Mark Fisher

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Articles

The Merchant of Venice review - poisonous prejudice erupts with shocking speed in a show with tech-bro touches

Jan 23, 2025 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

He likes a bit of a laugh, this Shylock. Played with cool authority by John Douglas Thompson in a suit that blends with the grey concrete of Riccardo Hernandez’s brutalist set, he is even-tempered and jovial. Whether he is a “villain with a smiling cheek”, as Antonio characterises him, is a moot point. His darker side lies just below the genial surface, not so much a character flaw as the product of an oppressive culture.
The Borrowers review - Arrietty and co’s awfully wordy adventure

Dec 10, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

If you are in any doubt that this adaptation of the 1952 Mary Norton novel has lost its way long before the interval, just check out the first big song of the second half. By this stage, the stakes should be high. The tiny creatures who live under the skirting boards, surviving off human scraps – borrowed not stolen – are under assault. The boorish Mrs Driver (Claire Storey), a “human bean” with a fetish for cleanliness, is sensing their presence and has inadvertently hoovered them up.
A Christmas Carol review - sparse on sparkles but Dickens’ story remains a beacon

Dec 9, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

Even the proportions of Ebenezer Scrooge’s office are mean. The clever set by Jess Curtis squeezes in three London townhouses, thin, tall and grey, all slate and soot. They spin around to reveal cramped interiors as Scrooge (Gareth Williams) edges his way upstairs, past Bob Cratchit (Oliver Mawdsley) perched at a narrow ledger desk. It has the effect of making a big stage look claustrophobic. Adam Foley’s parsimonious lighting adds to the effect, rarely raising the colour temperature above sepia.
Aladdin review - seasonal panto fun, with a good dose of song and storytelling

Dec 9, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

It has been years since master magician Kalibali disappeared, but as his son Aladdin reaches the magical age of 12 years and 12 days, his absence hangs heavy. The boy and his mother struggle to keep the family firm on the road: Kalibali’s House of Magic is all floppy wands and failing cup-and-balls. How can the fumbling Aladdin hope to live up to his father’s reputation? The slumming-it Princess Jeannie sees through him. Worse, he is ripe for exploitation.
The Jungle Book review - swinging version of Kipling’s adventure

Dec 6, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

There is a startling piece of transformative stagecraft towards the start of Sarah Punshon’s production of the Rudyard Kipling favourite. The animals have discovered the infant Mowgli, a “little frog” adrift in a wicker basket on a floral silk river. One of the jollier songs of Ziad Jabero’s score strikes up, a catchy number called Jungle Jive.
Treasure Island review - with a yo-ho-ho and the spirit of adventure

Dec 2, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

Who is the protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure story? The obvious answer is Jim Hawkins, the innkeeper’s son who is drawn into a high-seas escapade complete with piracy and plundering. One minute he is helping with the customers, the next he is setting sail in search of buried treasure. But what of Long John Silver? Might not the double-crossing cook who leads a mutiny from the ship’s galley also have a claim to being the central player?
Spend Spend Spend review - punchy revival of a rags to riches to rags tale

Nov 29, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

As economists will tell you, if you want to get money circulating, there is no point handing it to the rich. They will just add it to their savings. Give it to the poor, on the other hand, and it will be put to good use. They will go out and spend it. Look at Viv Nicholson. Before she and her husband, Keith, won more than £150,000 on the football pools, they had next to nothing. When, in 1961, their score draws came in, they enjoyed every penny of their cash prize.
The Sound of Music review - charming musical nourishes the soul

Nov 21, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

Elizabeth Newman’s six-year tenure as Pitlochry’s artistic director has been characterised by a spirit of generosity and an urge to connect. As Mother Abbess says of Maria in The Sound of Music, Newman has a “great capacity to love”. Which makes it all the more fitting that her parting shot before moving to Sheffield Theatres is a musical that champions civic responsibility. In our dark political times, this is a show that nourishes and redeems.
The Scouse Red Riding Hood review - Grandma gets high in raucous adult panto

Nov 15, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

This is Liverpool, so the most frightening set of teeth are those of Cilla Black. Every time the baddies look at them we hear a round of Anyone Who Had a Heart. Laced with poison, they could be fatal. Did I say Liverpool? I should have said Lidlpool, a city where the middle aisle can save the day and where, in Kevin Fearon’s raucous script, the threat to Grandma comes from two metaphorical wolves. The old woman’s cottage is the only thing standing in the way of a multistorey car park.
Fixing review - delightful off-road adventure about family mechanics

Nov 7, 2024 | theguardian.com | Mark Fisher

We have signed up for a 12-week course in vehicle maintenance. Our workshop leader is Natalie Spanner, her blue overalls and pink heels setting her somewhere between The Repair Shop and pantomime dame. All those pistons, crankshafts and dipsticks keep the innuendoes flowing, but in this delightful solo show, written and performed by Matt Miller, something more sober is lurking. The course, Natalie explains, is about “holistic car care”.