All stories by Heather Neill on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Emma review at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – ‘a pedestrian staging’ by Heather Neill

Emma is a challenge for the Jane Austen adaptor. Capturing the essence of the novels – witty, humorous, a touch acerbic –

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:27AM
Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Twelfth Night review at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – “energetic comedy” by Heather Neill

This Twelfth Night opens in a jazz-age speakeasy and never really leaves there. Paul Hart’s playful production centres on the considerable musical

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:36AM
Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Life of Galileo, Young Vic review - shared experience Brecht is powerful, timely by Heather Neill

Reason versus dogma under the starsNever mind breaking the fourth wall, Joe Wright and the Young Vic have smashed the other three as well. This isn’t simply because their engaging producti…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:33AM
Thursday, April 6, 2017

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - 'Damian Lewis devastates' by Heather Neill

Revival of Edward Albee's gripping late play echoes Greek tragedyAsked in an interview if there remained any taboos in the theatre, Albee answered, “Yes. I don’t think you should be…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:06AM
Monday, April 3, 2017

The Missing Light review at the Old Vic, London – ‘delightful animation’ by Heather Neill

On days when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not wandering in confusion among the clouds on their Old Vic set, the stage transforms

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 12:03PM
Friday, March 31, 2017

Incident at Vichy review at Finborough Theatre, London – ‘a timely, focused revival’ by Heather Neill

This one-acter, written quickly by Arthur Miller in 1964 when the ANTA Washington Square Theater in New York City needed another play

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:48AM
Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Anna Maxwell Martin: 'I like playing baddies' - interview by Heather Neill

She's been Sally Bowles, Lady Macbeth and Elizabeth Darcy. Now for a gritty courtroom drama about rapeShe was Lyra in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials at the National, she has shar…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:36AM
Thursday, March 9, 2017

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Harold Pinter Theatre by Heather Neill

Humour and vitriol contend in a tightly orchestrated production of Albee's celebrated playMartha is described in the script of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as "a large, boisterous wo…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:54PM
Wednesday, March 1, 2017

10 Questions for Director Ellen McDougall by Heather Neill

On directing Othello at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, and taking over at the GateIn a few days' time, Ellen McDougall will become artistic director of the dynamic little Gate Theatre in Notti…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:48PM
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Low Level Panic review at Orange Tree Theatre, London – ‘beautifully realised’ by Heather Neill

So much remains unchanged. While that might be the first reaction to Clare McIntyre’s 1988 play, Low Level Panic, here getting its

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 04:34AM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Henry V review at Southwark Cathedral, London – ‘a poignant production’ by Heather Neill

Old enemies have become allies in this poignant version of Henry V originally performed in 2015 to mark both the 600th anniversary

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:30AM
Monday, December 5, 2016

Great Expectations review at Merton Arts Space, London – ‘welcoming’ by Heather Neill

The Attic Theatre Company has been going for over 20 years – its last outing was with Beacons, a new play, at

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:15PM
Saturday, December 3, 2016

Peter Pan, National Theatre by Heather Neill

Sally Cookson brilliantly reinvents a Christmas favourite to hook in all agesThe cry "Let's pretend" must have been heard often when J M Barrie played with the Llewelyn Davies boys in Kensin…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:48PM
Thursday, December 1, 2016

This House review at Garrick Theatre, London – ‘pertinent and witty’ by Heather Neill

What could be more apt during the panto season in this politically farcical year than a play about the House of Commons?

