It feels like there’s a dearth of original material being produced right now. Everything is a remake of an old classic. Dolly Alderton is adapting yet another version of Pride & Prejudice, HBO are creating a new Harry Potter TV series, and Christopher Nolan is making a film of Homer’s Odyssey. On the West End, it’s revivals aplenty. Romeo and Juliet is on at the Harold Pinter theatre, while Aaron Sorkin’s 2018 adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird has returned for a second run.
At the Critics’ Circle Theatre awards this week, Ivo van Hove’s production of All My Sons was crowned the best revival. But for actor Paapa Essiedu, who played George in the production, you need to have a good excuse to bring back an old classic. “I personally don’t think there is any need to ever revive a play unless there’s a reason to,” he said at a Q&A for an NT Live screening of the production. “I think you should only revive a play if it speaks to the moment in a way that feels relevant.” Essiedu explained that Arthur Miller’s 1947 classic is about a man who profiteers from young men going to war – “you don’t have to look very far to see the resonance.” Has he seen any other good revivals of it? “I’ve actually also seen it in Catalan,” he said. “I don’t speak Catalan but my friends in Barcelona are actors, and they did a production there that was also brilliant – I assume.” The play will soon be shown in cinemas through NT Live.
Meanwhile, the grand hall of the private school Westminster was the unlikely venue for designer Kent&Curwen’s 100th anniversary show. Actors Emma Appleton, Jack Fox and William Franklyn Miller went along. In another odd pairing, Robert Pattinson is the new face of 1664 lager. He told the crowd at the campaign launch in King’s Cross that it’s been his “favourite beer since I was probably too young to drink it”. Handy!
Swedish singer Robyn made a surprise appearance at DJ Jodie Harsh’s club night, Feel It, at XOYO in Shoreditch to launch her new album, Sexistential. She performed the titular track, which contains excellent lyrics like “scrolling my feed while breastfeeding”, while straddling the barriers at the front of the dance pit.
