Measure for Measure, RSC, Stratford review - 'problem play' has no problem with relevance

 MEASURE FOR MEASURE, RSC STRATFORD A landmark production 

Shakespeare, in this adaptation, is at his most perceptive

An opening video montage presents us with a rogues' gallery of powerful men who have done bad things. Plenty of the usual suspects appear to stomach-churning effect, but no ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, sentenced last week to five years in prison by the usually tolerant French. So the problem certainly hasn’t gone away with the Clintons, Weinsteins and they’re ilk. We all know the “power corrupts…” quote, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised and, maybe, we should be a little wary of vesting so much power in such men – that is, most men.

50 First Dates: The Musical, The Other Palace review - romcom turned musical

 50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL, THE OTHER PALACE Forgettable, but comforting

Date movie about repeating dates inspires date musical

About halfway through this world premiere, I realised what was missing. Where is the sinister lift, where are the long corridors and, most of all, WHERE IS MR. MILCHICK? 50 First Dates: The Musical may indeed be the sunnier cousin of Severance, but it’s also much older, tracing its roots back to the mid-hit movie of the same name.

The Harder They Come, Stratford East review - still packs a punch, half a century on

 THE HARDER THEY COME, STRATFORD EAST Great story, songs and performances

Natey Jones and Madeline Charlemagne lead a perfectly realised adaptation of the seminal movie

The impact of great art is physical as much as it is psychological. I recall the first time I saw Perry Henzell’s 1972 film, The Harder They Come. I’d been in the pub and, as we did then with just four channels, slumped in front of the television to see what was on late on a Friday night.

Reunion, Kiln Theatre review - a stormy night in every sense

 REUNION, KILN THEATRE New play brings a family's old enmities to the surface

Beautifully acted, but desperately grim drama

If you ever wanted to know what a mash up of Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson, stirred (and there’s a lot of stirring in this play) with a soupçon of Chekhov, Ibsen and Williams looks like, The Kiln has your answer.

The Lady from the Sea, Bridge Theatre review - flashes of brilliance

Simon Stone refashions Ibsen in his own high-octane image

Like the lighting that crackles now and again to indicate an abrupt change of scene or mood, Simon Stone's version of The Lady from the Sea is illuminated by the sense of adventure and excitement one has come to expect from this singular artist. That's the case even if the cumulative effect falls short of his devastating achievements with the National Theatre's Phaedra or, before that, Billie Piper in Yerma

The Courageous review - Ophélia Kolb excels as a single mother on the edge

★★★ THE COURAGEOUS Ophélia Kolb excels as a single mother on the edge

Jasmin Gordon's directorial debut features strong performances but leaves too much unexplained

“I never abandoned you,” says Jule (Ophélia Kolb; Call My Agent!) to her 10-year-old daughter Claire (Jasmine Kalisz Saurer), setting a fairly low bar as far as motherhood is concerned.

The Gathered Leaves, Park Theatre review - dated script lifted by nuanced characterisation

★★★ THE GATHERED LEAVES, PARK THEATRE Dated script lifted by nuanced characterisation

The actors skilfully evoke the claustrophobia of family members trying to fake togetherness

The Gathered Leaves is set on the tectonic plates of a middle-class family menu reunion, in which three generations grapple with the shifting values of an indifferent world. Adrian Noble’s sensitively observed production investigates what happens when a tyrannical patriarch starts to succumb to dementia, making disorientating demands on a family that till this point has been more concerned with protecting a son suffering from autism.

Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex review - sexual identity slips, hurts and heals

★★★★ OSLO STORIES TRILOGY: SEX Sexual identity slips, hurts and heals

A quietly visionary series concludes with two chimney sweeps' awkward sexual liberation

Two chimney sweeps sit by a window. The boss (Thorbjørn Harr) recounts a dream meeting with David Bowie, who disconcertingly looks at him like he’s a woman. Funny thing, his friend (Jar Gunnar Røise) replies. Yesterday, a male client asked him to have sex, and he did. It felt good. He hasn’t told anyone else, apart from his wife.

Weapons review - suffer the children

★★★★ WEAPONS 'Barbarian' follow-up hiply riffs on ancient fears

'Barbarian' follow-up hiply riffs on ancient fears

Weapons’ enigmatic title, as with Zach Cregger’s previous film Barbarian, reveals little of what follows. The smalltown Pied Piper premise is sufficiently alluring: at 2.17 am, all bar one of a primary school class leave their beds and sprint through night streets, arms flung back like fighter jets, before vanishing utterly.