Romeo and Juliet: flat staging and mixed performances

Author: Molly Pipe Romeo and Juliet is always hard to get right. The sheer unbelievability of the central couple’s love for each other – kissing within seconds of meeting, and marrying within a day – has always rankled with me. It takes a huge amount of commitment, careful staging, and an investment in the suspension…

Cyrano and Roxanne – well-crafted tragi-comedy

  Author: Molly Pipe When I first saw Cyrano de Bergerac, huddled in my room as a slightly geeky teenager, it moved me to tears. The story was so achingly raw, the setup so unjust. It was difficult to get through it without some classic teen melancholy. Good to see, then, that the play hasn’t…

The Tempest: unimpressive inaugural production

  Author: Molly Pipe Green Productions was formed from a group of Sheffield Hallam Performance students who wished to take their theatrical collaborations further. They have a long way to go if they wish to become a fully fledged company. You may know the story of The Tempest. Prospero, former Duchess of Milan, has been banished…

My Name is Rachel Corrie: emotionally bruising – a soul-searing piece

  Author: Molly Pipe Rachel Corrie was killed on the 16th of March 2003, aged 23, whilst engaging in non-violent resistance in Gaza. You should know this when you watch her story. Two years after her death, inspired by the power of her activism, Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner edited Corrie’s diaries and emails into…

Here’s looking at UKIP – a heartfelt message for Britain

  Author: Molly Pipe ‘That was mashed potato on the cake I just shoved my face in,’ says Madeline Shann, unapologetically. ‘I tried yoghurt yesterday, as a substitute for icing, but it went all over the stage.’ We’re ten minutes into Here’s Looking at UKIP, and so far I’ve watched a vivid rendition of the…

Vulvarine: Smart, vibrant musical comedy – a must watch

  Author: Molly Pipe Bryony Buckle yearns to become the woman of her dreams. A woman who keeps her BMI under control. A woman who doesn’t have too many panic attacks. A woman who has a slightly more interesting job than working in an office in High Wycombe. Instead, she becomes a superhero. Dressed in…

Rutherford and Son: a forgotten classic remembered

  Author: Molly Pipe Rutherford is aging. Not that he wants to admit it. Physically powerful and unignorably blunt, he has dragged himself out of his working class roots to become a successful factory owner. But, as he only acknowledges a full 2 hours into the play – ‘I’m getting old, they say.’ Rutherford and…

‘The Cabinet of Madame Fanny Du Thé’: stellar score and polished delivery – but where have I heard this before?

A basket of props and an old wooden cabinet are all that make up the scenery, but with this sparse set-up Riddlestick Theatre dish up an evening of physical, fast-paced storytelling. ‘The Cabinet of Madame Fanny Du Thé’ is a cabaret, and the fabulous Fanny is our host. Smart, sophisticated and with a particularly pointy…

The Unsung – interesting idea but the tempo isn’t right

‘Funny how you always remember where you were on days the world goes wrong.’ So says poet Genevieve Carver as she describes the untimely death of Lola Ouzounian, victim of the 2015 Paris Attacks. Lola’s story is but one that makes up the tapestry of Carver’s latest show, The Unsung. The piece is an alternative…

Orpheus: pithy take on a (Greek) classic

As a teenager, I spent too many nights watching the latest Shakespeare reboot at my local theatrical hangout. (Alright, it was the RSC.) Good though many of the shows were, the experience left me with an overdose of the classical, and an unwillingness to see anything that threatened impenetrable language, obscure references and ruffs. So…