Juan Mayorga might have been a crime writer in another life, he loves to set up complex, menacing conceits that explore behaviour on the fringes of criminality. What constitutes right? How far does context determine what is acceptable? La colección (The Collection) presented at Madrid’s Teatro de La Abadía, the theatre Mayorga now runs, is no exception. This is a piece about art and value, about what we own and why we own it. Mayorga directs his own play with a clinical precision in terms of language and word play. Alessio Meloni designs a set that accentuates the associations of this former ..read more

Seeing a play you much admired five years ago for a third time isn’t always sensible. Will it be as good as you remember it? I saw Jauría, Jordi Casanovas’ verbatim play based on the case of la manada twice in 2019 and found myself writing about its impact across different fora. Based on the rape trial that galvanised women across Spain to take to the streets in protest at the country’s antiquated rape laws, the production played to full houses, touring extensively across Spain and beyond with an accompanying education programme. The case of la manada shocked the nation with an impact that is ..read more

Europa jest wielojęzyczna. Europe – as a geopolitical concept, its residents, communities, and countries – is a multilingual space where people communicate in multiple languages such as Polish Sign Language, Ukrainian, Arabic, Tamazight, Spanish, Sami, Greek, and Shelta. These languages may arise from ethnicity, a country, or a region but also from disability contexts. They interact within multiple physical, geographical, socio-political, and virtual spaces. In my book Multilingual Dramaturgies: Towards New European Theatre (Palgrave, 2024), I study what possibilities these linguistic interac ..read more

Milan’s international multidisciplinary performance art festival FOG, featuring theatre, music, and dance, is at its seventh edition. The brainchild of the Triennale theatre’s artistic director Umberto Angelini, the program includes the work of cutting-edge groups from all over the world, without forgetting innovative Italian practitioners. The festival name, FOG, denotes the blurring of the boundaries among the arts and the difficulty encountered by many critics to carry out an exegesis. In an interview with Bianca Ramponi, Angelini’s assistant director, she pointed out the way their shows a ..read more

An Interview with Kostas Kapodistrias – Theatre actor and director, theatre manager/founder of Theatro Tsi Zakithos, Zakynthos, Greece One of the most authentic, inspiring and human great acting personalities in contemporary Greek theatres – He was born in Vanato, Zakynthos. Graduate of the Drama School of Vassilis Ritsos. He has acted and directed the works: Comedy of the pseudo-doctors by Savoya Rousmeli, Paper Player by M. Chourmouzis, Hassis by D. Gouzelis, La Mosqueta of Roujante, Georges Dandin by Molière, Little Prince of Antoine du Saint-Exupéry, Mandragoras of N. Machiavelli, Can’t P ..read more

“What kind of service do submarines provide?” asks the machine’s captain, Ricky Martin. “Silent service” is the proper answer. It is nearly the dénouement of Cayenne Douglass’s Maiden Voyage, and the Captain’s rhetoric encompasses this story beautifully. For what else could “silent service” symbolize than the historical plight of women? Maiden Voyage is the story of seven attempting to thwart that silence, becoming the first women-only submarine mission in US Navy history. The Captain, Ace, Dot.Com, Sledge, Twinkle Toes, Scooby, and Esmeralda are locked in tight quarters for 70 days; each has ..read more

The question of universality faces entire series of utterly new answers, but not all of them find a place or are given a form to be exhibited on stage, as it is frequently mistaken for relatability. The personal dilemmas of the young adult, struggling with societal expectations and not yet being able to see the world through the eyes of a more mature generation, did, however, see the limelight. Written and directed by Mallika Shah, produced by Meghana AT, and brought to the audiences by tafreehwale, in collaboration with NCPA Mumbai, I Killed My Mother/It Wasn’t My Fault plays with more than ..read more

There are a number of firsts in the new Teatro Real production triple bill that brings together Francis Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (1959), adapted from Jean Cocteau’s 1930 play, and Arnold Schönberg’s Erwartung (1924) with a new piece cowritten by director Christof Loy and Almodóvar regular, the actress Rossy de Palma. These are two operatic shorts that are rarely paired, different in tone and musical style, but their programming makes great sense in that both are concerned with unrequited love that turns sour with grave consequences on the protagonists’ sanity. A single room of high white wal ..read more

When Chenura Trust a Zimbabwean media company announced that they were working on a theatrical performance titled Haywire which was going to be centered around mental health issues, initial thoughts were dismissive. I was reluctant to the idea of witnessing another performance on such an important matter that would follow the usual storyline of troubled souls that eventually find solace from their ills without providing details on the characters’ innermost conflicts. However, the premiere night for Haywire at Jason Mphepho Little Theatre in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare, progressed in the ..read more

Susanne Kennedy doesn’t do things by half. When she creates a world, it has its own logic, its own rules, its own ethos. It’s not a world of participation but one where the audience are invited to watch but always slightly distanced from the stage action.  Here working with visual artist Markus Selg — both share responsibility for the concept, she directs and he designs — she creates a new piece, touring since last summer, centring on the rituals and routines of a social influencer, Angela, who creates videos to post on YouTube. She films herself repeatedly – perhaps one of the strange ..read more