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Reviewed – Dead Sheep at the Birmingham Rep
“Being savaged by Geoffrey Howe is like being savaged by a dead sheep.” – Denis Healey One of the greatest political stories of modern times is that of how the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, was ultimately brought down by her most loyal acolyte, Geoffrey Howe. The man who had been described by playwright Jonathan Maitland as Thatcher’s ‘political soulmate’ became her Brutus, her assassin with a resignation address that opened the floodgates to the growing dissent that had already been rumbling in the Conservative government. ‘Dead Sheep’, which opened at the Birmingham Rep last night, looks into the intrigue, the key political characters of the time, and also the premise…
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The 39 Steps is a laugh a minute at the Birmingham Rep
The classic John Buchan novel that became a classic Hitchcock film is also a play, or maybe that should be amended to a farce or slapstick comedy. The 39 Steps opened at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre last night, and had the audience crying with laughter. Using a brilliant ensemble cast of just 4, and with hilarious one-liners and physical comedy to rival the silent movie greats Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin, The 39 Nine Steps is the most fun you can have in less than 2 hours. The Hitchcock version of the book is a taught thriller filled with tension and menace, but the play is a totally different proposition,…
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Macbeth electrifies the Birmingham Rep
2016 marks the 400th year anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. And whether you believe that the man from Stratford Upon Avon wrote the plays, or that someone else was responsible, it is true to say that an extraordinary body of work was left, with Macbeth being amongst the greatest plays. Last night a new version opened at the Birmingham Rep, one that brought the horror, intrigue and violence of ‘The Scottish Play’ kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The ancient castles of Scotland have been replaced with a claustrophobic set that resembles a wartime bunker for much of the time, and Guantanamo Bay at others. War…
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Birmingham Rep wardrobe chat about Anita and Me
The stage version of ‘Anita and Me’, Meera Syal’s fantastic novel based on her childhood growing up in Walsall in the 1970s, has its world premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre this Friday. Ahead of the much anticipated show, I was lucky enough to have a chat with Kay Wilton, who is one of the costume makers and cutters at the Birmingham Rep, about how the costumes were sourced for a play that has both feet firmly planted in the 1970s. Fashion-mommy: How did you go about sourcing the costumes for Anita and Me? Kay: We had some original pieces in our stores in Hockley, original 70s stuff that…
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King Charles lll reigns supreme at the Birmingham Rep
If Shakespeare was alive in the 21st century, and was thinking of expanding his history plays, he would have come up with King Charles lll, which is currently playing at the Birmingham Rep. Billed as a future history play, this play has all those Shakespearean elements, a central character who loves a good sollilique, ghostly spectres and a cunning, manipulative royal Duchess to rival Lady Macbeth. King Charles lll is a powerful piece of theatre where the lines are blurred between good and bad and right and wrong. It is frankly unmissable. Veteran actor Robert Powell takes the lead as the new King Charles lll, finally ascending to the throne,…
