FringeReview UK

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FringeReview UK 2019

#We Are Arrested

Peter Hamilton Dyer carries this celebration of the conscience to be fully human


4.48 Psychosis

Do see this bold, beautiful attempt on Kane’s masterpiece


A Day in the Death of Joe Egg

Over 50 years on, this still sets benchmarks. Its power to enthral, to appal can never date.


A Kind of People

Bhatti nails truth to the doors of injustice. It’s well we heeded it.


A Life Twice Given

Can science give back the life that was lost?


A Very Expensive Poison

Prebble’s one antidote for these distracted times.


Afterglow

It’s conquered both sides of the pond. We need this.


Agnes Colander

A revelation. At twenty-two Granville Barker’s a master in the making. Naomi Frederick’s sovereign in the title role.


Ali and Dahlia

A phenomenally well-written first play


All About Eve

Absorbing. A must-see.


All My Sons

Convinces you All My Sons is even greater than we know.


All’s Well That Ends Well

Hannah Morrish’s Helena shines in this achingly desperate, quietly beautiful production.


Amsterdam

Did I say sucker-punch? It’s what the Orange Tree do every time.


Anon Look About You

Exceptional and vibrant, the company prove it’s one to revive.


Appropriate

A play that can only deepen with each production.


Berberian Sound Studio

Thoroughly absorbing, full of walking shadows who throw vivid questions.


Blood Knot

With Angela Smith’s phrase ringing in our ears, there’s not going to be a better play anywhere that answers it. Do see it.


Blood Wedding

In several ways, this is about as good as it gets.


Bodies

Still masterly, and in this rare revival, a must-see.


Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

There’s something special and extraordinary here too: a voice.


Cougar

You must see this.


Creditors

We’re unlikely to see a better production of this still rarely-performed disturber of ourselves.


Cyprus Avenue

Devastating drama about the DNA of bigotry; and it all starts in surreal farce.


Downstate

A masterly, unsettling play that in this production never puts a foot wrong. And wrong-foots us all.


Edward I

Could this be staged any more convincingly? Superb.


Edward II

A flinty lesson, not to be missed.


Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography

A fine piece, skidding along silicon into our dark


Elephant’s Graveyard

Our Town gone mad. It’s in NVT’s best American vein.


Equus

Ned Bennett’s thrilling production breaks out Equus from its leather bondage


Faith, Hope & Charity

Grounded in quiet with a huge howl


Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp.

For a time you feel that beyond Churchill’s world, nothing else quite seems to exist.


Glengarry Glenn Ross

Riveting must-see revival of Mamet's breakthrough play


Hansard

A masterfully conceived vehicle to stalk politics now


Henry IV Part 1 or Hotspur

A soaring remix of how the play settles a succession on congealed blood.


Henry IV Part 2 or Falstaff

The triumph of this newly-energized production is bringing the darker Falstaff to a diverse audience


Henry V

The enormous energy Sarah Amankwah brings proclaims greatness in the making


How Love is Spelt

Absolutely recommended.


Hunger

An exemplary, scrupulous production so starkly contemporary, it makes Hunger contemporary forever


INK Festival Feast From the East

I’ve not seen a festival of short plays to compare with these.


I’m Not Running

Compelling dissection of what hampers the mindset of our main progressive party.


Laundry and Bourbon/Lone Star

Yet again NVT deliver small gems of Americana. See it.


Little Baby Jesus

Anyone seeing this play will be grateful they’ll never feel quite the same way about London, young people or language again.


Mary Stuart

It must be seen


Mary Stuart

Again, it must be seen


Mary’s Babies

Maud Dromgoole’s proved more than adroit, skilful, and deliciously risk-taking. A must-see.


Measure for Measure

An outstanding production


Miss Julie

It’s unlikely we’ll get a cleaner version, or a more absorbing production any time soon


My Brilliant Friend Parts One and Two

Cusack and McCormack give the performances of their lives


Noughts & Crosses

A must-see cry for love and tolerance


On Bear Ridge

Absorbing and horribly timely.


Other People’s Money

A superb revival.


Out of Water

Anything Zoe Cooper writes now must be keenly anticipated.


