Susannah Clapp

5 days ago | observer.co.uk | Susannah Clapp

Amid the lopped-off limbs and family pies, Simon Russell Beale also melts hearts in Max Webster’s searing production of Shakespeare’s goriest tragedy Titus AndronicusSwan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; until 7 JuneThe prize for the most challenging Shakespearean stage direction is up for grabs. “Exit, pursued by a bear” has long been presumed the winner: the Royal Shakespeare Company has an enormous stuffed bruin looming near its Stratford bookstall.

1 week ago | observer.co.uk | Susannah Clapp

Ibsen’s play could certainly do with a going over. But not this one, writes The Observer's theatre critic Susannah Clapp My Master BuilderWyndham’s, London WC2; until 12 JulyThe Brightening AirOld Vic, London SE1; until 14 JuneMartin Amis, who was not a fan of the theatre, warned me off this job 28 years ago. After all, he explained, there are only three playwrights: Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekhov. I disagree, but sometimes it seems that dramatists are on his side.

2 weeks ago | observer.co.uk | Susannah Clapp

The Slow Horses star performs in, directs and designs an intimate production of Samuel Beckett’s one-man drama of loss, finely capturing its sense of rage and reverie Krapp’s Last TapeYork Theatre Royal; until 17 MayWhy would I rather see Krapp’s Last Tape than Waiting for Godot? Both plays are drenched in disappointment: Godot (1952) from defeated expectation, Krapp (1958) from the losses of the past.

3 weeks ago | msn.com | Susannah Clapp

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3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Susannah Clapp

My attitude to stage design changed about 15 years ago when I was on the judging panel for the Evening Standard theatre awards. Advocating one designer, I was met by an objection from another critic: “You can’t see what he does.” That was, of course, the best argument for my chap winning. Suddenly I realised what should have been self-evident: the best design does not have evident designs on its audience. I remembered that exchange when watching Mohamed-Zain Dada’s light-footed new play, Speed.