Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury review - dazzling Disney rewrite
Beloved Angela Lansbury film is in sure, safe theatrical hands
Bedknobs and Broomsticks has always suffered from not being Mary Poppins, the movie delayed in development and released in 1971 (it is a Sixties film in tone and technology) and always seeming to appear later on the BBC’s Christmas Disney Time programmes, after a bit of Baloo boogieing and a spoonful or two of sugar. It was probably more liked than loved.
The Nest review – intriguing, off-kilter family drama
Jude Law and Carrie Coon are a couple in meltdown in Eighties London
The Nest is a peculiar animal, hard to nail down, parts family drama and social satire, but with a creepy sense of suspense rippling under the surface that threatens to bust the plot wide open.
CODA review - warm-hearted comedy about growing up in a Deaf family
Sundance audience pleaser with a new twist on the high school coming-of-age drama
When CODA opened Sundance in May, it was an instant hit with that liberal, kindly audience and was snapped up by Disney at great expense. It’s easy to see why – CODA is a funny, easy-to-watch coming of age comedy that allows viewers to feel warm and understanding towards Deaf people. It’s got Oscar nominations written all over it. But I’m curious to see what the Deaf community make of the film.
Carousel, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - brave rewrite doesn't land
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has been tweaked but also flattened
You've got to hand it to the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park: this venue never simply dusts off a familiar musical title and plonks it onstage.
Big Big Sky, Hampstead Downstairs review - a perfectly realised character study
This poignant, uplifting play is just what we need right now
Get to Swiss Cottage early because Bob Bailey’s set for Tom Wells's new Hampstead Downstairs play Big Big Sky is a feast for the eyes. Angie’s cafe has the scrapey chairs, the tables you know will wobble a little if you get that one (and you will) and a blackboard menu that just needs a misplaced apostrophe or two to be truly authentic.
Riders of Justice review - revenge, coincidence and the meaning of life
Anders Thomas Jensen directs Mads Mikkelsen in brilliantly genre-busting black comedy
All events are products of a series of preceding events. Or is life just a chain of coincidences? And if so, what’s the point in anything?
Two of Us review - a lesbian love story with a difference
Everybody needs good neighbours: director Filippo Meneghetti's brilliant debut
“Do you have a problem with old dykes?” demands Nina (the superbly ferocious Barbara Sukowa) of a bland, nervous young estate agent, halfway through this wonderfully original first feature from director Filippo Meneghetti. No, he stammers. “You see, no one gives a damn, except you, Mado,” she hisses at her secret lover Madeleine (Martine Chevallier).
Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare's Globe review - unsatisfactory mix of clumsy and edgy
Too many of the messages seem reductive and irrelevant
"It is dangerous for women to go outside alone," blares the electronic sign above the stage of the new Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare's Globe. This disquieting sentiment obviously takes some of its resonance from the Sarah Everard case, yet it also begs such questions as, really, always? When popping out to get milk? Does the time of day or the neighbourhood make any difference?
French Exit review - Michelle Pfeiffer faces mortality
Mother-son drama is both arresting and arch
Michelle Pfeiffer all but purrs her way through French Exit, as befits a splendid actress who cut a memorable Catwoman onscreen nearly thirty years ago. Playing a New York grande dame who deals with bankruptcy by decamping with her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) to Paris, Pfeiffer informs the character of the mortality-obsessed Frances Price with an implicit "meow", as if forever finding fault with a world in which, short of funds, she is now surplus to requirements.