Playwright and novelist Jean Genet was the quintessential outsider in post-war France. A criminal and a homosexual, he nonetheless attracted the admiration of luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and Jean-Paul Sartre. His daring literary experiments and provocative imagery in works like Our Lady of the Flowers fascinated both writers, while the layered symbolism of his plays, particularly The Maids , invites multiple interpretations. In this drama, the servants Claire (Lydia Wilson) and Solange (Phil Sabin) engage in ritualistic power games as they assume the identity of their mistress (Yerin Ha) in scenes that can be read on political, religious, existential, or erotic levels. In Kip Williams’ current staging of Genet’s best-known work, the director seems to adopt a role toward the play similar to that of the maids towards their employer, both reverent and mocking. The production moves between homage and parody, overflowing with theatrical excess. An initial curtain separating audience an...

When Oscar disappears, his parents and sisters are frantic. Nick Payne’s latest play explores how a family copes with uncertainty, loss, and the threat of evil. The missing child becomes a catalyst that forces the characters to confront these fears, but Oscar’s absence ultimately symbolises the mysteries of existence that everyone must face. How do we reconcile ourselves to uncertainty and the unknown? Oscar’s sister Nancy turns to spiritualism. His sister Margaret finds comfort in motherhood, and the boy's father David seeks closure through a memorial service. However, Oscar's mother, Miriam, clings desperately to the hope that he will return. Once reliant on alcohol for comfort, Miriam now finds refuge in the conviction that her son is still alive. Nicola Walker gives a powerful portrayal of guilt and grief’s corrosive force, showing a woman whose obsessive faith threatens her remaining relationships. Her pain is palpable as she holds on to the belief that gives her life mean...

Fashion, photography and fantasy converge in the fabulous life of Cecil Beaton. This must-see exhibition traces the life and career of the style-setting celebrity creator and self-promoter who defined the 'Bright Young Things' of the 1920s and who ended up winning two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction in the 1960s. Across thirteen galleries, his capacity for image making and style setting is displayed. In A Gallery for Beauties , and in his chronicling of the 'Bright Young Things' he captures the sirens of the time poised and posed. Their expressions run the gamut from sultry to sulky, and the same hauteur is captured in the portrait of Beaton in Room 2, The Essence of Artifice . Indeed, it is a refreshing change when we come across the photograph of a young Cecil smiling in his "Self-Portrait for Christmas card." The stylised society grande dames, theatrical divas and whimsical portraits of Beaton's friends seem to cry out for ...

In California in 1974, Patty Hearst, the heiress to a newspaper fortune, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. The story quickly made international headlines. When she appeared to join her captors and was filmed participating in a bank robbery, the media frenzy intensified. Her high-profile trial, in which she was defended by celebrity attorney F. Lee Bailey, became a global spectacle. Ragdoll recounts these events with thinly veiled fiction. While the names of the central figures are changed to Holly and Robert, many details remain, including how Hearst's sentence was commuted by Jimmy Carter and how she was later pardoned by Bill Clinton. The play reimagines events by introducing a fictional confrontation long after Holly’s release from prison. Robert, now accused of sexual misconduct, seeks Holly’s public support. Still resentful of how he treated her after her conviction, she hesitates. Their tense exchange is counterpointed by scenes from the past, with their young...

The central metaphor for Mary Page Marlowe is a quilt, the sewn-together collection of patches of cloth, which may, or may not, have a pattern or a theme. To achieve the quilt effect in her play, writer Tracy Letts gives us a series of scenes in the life of her central character. This is done via the ubiquitous and overused technique of presenting material in a non-linear fashion. The audience is then left with the task of taking what are apparently random instances and piecing them together into a whole which will provide some insight into the titular character. This is no easy task since with three husbands plus affairs Mary Page has led a rather complicated life, not to mention issues with addiction, motherhood, and prison. Indeed, it would be no surprise if audience members, like Mary Page herself, had difficulty finding the thread and end up being challenged to understand how it all fits together. Disappointment, dissatisfaction and despair all play their parts, but surely auth...

