international theatre

Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!, Battersea Arts Centre

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by Laura Kressly

Time. Generally, I never seem to have enough of it. Occasionally – rarely – I have too much to wade through before reaching something I’m eagerly anticipating – a holiday, the weekend, time with a friend I haven’t seen in awhile, or a desperately needed lie-in. Yet for Norman and Vivian, the elderly couple in Ridiculusmus’ new show about ageing, time is a languid, sluggish force. Every weighty moment is stretched to its limits, threatens to stall, and is marked by discomfort, weakness and struggle.

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Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta, Gate Theatre

by Louis Train

Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta is an odd show, odder even than the name promises. Edith Alibec stars as a young Romanian woman, pre-pubescent in the earliest scenes, who grows up in a traveling circus where her mother hangs from the big top by her hair. The play is based on Aglja Veteranyi’s autobiographical novel of the same name.

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The Show in Which Hopefully Nothing Happens, Unicorn Theatre

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By Laura Kressly

For a show in which hopefully nothing happens, there are plenty of weird and wonderful things that unfold, of course. Because a children’s show – or one for adults for that matter – would be incredibly dull indeed if nothing happened, but that’s absolutely not a worry here. 

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The Cult of K*nzo, Camden People’s Theatre

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by Maeve Campbell

Cosmopolitan’s current most-read article is a feature on a $35 maternity dress worn by Megan Markle. This is, as explored in performance artist Paula Varjack’s latest work, an example of post-recession celebrity dressing. Yet mixing a Gucci top with Topshop jeans is a distant dream to those of us who will never be able to afford to wear Gucci.

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Chasing Bono, Soho Theatre

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by Laura Kressly

Neil is a fragile music journalist who hasn’t reconciled with his lack of success as a musician when he is kidnapped by ageing gangster Danny Machin. Danny wants Neil to write a moving exposé explaining that at heart, he’s a decent sort of chap. As Neil and Danny get to know each other in a remote Irish cabin, Neil’s past mistakes are revealed, along with his childhood friendship with a lad who went on to become an internationally renowned rockstar.

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The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale, Camden People’s Theatre

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by Laura Kressly

I contemplate a ratty t-shirt displayed on a podium alongside several other seemingly random items. I’m asked to write down how much I would pay for it. Determining it’s not something I’d wear or have any other use for, I wrote £0 on a slip of paper that I slid into a box behind it.

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Rendezvous in Bratislava, Battersea Arts Centre

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by Nastazja Somers

Born in 1913 in Koscice, Slovakia, Ján Ladislav Kalina was a man of theatre and art. He
lived the bohemian life that young people in Eastern Europe romanticise when they get lost in the works of Milan Kundera. Jan is Miriam’s grandfather, and in many ways his story, is that of my grandfather too. Miriam is a theatre-maker. Rendezvous in Bratislava is her ode to what’s lost and what’s remembered.

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42nd Street, Drury Lane Theatre

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by Amy Toledano

It’s the early 1930’s and, “Julian Marsh is puttin’ on a show!”. Pretty Lady is the latest production from the famous director, and all of the local, out-of-work actors are thrilled to have jobs again. But show business is never easy, and this one in particular is no stranger to the trials and tribulations that come with rehearsing a smash hit.

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