REVIEW: The Forest at the Hampstead Theatre

Hotly anticipated production by Florian Zeller, with a stellar cast including Paul McGann and Gina McKee, translated by Christopher Hampton, revolves around the splintering and fragmenting mind of distinguished husband, father and surgeon Pierre, as his sanity is challenged at the mercy of a life lived through layers of lies caused by his infidelities. 

Lie upon lie, you become a person you don’t recognise anymore. A poignant tale not fully told.

In this non-linear piece, fantasy blends with reality as scenes are repeated with changes representing Pierre’s twisted perception as his reality begins to crumble. Nuanced and sensitive writing is replaced with theatrical devices. The actors appear like marionettes playing the game of life, rather than expressing the complexities that the realism of the characters and their dialogue require. Lacking in nuance, it played out like they were telling the story, rather than acting it out.

REVIEW: Night, Mother at the Hampstead Theatre

Night, Mother is a Hampstead Theatre original play, written by Marsha Norman. Directed by Roxana Silbert, it is set on a normal Saturday evening at home in rural North America with Thelma (Stockard Channing) and her daughter, Jessie (Rebecca Night). Ti Green’s set is warm and comforting despite the disturbing events that follow; Jessie has calmly decided that tonight she will commit suicide and nothing will change her mind.

The script is good, it touches on many topics; sickness, divorce and stigma and Thelma tries to understand why her daughter is suicidal. It leads us to question whether a person really needs a ‘reason’ to want to end their life, or if it is a decision you simply make; something as easy as getting off a bus if you have had enough of the ride (as Jessie states).

REVIEW: The Memory of Water at the Hampstead Theatre

After 18 months, of living through a global pandemic, you’d be forgiven for thinking twice before booking tickets to see a play that focuses on grief, memory and loss. However, this Olivier award-winning comedy is exactly what the doctor ordered and is indeed inspired programming by recently appointed artistic director Roxanna Silbert. The Memory of Water which premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in 1996, is in fact, just the antidote for a covid-fatigued audience. 

Shelagh Stephenson’s sharp, witty and poignant play is about three sisters, Teresa (Lucy Black), Mary (Laura Rogers) and Catherine (Carolina Main), who after years of separation, come together before their mother's funeral. As they grapple with her passing and the ensuing breakdown of familial etiquette, different versions of childhood events and family History rise to the surface. Unable to agree on any given point of any memory, the siblings squabble and it is whilst navigating the indiscrepancies of their versions of the past, they are forced to face the present and their own hidden lies and self-betrayals. Celebrating the familial bond, it is very entertaining and farcical. However, it poses more serious questions about the (un)reliability of memory, the illusiveness of time and the devastating effects of grief which manifest differently in the three sisters.

Game of Thrones takes over the West End!

Iwan Rheon in Foxfinder at the Ambassadors Theatre

Iwan Rheon played Ramsay Bolton in the TV show, Game of Thrones. He is also known for Misfits and Inhumans. He made his stage debut in the Broadway transfer of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith and later, the Novello Theatre. He'll star in Foxfinder which opens at the Ambassadors theatre from the 6th September. 

Maisie Williams in I and You at the Hampstead theatre

Maisie Williams plays Arya Stark on the hit show, her other credits include Doctor Who, Cyberbully, iBoy and Mary Shelley. She will make her stage debut in I and You at the Hampstead Theatre from the 18th October.