Agatha Christie is a name to conjure with. Her books have sold in the billions, making her perhaps the most widely read author on the planet. The Mousetrap remains the longest-running play in history, while Witness for the Prosecution has enjoyed a London run since 2017. Death on the Nile , one of her most popular novels, has been adapted twice for film, twice for television, and was turned into a stage play by Christie herself in 1944. Can this latest adaptation by Ken Ludwig live up to that remarkable heritage? The sets by Mike Britton cleverly evoke both a cruise ship and The British Museum, and Sarah Holland’s costumes are eye-catching and stylish. The show has a pleasing art deco feel, and despite some initial hesitancy and rather stilted performances at the beginning, the cast eventually achieves the right balance of naturalism and stylised mannerism, which allows us to believe in Christie’s world of suspects. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Mark Hadfield’s Poirot. Wh...

Some pubs have a darts competition and others have a trivia team, but The Jungle has a choir. Even before the show starts, the cast mingle with the audience and share a pint from the on-stage bar. By the time the first song begins, the mood is already set for a night of fun, and when the music does start, it turns into one of the best pub nights imaginable. The nine principals portray instantly recognisable pub regulars such as the bore, the hardman and the romantic, and together they create a wonderfully authentic atmosphere. The powerful singing and slick, energetic choreography are first-rate. The a cappella version of “Chandelier” is a delight, while Aled Pennock’s comic rendition of “The Impossible Dream” remains genuinely moving. Remarkably, the score ranges from Adele to Guns N’ Roses, and it all works beautifully. Standout moments include Oliver Jacobson’s rousing “Somebody to Love” and Ben Goffe’s tap-dancing sequence in “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Paul McArthur, as the Poe...

When the daughter of Maria Theresa, Empress of the Hapsburg Empire, became engaged to the heir to the French throne, her mother wrote to young Marie Antoinette, “All eyes will be on you.” The words proved prophetic, for she would become France’s most famous queen, and her life story has since entered the realm of legend. Her reputation for extravagance and her tragic end remain enduring cultural touchstones. This exhibition, which highlights her distinctive style and traces her fashion legacy to the present day, also recounts the drama of her opulent life and unforgettable death. Historical events and sartorial elegance are seamlessly intertwined. The beautifully curated display not only conveys the richness of 18th-century design, from dresses and jewellery to fans, china and even fragrance, but also presents the slanders that circulated about the queen and contributed to her downfall. A representative model of the guillotine by which she was executed is also included. The narrative, ...

Throughout his life, Picasso was captivated by the performing arts and carefully crafted his own performance as the artist-genius in real life. Theatre Picasso , staged by artist Wu Tsang and writer Enrique Fuenteblanca, explores both of these intertwined themes while also engaging with a contemporary cultural concern: that much celebrated art may have ethically questionable origins. This latter issue likely informs the exhibition’s unusual structure, which opens with Picasso’s obscene imagery and concludes with his engagement with African and Pacific art. Regardless of one’s view on this framing or how successful it is, the exhibition offers fascinating new insights into the complex figure who helped define twentieth-century art. Featuring over fifty works across a range of media, from painting and sculpture to collage and textiles, it includes iconic pieces such as Weeping Woman (1937) and Woman in a Red Armchair (1932). Yet its central focus remains Picasso’s fascination with perf...

Hamlet is back! The National Theatre’s inaugural production was Shakespeare’s Hamlet , staged at the Old Vic in 1963. Peter O’Toole played the title role under the direction of Laurence Olivier. This new revival marks the company’s seventh staging of the classic, and director Robert Hastie and lead actor Hiran Abeysekera have some formidable shoes to fill. Abeysekera, known for his starring role in The Life of Pi , brings much of that same physicality to his portrayal of Hamlet. Rather than the traditional hesitant and melancholic prince, his version of the brooding Dane brims with restless energy. When he is not delivering the familiar soliloquies, he leaps about the stage in an acrobatic display that often borders on comedy and at times becomes distracting. Abeysekera's stated intention of injecting humour into the tragedy is evident and partially successful, although it is debatable whether it enriches the work. Francesca Mills offers an unconventional take on Ophelia, leaning ...