Young Marx

by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman

seen at the Bridge Theatre on 20 December 2017

Nicholas Hytner directs Rory Kinnear as Karl Marx, Nancy Carroll as Jenny von Westphalen, Oliver Chris as Friedrich Engels and Laura Elphinstone as Helene Dumuth in this inaugural production of the Bridge Theatre situated in one of the new developments on the south-west side of Tower Bridge.

The play concentrates on the early years of Marx's life in London when he and his wife Jenny and four children (in the play, only two) and Helene Dumuth were living in a two-room flat in Dean Street Soho. Though some events have been 're-arranged' so that they can appear within this setting and time frame, the scenes presented in the play are essentially 'true', though at the same time the playwrights have noticed the farcical elements of the situation and have consequently emphasised Marx's larrikin nature as a young man.

My Country; a work in progress

prepared by Carol Ann Duffy

seen at the National Theatre (Dorfman) on 1 March 2017

Rufus Norris directs Penny Layden (Britannia), Stuart McQuarrie (Caledonia), Adam Ewan (South-West), Christian Patterson (Cymru), Seema Bowri (East Midlands), Cavan Clarke (Northern Ireland) and Laura Elphinstone (North-East) in a play comprising verbatim interviews with dozens of people in the various regions of the UK (pointedly excluding London and the South-East, apart from some politicians' statements spoken by Britannia) in relation to the Brexit referendum, with framing and connecting pieces by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

The play opens with Britannia calling the regions together for a meeting "as she always does" at critical moments of history - some previous occasions are referred to, going back to the fourteenth century. As the representatives of six regions arrive they bustle and chatter, the tensions between them veering between relaxed chaffing and more serious confrontation; Britannia is like a convener somewhat weary of the bickering. 

Jane Eyre

based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë

seen at the National Theatre (Lyttleton) on 25 October 2015

The company under director Sally Cookson devised this theatrical adaptation originally in two parts for the Bristol Old Vic, but further work has reduced it to one part for the version at the National. it features Madeleine Worrall as Jane Eyre, with Felix Hayes as Rochester and Melanie Marshall as Bertha Mason. Craig Edwards, Laura Elphinstone, Simone Saunders and Maggie Tagney take all the other parts, supported by three musicians. The set is designed by Michael Vale.