Latest news with #RoyalCourtTheatre
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
After the Act
After premiering at the New Diorama Theatre in 2023 and touring the UK, Breach Theatre's verbatim musical about Section 28 – the heinous legislation introduced in the late '80s to prevent the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools – lands at the Royal Court Theatre after some tweaking and with a mostly different four-strong ensemble cast. It's funnier, sharper and more damning than ever before. Co-writers Ellice Stevens and Billy Barrett have shaped the testimony of teachers, activists and students into songs drawing on the stylings of New Wave and electronica. The production starts with the recollections of the lesbians who famously ambushed Sue Lawley during a live news broadcast in protest at Section 28. The wryly hysterical re-enactment of this event, hitting a bigotry-skewering cartoon level of energy, is the strength of Barrett's staging, which leans even more into this now. The first half of the production goes big to puncture the poisonous balloon parade of politicians, pundits and homophobic media outlets who created Section 28 by cynically whipping up panic over children's book Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin and misinformation about HIV/AIDS. There's even a show-stopping re-enactment of the moment when enterprising protestors abseiled into the House of Lords during the legislation's reading. Stevens (also performing as part of the ensemble) has a ball as a lasciviously awful Maggie Thatcher after the interval. But where strengthening the bombast of the first half pays off is in accentuating the contrast with the devastating testimonies of teenagers and teachers whose lives were – in some cases – permanently harmed by the aftermath of Section 28. The quiet anguish feels that much louder after all the clowning noise. The ensemble is great at matching their performances to the varying proportions of the script, helped by the deft music direction of Frew and the production's on-stage band. They may wink at the audience, but it's a knowingness fuelled by an intrinsic sense of the injustice of Section 28. And the show drops its satirical smile to powerfully address the similar discrimination faced by trans people now. The second half still has the issue – after the first half so comprehensively explains why Section 28 came into being – of only fuzzily hand-waving at why the law was ultimately repealed. However, what it lacks in exposition, it makes up for by recreating the joyful defiance of Manchester Pride and the fierce love of community.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Rocky Horror Picture Show' Creator's Son Looks Back at Cult Classic's History in First Look at 'Strange Journey '(Exclusive)
No film has ever captivated audiences of the screen and stage quite like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Director Linus O'Brien, son of creator Richard O'Brien, examines how his father's creative brainchild became a worldwide phenomenon in the new documentary, Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. In a clip shared with PEOPLE exclusively, Richard talks about bringing Dr. Frank-N-Furter to life and the significance of the character and his candor. "Frank-N-Furter coming on stage and throwing off that cape and going, 'I'm just a sweet transvestite,' without any apology is wonderful. It's so out there and so in your face. It's such a liberating role, and I think it liberated other people," Richard explains. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: What Made Rocky Horror Picture Show So Epic? Original Star Barry Bostwick, a.k.a. Brad, Says It Was All Tim Curry (Exclusive) Richard then picks up a guitar and plays a little bit of the song, singing, "Don't get strung out by the way that I look / Don't judge a book by its cover / I'm not much of a man by the light of day / But by night I'm one hell of a lover / I'm just a sweet transvestite / From Transexual, Transylvania, ha ha." The documentary was created with a team that included Avner Shiloah, Adam Gibbs and Garret Price. The director tells PEOPLE that seeing how many people the film has touched inspired him to dive into its history. It features appearances from Tim Curry, Lou Adler, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard Hartley and Jim Sharman. "Several years ago, I stumbled upon the YouTube page for the song I'm Going Home, one of the highlights from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As I read through the comments, I was overcome with emotion — each person shared their personal story and the deep place the song held in their heart," Linus tells PEOPLE exclusively. Linus was born just over a year before The Rocky Horror Picture Show made its stage premiere in London's Royal Court Theatre in June 1973. "While Rocky Horror had always been a major part of my life, and I was well aware of its societal impact, this was the first time I truly grasped the enormity of its influence on individual lives," he notes. "That realization became the genesis of this film — Rocky Horror is unique in the way it created communities and spaces for people to express themselves without judgment — to feel liberated in every way they choose and to find a home among others like them. This documentary is as much a celebration of them as it is of Rocky Horror itself." Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror premieres at SXSW on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 11:00 a.m. Read the original article on People
Boston Globe
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Less is more in ‘hang,' Burbage Theatre's intense crime and punishment drama
'hang,' which debuted at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2015, is a mere 80 minutes long and contains one scene, in one room, with only three characters. The play is getting its Rhode Island premiere staging by the Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz. Enter Email Sign Up At some indefinite point in the near future, an unnamed victim (MJ Daly) of an unspecified but devastating crime is meeting with a pair of anonymous, dark-suited bureaucratic agents (Margaret Melozzi and Arron Morris) from an undisclosed department responsible for crime and punishment. She has been brought to a nondescript interrogation room (designed by Trevor Elliott) with just a small table and chairs, a wall-length two-way mirror, a water dispenser in the corner, and fluorescent lights above. There, she has been given the responsibility to decide how the person who has forever broken her life and brutally traumatized her family will be killed. Advertisement The vagaries are intentional and powerful. They keep the audience from getting distracted by the minutia of the crime and the nature of the criminal, and succeed in keeping focus on the devastation they have caused and the failure of language to describe or explain it. Our victim has a lot to say, but she is hanging on by a thread and not in the mood for talking. The officious agents have a lot to say as well, but cannot help but repeatedly trip over themselves as they navigate what protocol requires them to say and what they wish to share. Hence the silences and abundance of fragmented and elliptical dialogue. Advertisement Only three things in this play are presented with startling specification. One pertains to the required race (Black) and gender (female) of the victim, for debbie tucker green's plays are – to varying degrees and in varying ways – explorations of contemporary racism and gender inequality. Interestingly, the playwright leaves the race of the two agents to the discretion of the director, who has opted for two white actors, one of whom is male. This combination results in some intriguing on-stage dynamics between the agents and with the victim, and accentuates the playwright's socio-political themes. Another unfolds as the male agent delivers, with the enthusiasm of a well-versed hobbyist, a litany of gruesome details about the nature and effectiveness of lethal injection, gas, firing squad, beheading, and hanging as the victim weighs her options. Morris expertly taps the dark comedy found in his cringe-worthy diatribe as Melozzi, the senior agent, looks on approvingly. Also cringe-worthy is the mesmerizing moment when the victim bravely exposes to the agents, in agonizing detail, her physical and emotional vulnerabilities and speaks of the immense suffering experienced by her family. Daly, whose character quakes and appears painfully uncomfortable in her own skin for much of the play, burns red hot during this extended monologue. She is brilliant. Throughout the play, the agents complain about the uncomfortable climate in the room as an awkward segue to the matters at hand. They suggest that the fickle air conditioning unit is at fault. But it's the intense heat radiating from Daly as her character becomes vocal and empowered, and the frigid demeanor of their own characters as they go about their jobs that most likely accounts for the fluctuations in the thermostat. Advertisement It accounts for the uncomfortable atmosphere in the theater as well, judging from the wide eyes and flushed faces reflected back at us from the mirror on stage. Clearly, 'hang' has served its purpose. HANG Play by debbie tucker green. Directed by Lynne Collinson. At the Burbage Theatre Co., 59 Blackstone Ave., Pawtucket. Through Feb. 16. Tickets are $30, including fees. 401-484-0355, Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him .
