SPHINX SALONS

This November Sphinx Theatre will be holding 2 salon events focussing on feminism and theatre. The Female Narrative 14th November 2015 2.30pm – 4.30pm The Actors Centre WC2H 9NP A conversation with acclaimed playwright April de Angelis and Professor Elaine Aston of Lancaster University chaired by Sphinx Artistic Director Sue Parrish on the place of … Continue reading →

From Doctor Foster to Medea (Almeida)

It was my daughter, Maggie, who urged me to watch the BBC’s five-part series, Doctor Foster, scripted by playwright Mike Bartlett and starring Suranne Jones.  Besieged by an overly busy start to another academic year, I was reluctant to find the time, but all it took was one episode and I was completely hooked, watching … Continue reading →

The Skriker: Royal Exchange Manchester

I find it hard to think of anyone playing the role of Caryl Churchill’s Skriker other than Kathryn Hunter who made the part her own in the original production at the National Theatre in 1994. The play, a dystopian themed, dark-tale for contemporary times, baffled the critics with its collision of an ailing spirit world … Continue reading →

Walk Maya Krishna Rao (India)

Women’s right to be able to walk the streets of India’s cities, day or night, without being afraid for their safety is powerfully invoked and advocated by Maya Krishna Rao’s solo performance, Walk. Originally composed as a protest over the gang rape of Jyoti Singh Pande on a bus in Delhi in December 2012, the … Continue reading →

Hang debbie tucker green Royal Court Theatre

Provocative and challenging questions about the world we inhabit today are a signature trait of debbie tucker green’s theatre. What if we lived in a country without enough life-saving medicine for the treatment of Aids, she asks in Stoning Mary. Or, how come the lives of so many young Black teenage boys get cut short … Continue reading →

Caryl Churchill Event at the National Theatre

Caryl Churchill In Context at the National Theatre Caryl Churchill In Context Tuesday 26 May, 2-5pm Cottesloe Room, Clore Learning Centre £20 (£15 concessions) Explore the work of celebrated playwright Caryl Churchill. Caryl Churchill is one of the UK’s most exciting and influential playwrights, known for groundbreaking plays such as Top Girls, Serious Money, Cloud … Continue reading →

Made in Dagenham (Musical)

I just made it! The musical Made in Dagenham closed on Saturday after a run of just six months. Those behind the show blame the economics of mounting a new musical. I’ve searched on line for whispers as to whether the incongruity of a West End musical about feminism might also be a factor in … Continue reading →

How to Hold Your Breath – Zinnie Harris

Woman sleeps with the devil (possibly). That is how Zinnie Harris’ latest play, How to Hold Your Breath, now completing its premiere run at the Royal Court Theatre, opens. We have been here before: Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom (1976) set in seventeenth-century England begins with a post-coital encounter between a young, single mother and a … Continue reading →