Outlying Islands

A first rate-revival of a small classic. Do seek out this rare, dream-like play.


Pah-La

A searing arc of a drama based on true events


Peter Gynt

In McArdle’s irresistible performance you’re not likely to see a finer Gynt.


Pilgrims

Elinor Cook’s always worth a diversion for. This drama deserves friends and revivals.


Plenty

Unsettling enough to avoid instant classic status, but outliving many that court it. A superb revival.


Richard II

A savage anointing, a revelatory reading.


Richard II

A searingly precise essay on the corruption of entitlement.


Richard III

This production could draw out the poison of being dead serious in terminal bursts of laughter


Rosmersholm

They compel attention, they demand we follow every sigh


Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s an outstanding play about sexual identity, choices, and above all what it means to transition.


Rutherford and Son

Terrific revival goes at the speed of twilight


Sadness and Joy in the Life of Giraffes

Rodrigues is a dramatist we need to see far more of.


seven methods of killing kylie jenner

‘What are you gonna do now…. clap?’ Yes, standing.


Shadows

Speaks with a fierce innocence


Shipwreck

A superb ensemble piece. Of all dramas on these interesting times in America, it’s the one truly necessary.


Shook

If you’ve an appetite for exceptional new writing, just see it.


Small Island

A reboot for the future, a passport for change.


Small Island

A reboot for the future, a passport for change.


Superhoe

A searing new talent.


Sweat

No wonder this play’s just extended its run. Don’t even read this before you try booking.


Swive

A Hilliard rather than Holbein, it’s the velocity of Elizabeth’s survival that enthrals


The American Clock

It’s imperative to see this production.


The Antipodes

Baker pushes dangerously at just what theatre is.


The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys and The Laments

In nearly every way an outstanding pair of productions.


The Doctor

A triumph for all concerned. Juliet Stevenson even gains in stature. Icke’s last production could hardly go better than this.


The Duchess of Malfi

The scalpel and scruple of class and coolness breaks into tragedy and gifts us three outstanding moments


The Dutch Lady

A consummate production of a memorably dark comedy


The End of History…

A play you want to return to.


The Father

Florian Zeller's masterpiece, in a production and central performance that would do it justice anywhere.


The Flies

There’s nothing like the Exchange’s approach: their bi-lingual virtuosity burns questions.


The Girl On The Train

Superb entertainment


The Glass Piano

A bewitching mix of deconstructive magic and fabulous therapy, it’s above all Grace Molony who brushes distinction into this already distinctive production.


The House on Cold Hill

Sleep as well as you can. The house won’t.


The Hunt

An outstandingly theatrical re-visioning of a film


The Ice Cream Boys

A deeply satisfying play


The Lady From the Sea

A groundbreaking production. Even outside its unique terms it’s outstanding.


The Language Archive

We need NVT to continue presenting us with plays like this.


The Lehman Trilogy

Almost stupefying, but outstanding.


The Malcontent

Outstanding theatre.


The Mikvah Project

A brave and beautiful play


The Mousetrap

A finely-judged, neatly-rendered romp of a classic.


The Night of the Iguana

More nearly a masterpiece than you’d think


The Price

An outstanding production, rescuing a classic from attic shadows.


The Pride

Don’t wait for another West End revival see this one.


The Rubenstein Kiss

If you care for grippingly argued, passionate theatre, you must see this.


The Son

An explosively powerful play


The Taming of The Shrew

Highlight how good the play is just where we’re not looking for it


The Winter’s Tale

One of the finest LLT productions I can remember


Three Sisters

This absorbing production keeps growing in the mind, like to take root.


Three Sisters

This spectacular production beats with a fervour and purpose few adaptations achieve. Ellams has made Three Sisters new.


Top Girls

It doesn’t get much better than this.


Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation

The most consistently satisfying work of Tim Crouch I’ve seen.


Vassa

A really worthwhile production with a few missed opportunities


When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other

This cast’s exemplary dedication deserves watching for their sheer performative belief.


White Pearl

The finest new play from the Court this year, gleaming and deadly


Youth Without God

We’re launched into a necessary world


{BLANK}

Compelling and bleakly miraculous


‘Master Harold’… and the boys

A mostly terrific revival.