Review

Joe Hill-Gibbins wows critics with 2011 revival of The Beauty Queen of Leenane

"O Guiding Light by The Sixteen and Harry Christophers has all the hallmarks that tend to characterize their performances: crystalline intonation, sumptuous tonal luster, expansive dynamic range, and acute musical insight (...) Each of the pieces is attractive on its own, but the tracks by Tarik O'Regan leap out because of his especially assured handling of the voices, his control of magical choral textures, his harmonic language, which is exquisitely sweet without being cloying, and the depth of his insight into the texts."

Remembrance Day by Aleksey Scherbak, translated by Rory Mullarkey, sold out towards the end of its highly successful run at the Royal Court Theatre. The play was part of the International Playwrights Season and was supported by the Genesis Foundation who celebrate 15 years of pioneering international work with the Royal Court Theatre in 2011.

Our Private Life by Pedro Miguel Rozo, translated by Simon Scardifield opened at the Royal Court Theatre on 11 February 2011 and attracted a wealth of praise from the national press. The play was part of the international playwrights season and was supported by the Genesis Foundation who celebrated 15 years of pioneering international work with the Royal Court Theatre in 2011.

Following his success directing Martin McDonagh’s celebrated play The Beauty Queen of Leenane earlier this year, Young Vic Genesis Fellow Joe Hill-Gibbins has received critical acclaim for his revival of Tennessee Williams’s renowned play, The Glass Menagerie.  Highlights from these reviews are below:

BLACK MILK by Vassily Sigarev

JERWOOD THEATRE UPSTAIRS 31 January - 1 March 2003

Director: Simon Usher
Designer: Delia Peel
Lighting Designer: Simon Bennison
Sound Designer: Ian Dickinson
Cast: Di Botcher, Sarah Cattle, Gary Oliver, Paul Ready, Sheila Reid, Suzan Sylvester, Alan Williams
Crowd: Peggy Batchelor, Krisztina Erdelyi, Jon Huyton, Terry Jermyn, Geoffrey Lang, Linda Large, John Wordsworth

PUSH UP by Roland Schimmelpfennig

JERWOOD THEATRE UPSTAIRS 8 February - 2 March 2002

Direction: Ramin Gray
Design and Lighting: Rodney Grant
Sound: Ian Dickinson
Cast: Flaminia Cinque, Jaqueline Defferary, Nigel Lindsay, Robin Soans, Peter Sproule, David Tennant, Sian Thomas, Lucy Whybrow

GRAFFITI by Richard Leighton

A DAY IN DULL ARMOUR by Chloe Moss

JERWOOD THEATRE UPSTAIRS 18 October - 2 November 2002

Direction: Richard Wilson
Design: Simon Daw
Lighting: Trevor Wallace
Sound: Ian Dickinson
Cast: Anthony Flanagan, Andrea Lowe, Tony Maudsley, Caroline O'Neill, Howard Ward

Written by Anupama Chandrasekhar
2 - 19 JULY

One of the most powerful and provocative plays at the Royal Court in its autumn season, Free Outgoing is set in the conservative Tamil region of southern India where a highly traditional society and outlook are brought into conflict with more modern lifestyles through the interface of modern technology. Lolita Chakrabarti is, once again, the mother of a schoolgirl who sparks moral outrage after a video clip of her with a boy is transmitted throughout India.

The Opera Group/Young Vic/Watford Palace Theatre co-production Street Scene, with music by Kurt Weill, is playing at the Young Vic from 17 to 22 July 2008.

The book is by Elmer Rice, one of the more important contributors to the exciting era when American theatre developed its own voice and first attracted international attention.