Theatre Index for 2008

▼ December (8)
No Man's Land by Harold Pinter
Well by Lisa Kron
The Family Reunion by T S Elliot
National Theatre Christmas Quiz - chaired by Emma ...
The Pride By Alexi Kaye Campbell
Wig Out! by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Gethsemane by David Hare
Rain Man adapted by Dan Gordon
▼ November (2)
The Twenty Four Hour Plays Celebrity Gala
6 Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Piran...
▼ October (6)
Love's Labours Lost by William Shakespeare
Faces in the Crowd by Leo Butler
Waste By Harley Granville Barker
Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Paradise Regained by Mark Ravenhill
Table Manners by Alan Ayckbourn
▼ September (19)
Landscape by Harold Pinter
A Slight Ache by Harold Pinter
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde & edited by Merlin Hol...
Now or Later by Christopher Shinn
Round and Round the Garden by Alan Ayckbourn
The Walworth Farce by Enda Walsh
a number by caryl churchill
far away by caryl churchill
Ivanov by Chekhov in a translation from Tom Stoppa...
ice cream by caryl churchill
three more sleepless nights by carylchurchill
Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
The Pretender Agenda by Christopher Manoe
light shining in buckinghamshire by Caryl Churchil...
Lipsynch by Robert Lepage
Kicking a Dead Horse by Sam Shepard
Factory Hamlet
Hamlet by Factory and Shakespeare
Hedda, adapted by Lucy Kirwood based on the Ibsen
▼ August (5)
Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare and Thomas ...
Under The Blue Sky by David Eldridge
Her Naked Skin by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Afterlife by Michael Frayn
...some trace of her - inspired by The Idiot by Fy...
▼ July (6)
The Frontline by Ché Walker
Black Watch by Gregory Burke
The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith
Behind The Image compiled and edited by Michael Bh...
Chronic by DC Jackson (Rough Cuts Season)
The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold
▼ June (10)
2,000 Feet Away by Anthony Weigh
The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Relocation by Anthony Neilson
The Country by Martin Crimp
The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Rattigan
Oxford Street by Levi David Addai
Contractions by Mike Bartlett
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton
▼ May (11)
Harper Regan by Simon Stephens
Piranha Heights by Philip Ridley
Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen (version by Mike Poult...
The Vortex by Noel Coward
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Hello & Goodbye by Athol Fugard
The City by Martin Crimp
Tinderbox by Lucy Kirkwood
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Gu...
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza translated by Chris...
Branded by Simon Bent
▼ April (5)
Brief Encounter by Noel Coward and adapted by Emma...
Shoot, Get Treasure, Repeat Double Bill by Mark Ra...
Bliss (Felicite) by Olivier Choiniere & translate...
Birth of a Nation by Mark Ravenhill
Random by Debbie Tucker Green
▼ March (10)
The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other by Peter Ha...
The Miracle by Lin Coghlan
DNA by Dennis Kelly
Baby Girl by Roy Williams
Never So Good by Howard Brenton
The Sea by Edward Bond
Scarborough - Fiona Evans
Artefacts by Mike Bartlett
A Prayer for my Daughter by Thomas Babe
Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw
▼ February (4)
The Lover/The Collection by Harold Pinter
La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Jerman and Harvey Fier...
The Homecoming by Harold Pinter
Ring Round the Moon by Jean Anouith & adapted by C...
▼ January (17)
Happy Now? by Lucinda Coxon
The South Bank Show Awards.
Critic's Circle Awards
The Vertical Hour by David Hare
Off the Endz! By Bola Agbaje
Talking Dirty edited by Clare Lizzimore
The Running Machine by Joe Harbot
Ignition1 in the Rough Cuts season at the Royal C...
Thrown by Mike Bartlett in the Rough Cuts season ...
The Lion's Mouth by Alexandra Wood in the Rough ...
Gambling - By Matt Hartley
The Astonished Heart by Noel Coward
Regeneration by Gbolahan Obisesan
Women of Troy by Euripides translated by Don Taylo...
Dealer's Choice by Patrick Marber
Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn
Othello by William Shakespeare

Paradise Regained by Mark Ravenhill

.........an epilogue to Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat

Matt - Zubin Varla
Tom - Tom Riley
Adam - Patrick Knowles

DIrected by Mark Ravenhill and using the set designed for Now or Later.

I sat next to Zubin's parents and we were surrounded by a mass of students that were having the MOST vacuous conversations about their gap years and it frightened me that people who were clearly in their later teens and had been in full education, had no comprehension political geography beyond having 'heard that Thailand is really, really, really, really nice'. I despair.

Enough of that. When Mark gets it right, it's wonderful. As an epilogue to a mixed bunch of pieces, this is pitch perfect.
No matter that an old hormonally challenged woman gets to see not one, but two lovely young actors with few clothes on than can be comfortable in the present climate.

Matt has a lovely apartment. He's a made man but then who is this that enters in such a state? He is clearly familiar to Matt but unexpected. Tom is Matt's lover of 15 years ago. He was killed in the first Gulf War and is presented to us covered in muck and blood which I have to say I thought was brown and red paint until the dialogue informed me. He longs form Matt to hold him and to kiss him. Matt has moved on. His moral stance has changed beyond recognition and he has become very successful. Tom leaves the stage to take a shower and Matt's current boyfriend returns from a swim. He is clearly using Matt for everything he can get and Matt needs him because nothing can really replace Tom.........well the success and affluence can but Adam does not fulfill his emotional needs. it's a rather piteous piece but it's brevity gives it such a lasting impact.

Wonderful performances from all involved.