three hours.
Each of the main actors is
worth seeing, as is the redoubtable Mr Hutchinson. They are well complemented
by the likes of Trevor Cooper playing the tapster Pompey with aplomb and Sean
Kearns who gives a brief but notable performance as the reluctant hangman
fodder, Barnardine.
One hopes that Michael
Attenborough might now have got a taste for staging Shakespeare at the Almeida
after this undoubted success. He clearly has a great affinity for the plays.
Reviews by Philip
Fisher for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
THE GATE THEATRE
(Notting Hill Gate)
BOX OFFICE: 020 7229 0706
KING'S HEAD THEATRE
Islington
BOX OFFICE: 020 7226 1916
Underground : Angel (Northern Line)
Highbury and Islington (Victoria Line)
Reviews
by Clive Burton for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
THE OVAL HOUSE
52-54 Kennington Road, London SE11
(Oval underground)
BOX OFFICE: 020 7582 7680
Oval House Theatre Upstairs / Downstairs
Reviews by Michael
Spring for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
NEW END THEATRE
Hampstead
BOX OFFICE: 0870 033 2733
(Nearest Underground: Hampstead [Northern Line] - 2 minutes walk
THE BUSH THEATRE
Shepherds Bush Green
London W12
BOX OFFICE: 020 7610 4224
e-mail: info@bushtheatre.co.uk
The Bush Theatre is above the O'Neill's pub on the corner of
Shepherds Bush Green and Goldhawk Road W12
Reviews by Lucy Popescu for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
THE LYRIC THEATRE
King's Street
Hammersmith
BOX OFFICE: 08700 500 511
Reviews by Lucy Popescu for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
FINBOROUGH THEATRE
The Finborough Arms Pub
Finborough Road, SW10
(5 minutes from Earl’s Court & West Brompton Stations)
BOX OFFICE: 0870 4000 838
Reviews by Michael Spring for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
For more details or individual advice/help - email:
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