Phil Willmott
22 May
Reviews 
A Second Look at OBSESSION starring Jude Law
By Phil Willmott Monday, May 22 2017, 10:32
Fellow critic Nastazja Domaradzka raved about Ivo Von Hoves production of Obsession starring Jude Law recently so I was delighted to be invited by the Barbican Theatre to the launch of their new season, which included a chance to check it out for myself.
22 May
Reviews
Review: LOVE IN IDLENESS at The Apollo Theatre
By Phil Willmott Monday, May 22 2017, 09:45
Watching Trevor Nunn's funny and fleet-of-foot production of Love in Idleness, a "new" play forged by combining two drafts of an old play written by Terrence Rattigan that's been barely performed, is like a blast from the past.
Until the emergence of angry, radical drama in the 1960s every theatre in the West End would offer variations on its formula - posh people chattering away in posh drawing rooms, with a quick dip into melodramatic peril before leisured wit and privileged are restored. The overarching philosophy of most of this repertoire is summed up when a character quips that there's nothing that can't be overcome with "small talk".
18 May
News
Fall in Love with Matilda
By Phil Willmott Thursday, May 18 2017, 07:06
Everybody loves the musical Matilda. When it opened at the Royal Shakespeare's home theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon even the most pompous critics were besotted calling it the greatest new musical of recent years. Actually it isn't, the musical numbers are fun but beyond the infectious kids song - When I Grow Up - there's nothing anyone will still be singing in ten years time but watching the show is a glorious experience and if you haven't seen it before you'll fall in love with it too. I paid a second visit the other night and fell for its charms all over again.
15 May
Theatre Awards
Meet the musical theatre stars of tomorrow
By Phil Willmott Monday, May 15 2017, 07:30
If you're interested in spotting the hot new musical theatre writers and performers you won't want to miss the forthcoming gala at the Noel Coward Theatre which includes performances from the nominees for The Stephen Sondheim Society's student performer of the year. The afternoon includes the announcement of the winner, both of this and a song writing prize set up by Styles and Drewe. You can hear a selection of the competing songs too.
14 May
New Shows
Natalie Dormer switches from Thrones to Fur
By Phil Willmott Sunday, May 14 2017, 20:12
It's been announced that Natalie Dormer, who's utterly magnificent in TV's Game of Thrones, will be returning to the stage in a new production of Venus in Fur which previously had a short but attention-grabbing run on Broadway. She'll be playing an actress who, one rainy night, bursts in on a director insisting he auditions her for the lead role in a play about sadomasochistic sex based on the 1870 novel Venus In Fur by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.
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