Alex Eales News Today

The National Theatre has announced new productions for all three South Bank stages this summer: Alan Bleasdale’s Boys from the Blackstuff and Mnemonic in the Olivier theatre and The Grapes of Wrath in the Lyttelton theatre, alongside the previously announced The Hot Wing King in the Dorfman theatre. 

Twins and their tragic legacies come under the spotlight in two plays

Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney’s elite school drama hits all the right notes; Marina Carr’s intense Irish play finds its ideal director. Plus, notes on an 1889 scandal…

Marina Carr’s play is beautifully bleak and Alison Oliver’s central performance as a woman lost in grief is matched by a mighty cast

John Haidar's production runs until 12 November

With inky backdrops, jagged sound and frenzied violence, John Haidar’s production stars Billy Howle as a prince emanating unhinged anger

© Nobby Clark Oleanna will run in the West End from 21 July to 23 October after a UK tour from June. David Mamets piece is directed by Lucy Bailey and stars Rosie Sheehy and Jonathan Slinger, with the production first premiering at Theatre Royal Bath last winter. Oleanna first debuted 30 years ago and follows a meeting between a college professor and a female student, with the student filing a sexual harassment claim against him. You can read our review from the winter production here. The sho...

© Nobby Clark Oblique wordplay, broken sentences, meanings just out of reach. The first act of David Mamets 1992 two-hander about education and power lulls the watcher into a false sense of security. Theres something difficult to grasp about the interrupted, back-and-forth dialogue between John, a professor at a university and his student Carol, but what exactly? It seems to be a case of a benevolent teacher helping to support a struggling student; an awkward, angry and confused young woman be...

Review Oleanna review, Theatre Royal, Bath: David Mamets brutal battle of the sexes has never been more relevant 4/5 Expertly revived, this 1992 two hander is re-confirmed as a modern classic, but one that could fall foul of the censoriousness it critiques 10 December 2020 • 12:01am Jonathan Slinger and Rosie Sheehy in Oleanna at the Theatre Royal, Bath Credit: Nobby Clark An usher should hold up a sign at the end of this production advising patrons that if they wish to argue about what they...