The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Review

Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was published in 2003. It was the winner of more than seventeen literary awards and has now been adapted by Simon Stephens for the production that opened at the Apollo theatre in March 2013 after a successful stint at the Cottesloe with the National Theatre. It received much critical acclaim and won seven Olivier Awards including Best New Play. It has now transferred to the Gielgud Theatre where it re-opened on Monday 7^th July 2014.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time follows the story of 15 year old Christopher Boone who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, and Autism. After his next door neighbour’s dog, Wellington, is killed with a garden fork, Christopher sets it upon himself to be a detective who must be “very very brave” and find out who the murderer is. As his journey takes off, we see his life at his “special school” where the kids are “stupid, although I’m not supposed to say that” (says Christopher). Despite his illnesses, Christopher is a superb mathematician and has set it upon himself to be the first 15 year old at his school to sit a Maths A-Level exam.  We also learn about his family life, and his career aspirations for the future as we follow his journey from 12:07am on the night of the dog’s murder…

The National Theatre's GREAT BRITAIN will transfer to the West End this September

Richard Bean's new phone hacking play Great Britain, which opened at the National Theatre only yesterday, has announced that it is transferring to the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 10 September.

Nicholas Hytner's production was well-received after it opened following just a week's notice after the culmination of the phone hacking trial last week.

Billed as an 'anarchic satire', Bean's play delves into the murky waters of the press, police and political establishment, and the cast at the National includes Billie Piper, Robert Glenister, Oliver Chris and Harriet Thorpe.

Billie Piper will star in the new play GREAT BRITAIN by Richard Bean at the National Theatre

The details have finally been revealed of Richard Bean’s previously reported new play at Britain's National Theatre. For legal reasons the production was unable to announce until the phone hacking trial that has rocked the U.K. ended. Great Britain, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Billie Piper, will open at the Lyttelton Theatre on June 30 and run through August 23. The production will have no previews.

The new play is an anarchic satire about the press, the police and the political establishment. Piper plays Paige Britain, the ambitious young news editor of The Free Press, a tabloid newspaper locked in a never-ending battle for more readers.

One Man, Two Guvnors: Theatre Review

One Man, Two Guvnors is a play by Richard Bean which made its debut at the National Theatre in 2011. Following this it toured the UK and transferred to the West End’s Adelphi Theatre and then later at the Royal Haymarket Theatre. Since then the production has opened on Broadway and has launched its second tour which will make international stops. 

The play is a classic slapstick comedy, following the story of Francis Henshall who has been employed by two men, Roscoe Crabbe and Stanley Stubbers. Roscoe Crabbe was meant to have been killed by his twin sisters fiancé but he suddenly comes back to claim Pauline Crocker as his wife. Roscoe is of course his Twin Sister, Rachel Crabbe, in disguise. She is doing this so she can get money off Pauline’s father so she and Stanley (who killed her brother) can go to Australia and hide away from the police. 

I don’t personally like slapstick comedy as I get bored of it after two minutes however this play really brought it into the twenty first century and made it right for a modern audience, integrating audience interaction with the comedy. Richard Bean really knows who to write a comedy, he carried the humour throughout the whole show and he did it really well. At no point did I think ‘this is dragging on’ or ‘ok, next scene please’. A very talented writer.