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2 weeks ago | 
observer.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
This memoir of a woman whose childhood was spent between Palestine and Italy reveals how her parents sustained a loving marriage against the odds Sabrin Hasbun’s Italian mother, Anna, and Palestinian father, Rami, met in Florence when Rami was studying art and Anna was training as a nurse.
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2 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Richard Harrington in House of Games [Manuel Harlan]BILLY (Oscar Lloyd), a gambling addict, is mid-therapy with bestselling author and psychoanalyst Dr Margaret Ford (Lisa Dillon), an expert in compulsive behaviour, when he pulls a gun. He claims he owes a hefty sum to the House of Games, a shady Chicago poker lounge, and is worried he’s going to get killed. Driven by concern for her client and writerly curiosity, Margaret decides to visit the gambling den herself.
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2 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Siena Kelly and Liv Hill in 1536 [Helen Murray]TERRIFIC performances breathe fire into Ava Pickett’s compelling debut play, winner of the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. It’s 1536, the year of Anne Boleyn’s death. Across England, people are beginning to feel the influence of King Henry VIII’s patriarchal court, his immorality and cruelty. In rural Essex, three women find their lives affected by the misogyny surrounding the Queen, accused of treason and adultery, and facing execution.
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2 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden in The Fifth Step [Johan Persson]THE 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were devised to support members’ recovery. Step 5, also known as the “confession”, encourages participants to acknowledge any harm they’ve caused in their pursuit of alcohol.
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3 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Chumisa Dornford-May and Rory Kinnear in Here We Are [Marc Brenner]STEPHEN Sondheim’s final musical (he died in 2021) is inspired by two films by Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel. Completed posthumously, Here We Are is the result of seven years of collaboration between Sondheim, director Joe Mantello and writer David Ives (book). The first act reimagines Buñuel’s Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. We follow six well-heeled Americans on their journey to find the perfect brunch.
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3 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Heartfelt: Faygele [Jane Hobson]IN Yiddish, “faygele” is a derogatory name for a gay or effeminate male, akin to “faggot”. Shimmy Braun’s debut play explores the marginalisation of a teenager Ari Freed (Ilan Galkoff) in an Orthodox Jewish community because he is queer. Inspired by a real-life tragedy, we first meet Ari at his own funeral. Ari haunts the play as he retraces the events and circumstances that led him to take his own life.
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3 weeks ago | 
westminsterextra.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Saria Amini, writer, performer and co-director of Saria Callas [Harry Elletson]SARIA CALLASCamden People’s Theatre3.5 starsPresented by the award-winning international company Seemia Theatre, this arresting one-woman show – written, performed, and co-directed by Iranian artist Saria Amini – draws on her lived experiences to explore what it means to push back against repression and find one’s voice.
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3 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Saria Amini, writer, performer and co-director of Saria Callas [Harry Elletson]SARIA CALLASCamden People’s Theatre3.5 starsPresented by the award-winning international company Seemia Theatre, this arresting one-woman show – written, performed, and co-directed by Iranian artist Saria Amini – draws on her lived experiences to explore what it means to push back against repression and find one’s voice.
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4 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Sky Yang and Fiona Hampton in Scenes from a Repatriation [Alex Brenner]SCENES FROM A REPATRIATIONRoyal Court☆☆☆☆Singaporean playwright Joel Tan’s Scenes from a Repatriation follows the fictional return of a 1,000-year-old statue from Britain to China. The play begins at the British Museum, where we learn how the Bodhisattva Guanyin statue was looted by British troops from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace during the Second Opium War.
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4 weeks ago | 
camdennewjournal.co.uk | Lucy Popescu
Rosie Sheehy (Billie), Brian Gleeson (Stephen), Chris O’Dowd (Dermot) and Aisling Kearns (Freya) in The Brightening Air at The Old Vic (2025) [Manuel Harlan]THE BRIGHTENING AIRThe Old Vic☆☆☆Chekhov’s tragicomedy Uncle Vanya haunts Conor McPherson’s new play with its four-act structure, family dynamics, a crumbling estate and characters consumed by unrequited love or impossible dreams.