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:04AM
Monday, November 14, 2016

10 Questions for Actor David Troughton by Heather Neill

The RSC stalwart, Gloucester in Gregory Doran's production of King Lear, talks politics, blinding and cricketDavid Troughton (b.1950), a familiar face on television and a Royal Shakespe…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:54AM
Saturday, November 5, 2016

King Lear, Old Vic by Heather Neill

Glenda Jackson returns to the stage as an authoritative Lear, gender irrelevantThe signs were there early in Glenda Jackson's career that she would one day have what it takes to "ascend the …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:02AM
Friday, November 4, 2016

'I am dismayed by the tone of the debate' by Heather Neill

'I AM DISMAYED BY THE TONE OF THE DEBATE' A member of the Globe's Council sees both sides in the Emma Rice furoreA member of the Globe's Council sees both sides in the Emma Rice furoreT…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:36AM
Wednesday, August 10, 2016

theartsdesk in Venice: Shylock comes home by Heather Neill

"In such a night as this..." begins Lorenzo's beautiful speech in Act V of The Merchant of Venice. Watching Shakespeare's play in the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo on a balmy evening under a darken…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:27AM
Sunday, October 4, 2015

The Wars of the Roses, Rose Theatre, Kingston by Heather Neill

At the press night curtain call for Richard III, about eleven-and-a half hours after the beginning of this anniversary three-play production, Trevor Nunn stepped in front of his impressively…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:10PM
Monday, September 28, 2015

10 Questions for Actress Jane Lapotaire by Heather Neill

Jane Lapotaire's distinguished career on stage and screen was cut sort in 2000 when she collapsed in Paris with a massive brain haemorrhage. She was giving a Shakespeare masterclass at the t…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:54AM
Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Llanelliad: Greeks bear gifts to Wales by Heather Neill

The Trojan War has been going on for nine years when Homer's account begins in The Iliad. Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes have been developing their version of the story, using Christopher Log…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:32PM
Friday, July 17, 2015

The Gathered Leaves, Park Theatre by Heather Neill

Families. Whether it's the House of Atreus, the court at Elsinore or the Archers, they tend to be of compelling interest. For most of us, loyalties, guilty secrets, truths that will out, pet…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:18PM
Thursday, May 14, 2015

Skin in Flames, Park Theatre by Heather Neill

The premise might seem familiar: a famous photograph, taken by a Western journalist in fraught military and political circumstances, has repercussions many years later. The subject of the pi…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:27PM
Saturday, March 14, 2015

Play Mas, Orange Tree Theatre by Heather Neill

Mustapha Matura's 1974 play is a celebration of liberation, both social and political, and a sly warning about the possible pitfalls of sudden freedom. Mas (or Masquerade) is the Trinidadian…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:05PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Kill Me Now, Park Theatre by Heather Neill

The big news was that dashing Greg Wise was returning to the London stage after an absence of 17 years. Still best remembered as the handsome cad Willoughby in the film of Sense and Sensibil…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:40AM
Friday, February 6, 2015

The Last of the De Mullins , Jermyn Street Theatre, London by Heather Neill

Jermyn Street Theatre, London : Artistic director Anthony Biggs' determination to rediscover forgotten plays is admirable, but they can't all be winners. St John Hankin's acco…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:52AM
Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Dara , Lyttelton, National Theatre, London by Heather Neill

Lyttelton, National Theatre, London: This adaptation of a play originally performed by Ajoka Theatre in Pakistan deals with an important, timely subject: the beginnings of the philosophical …

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:11AM
Monday, January 26, 2015

Taken at Midnight, Theatre Royal Haymarket by Heather Neill

The mother, so often a sentimental figure in art, can be as tenacious and bold as any animal when protecting her young. Mark Hayhurst's play about Irmgard Litten, mother of Hans, a lawyer wh…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:34AM
Friday, December 19, 2014

The Shoemaker's Holiday , Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon by Heather Neill

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: Philip Breen, whose Merry Wives of Windsor was a success here two years ago, tackles the first Royal Shakespeare Company production of Thomas Dekker's…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:48AM
Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Almost, Maine, Park Theatre by Heather Neill

For a Christmas-weary Brit who's already had it up to here with commercial bonhomie and festive schmaltz, there were going to be barriers to overcome. Here is an avowedly sweet American play…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:18AM
Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Sikes and Nancy , Trafalgar Studios 2, London by Heather Neill

Trafalgar Studios 2, London: Dickens himself particularly enjoyed reading the section of Oliver Twist which deals with the murder of Nancy in histrionic public performances. This is a practi…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:05AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards