Category Archives: Theatre

THEATRE REVIEW: Michael Frayn’s ‘Democracy’

Posted on September 5, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Michael Frayn’s absorbing new play has a straightforward surface as it look at the years from 1969 to 1974 when Willy Brandt, played by Roger Allam, was chancellor of West Germany until he was brought … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Anthony Sher’s ‘I.D.’ at the Almeida

Posted on September 5, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – “I dream of a girl waiting for me somewhere in Africa,” says Demetrious Tsafendas, a man of very mixed heritage but mostly Greek and Mozambican who appears unable to settle anywhere. Mostly that’s due to … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Polly Teale’s ‘After Mrs. Rochester’

Posted on July 29, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – She was the mad Creole woman in the attic, the tormented creature whose existence gave Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” its dark, Gothic power. She was Mr. Rochester’s first wife, Bertha, and her trapped rage haunts … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Kenneth Branagh in David Mamet’s ‘Edmond’

Posted on July 22, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – After a decade’s absence from the London stage, Kenneth Branagh could not have chosen a better showcase for his prodigious talents than David Mamet’s pugnacious little play “Edmond”. As the title character in Mamet’s allegory, … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Simon Russell Beale in Stoppard’s ‘Jumpers’

Posted on June 20, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – A professor of moral philosophy named George, played superbly by Simon Russell Beale (pictured) dictates his arguments for a speech in defense of the existence of God while, in the adjacent ballroom-sized lounge of his … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Roy Williams’ ‘Fallout’

Posted on June 19, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – On an inner-city estate, in an opening more heard than seen due to clever staging, a straight-A black student is stomped to death, his head “used for a football,” his running shoes stolen. Four young … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Toyah Willcox in ‘Calamity Jane’

Posted on June 13, 2003 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When Doris Day blew in from the Windy City as the buckskinned tomboy in the movie “Calamity Jane,” she was ornery but toothsome and it didn’t take much for handsome Howard Keel to figure out … Continue reading →

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MUSIC REVIEW: George Fenton and ‘Blue Planet’ in Hyde Park

Posted on September 16, 2002 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – They call Hyde Park the lungs of London and on Sunday evening there, 10,000 people took a collective deep breath and metaphorically plunged into the ocean depths to experience the marvels of “The Blue Planet.” … Continue reading →

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