Phil Willmott
12 Nov
Reviews 
Review: WASTE at the National Theatre
By Phil Willmott Thursday, November 12 2015, 11:28
There were dramatic scenes on and off stage at the National Theatre last night when an audience member in the front row suffered a suspected heart attack four minutes before the end of the press night performance, which had to be stopped so the man could receive medical help.
After a short delay the stage manager announced that whilst they waited for an ambulance the patient and his family were happy for the performance to restart and conclude, so the evening’s final lines about life and death had a horrible poignancy that had us all on the edge of our seats.
05 Nov
Reviews
Review: GATSBY at the Arts Theatre
By Phil Willmott Thursday, November 5 2015, 10:19
The very word GATSBY conjures up a world of 1920’s glamour and sophistication as portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel THE GREAT GATSBY, about a broken hearted playboy.
It’s recently come out of copyright and there’s been a scrabble to adapt it for the stage. The UK already has one touring production and many Londoners will still remember an extraordinary visiting production from New York, GATZ, in which the cast read every word of the novel in an epic and highly acclaimed theatrical marathon.
05 Nov
Reviews
Review: THE SCREENWRITER’S DAUGHTER at The Leicester Square Theatre
By Phil Willmott Thursday, November 5 2015, 08:03
The screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist and political reactionary, Ben Hecht was an extraordinary man.
Credited or unaccredited he contributed to some of the greatest movies of the golden age of Hollywood including GONE WITH THE WIND, THE FRONT PAGE and SCARFACE. I first became aware of him whilst working on a stage adaptation of SCARFACE and I was struck by the artistry and wit with which he turned the tacky original novel into a shimmering screen play.
04 Nov
Reviews
Review: AS YOU LIKE IT at the National Theatre
By Phil Willmott Wednesday, November 4 2015, 20:49
Shakespeare’s comedy of gender swapping lovers and philosophising in a forest is problematic for modern audiences.
Rosalind and Celia, two princess types fleeing an overbearing duke, escape with the court jester to a forest where the former and overthrown duke hangs out with his witty exiled court. They learn about love by observing the shepherds and via Rosalind disguising herself as a boy and making friends with Orlando, the man she fancies, to help him practice how to chat her up.
01 Nov
Reviews
Review: HUSBANDS AND SONS at the National Theatre
By Phil Willmott Sunday, November 1 2015, 21:44
Celebrated Edwardian novelist, D.H. Lawrence, whose best known works include LADY CHATTERLY’S LOVER, THE RAINBOW and WOMEN IN LOVE also wrote three gritty plays depicting tough life in a mining village at the turn of the last century. They lay unloved and unremarked upon until a revival in the 1960s established them as classics of domestic naturalism.
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