atmosphere of psychological intensity

powerful and emotional

Laura Irwin on curating the exhibition

Superb drama of growing pains and sexual confusion

A strong and polished production of Lucy Prebble’s debut play which hits differently in 2020

Witty and engaging, this play reflects many of the issues still affecting society today.

Full of sass and dripping in attitude

Zoe Cooper’s Jess and Joe Forever, premiered in 2016, was my favourite show of the year. An exuberant hit of sweet, sticky romcom, and a nourishing examination of class, gender and rural English life, it fizzed with the joy of potential: both for the lives of its eponymous protagonists and the power of telling their story. Returning to the round of the Orange Tree Theatre, Cooper’s latest, Out of Water, revisits these themes and introduces us to a new trio ...

What can a play tell us about the world – more than half a century after its debut? I may as well ask why people still watch Shakespeare, but in the case of recent history, I always find myself wondering. Why now? Much like the Bard, it seems that racism will, sadly, always be relevant. Blood Knot is a play about apartheid in South Africa. Athol Fugard’s play about two brothers, one black, one white, premiered in 1961, one year ...

Pros: A hilarious, touching, emotional ride through contemporary social and sexual mores Cons: None A bare, carpeted stage with a circular bed dead centre. As the lights go up, a couple are having energetic, enthusiastic sex beneath a pink satin eiderdown. All we can see of him are his lower legs, his underpants dangling from an ankle; all we can see of her as she sits astride him is the giant mouse costume that covers her from head to foot. ...