|
 From
the Bard freshly minted to a bruising football drama to a pioneering
East End musical, our critic Mark Shenton looks at three must-see
productions on the London stage right now...
1.
HAMLET (Old Vic) Think you've seen it before? Think again. Director
Trevor Nunn does something new and uniquely bracing with this modern-day
production.
Not
only does he make it live for today – which all the best productions
of any Shakespeare aspire to do – but Nunn also seeks to "see
what happens when the characters in this greatest of tragedies are
played by young people of student age."
 So
we have 23-year-old Ben Wishaw (pictured right), fresh from a small
role in the National's His Dark Materials, making a leap
into the material darkness of Hamlet, his whippet-thin, angular
frame hunched in brooding melancholy as he is first seen, wearing
a beanie-hat and biting on his nails.
Meanwhile,
Ophelia – 19-year-old London University student Samantha Whittaker
– bops along to pop music in her room.
The
play is delivered as if it's been freshly minted, which some of
it is – Nunn interpolates some scenes new to Shakespeare, including
the sight of Claudius physically beating up Hamlet, as this everyday
story of murder, madness and retribution in a modern Royal Family
is despatched on its tragic course.
Booking
to:
31 July, box office: 0870 060 6628
Web:
(The Â鶹ԼÅÄ is not responsible for the content of external
websites)
2.
SING YER HEART OUT FOR THE LADS (National Theatre, Cottesloe)
Roy Williams' bruising drama, first briefly seen at the National
in 2002, makes a welcome extended return.
| "This
is a brilliant play that dares to articulate unpalatable ideas,
and give voice to serious arguments on both sides of a racist
divide..." |
About
bar-room politics, football and racism that is provoked against
the backdrop of the England v Germany World Cup qualifier on Saturday
7 October, 2000, it sees the Cottesloe transformed into the bar
of the King George III pub in south-west London, around which the
action unfolds.
As
the publican Gina (Tanya Franks) readies the pub with her dad Jimmy
(Gawn Grainger) for the arrival of a group of fans to watch the
match on the giant screen in the corner, the scene is quickly set
for a powerful drama that will unfold in real-time in the next two
hours.
Williams
rachets up the tension with extraordinary skill and minutely detailed
pacing which requires moments in the drama to be timed to coincide
precisely with moments in the game, as the characters respond to
what they're watching on screen.
slow-burning
anger
When
Gina's son Glen (Ryan Ford) is beaten up for his jacket and mobile
by two black kids, one of the drinkers ominously declares, "Rivers
of blood".
 The
person who says it, Alan (Paul Moriarty), is no inarticulate yob,
though, and Williams takes the far more dangerous and engrossing
route of letting him defend his position.
But
the slow-burning anger of the disaffected Mark (Ray Fearon) –
a black former soldier who has done service in Northern Ireland
– and his brother Barry (So Solid Crew's Ashley Walters), offer
an eventually potent riposte to what constitutes Englishness.
This
is a brilliant play that dares to articulate unpalatable ideas,
and give voice to serious arguments on both sides of a racist divide.
Runs to: 26 June, box office: 020 7452 3000
Web:
3.
THE BIG LIFE (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Developed through
Stratford East's pioneering Musical Theatre Project, which last
year brought the invigorating but dramatically incoherent Da
Boyz to the stage, this is a massive step forward.
 It's
the most authentic, joyous, heartfelt and moving new British musical
of its kind since Blood Brothers.
A
beautifully crafted, fictionalised story that directly addresses
an important chapter of Britain's own history – the arrival
of Caribbean immigrants aboard the Windrush in 1948 – it does
so without being preachy or earnest.
Paul
Sirett's witty script, Paul Joseph's vibrant score and Clint Dyer's
buoyant production all contribute to an evening that is, above all,
fun.
Runs
to: 29 May, box office: 020 8534 0310
Web:
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