Reviews by Joanna Matthews
Bicycle Boy
Joanna Matthews
Sam (Neil Urquhart) and his brother Mike (Clark Alexander) used to love playing at Bicycle Boy and Pedal Power when they were kids; encouraged by their Grandad who ran a bike shop, they appreciated ...
4 years ago
Bicycle Boy
Clod Ensemble: On The High Road
Joanna Matthews
Inspired by a Chehkov play about a group of travellers at an inn on a wild stormy night, On the High Road is part dance, part live music performance in three acts, presented to us by an ensemble of ...
6 years ago
Clod Ensemble: On The High Road
Aladdin
Joanna Matthews
A good panto is like a favourite supper of fish and chips, spaghetti Bolognese or Chicken Tikka Massala - you look forward to what you know and don’t appreciate anyone tinkering with the recipe. ...
6 years ago
Aladdin
Castaways
Joanna Matthews
Castaways by Atiha Sen Gupta is a new piece of writing which touches on Englishness, cultural loyalty and belonging – or not belonging – seen through the eyes of three young and exuberant ...
7 years ago
Castaways
The Depraved Appetite of Tarrare the Freak
Joanna Matthews
Wattle and Daub Theatre, a young company from Bristol, have found the tale of Tarrare, a fugitive from an eighteenth century Parisian so-called freak show, and turned it into a theatrical event. It ...
8 years ago
The Depraved Appetite of Tarrare the Freak
Butterfly
Joanna Matthews
If you read the programme before seeing the show you might think this was going to be a tough night out, a bit of grim alternative to cosying up at home in the safety of your own sofa. For Butterfly ...
8 years ago
Butterfly
In the Republic of Happiness
Joanna Matthews
Martin Crimp's 2012 play about unfulfilment in a society that wants everything and wants it now has been revived by a young student company at the Burton Taylor as an accomplished piece of theatre. ...
8 years ago
In the Republic of Happiness
Mandolirium
Joanna Matthews
The last Sunday of the month is fast becoming the evening to keep free if you want to hear good acoustic music in Oxford. The White Hart in Wolvercote, now a community pub, is hosting Oxfordshire ...
8 years ago
Mandolirium
Spine
Joanna Matthews
Spine is the story of two women; feisty misunderstood teenage Amy and elderly socialist warrior Glenda. On paper these two seem unlikely to make a go of it as friends but Glenda's family history and ...
8 years ago
Spine
Love's Labour's Lost
Joanna Matthews
Love's Labour's Lost does not have the most frequent appearances on the Oxford summer outdoor stage but it is one of Shakespeare's more subtle comedies and in this production by Oxford Shakespeare ...
8 years ago
Love's Labour's Lost
The Complete Deaths
Joanna Matthews
The Complete Deaths is an evening in the theatre which works really hard to have something for everyone in the audience, and mostly succeeds. Adapted by writer/performer Tim Crouch and developed into ...
9 years ago
The Complete Deaths
Toast
Joanna Matthews
Richard Bean is now rightly famous as one of the UK's finest modern playwrights. Award-winning productions such as Great Britain and One Man, Two Guvnors have cemented his reputation as a dramatist ...
9 years ago
Toast
Lee Raven - Boy Thief
Joanna Matthews
Lee Raven, Boy Thief is a much-loved children’s book here brought convincingly to life by the dynamic Pegasus 11-15 Drama Group. Part adapted and part devised by the company, this is a tale which ...
10 years ago
Lee Raven - Boy Thief
Mermaid
Joanna Matthews
Mermaid is an enchanting weave of physical theatre, dance and story-telling deftly brought together in this latest production from Shared Experience. It is important that theatre companies are still ...
10 years ago
Mermaid
Macbeth
Joanna Matthews
This is a stripped down Macbeth in every sense. No set, the black brick of the Playhouse back wall exposed, costumes which look like every day casual wear in muted greys and blacks, using only the ...
10 years ago
Macbeth
Light
Joanna Matthews
Light is a technically absorbing piece of theatre. In a performing space draped in black the audience sit in total darkness transfixed by a fast paced light show. Torches and ‘light sabres’ click ...
10 years ago
Light
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
Joanna Matthews
A fascinating discussion about inspiration, character development, themes and genres between Andrew Taylor, crime writer and historical novelist, and Nicolette Jones (critic and chair of the St ...
11 years ago
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
Joanna Matthews
An engaging hour; Jill Dawson, novelist and creative writing teacher, was interviewed by the festival’s academic director, Professor Jem Poster, about her new work, The Tell-Tale Heart.
It ...
11 years ago
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
Joanna Matthews
In the Corpus Christi auditorium, multi-award-winning Irish novelist Sebastian Barry was interviewed by journalist and television presenter Dame Joan Bakewell about his latest book, The Temporary ...
11 years ago
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
Joanna Matthews
Carolyne Larrington and Diane Purkiss are both Oxford academics; Larrington is a fellow and tutor in Medieval English at St John’s College; Purkiss a fellow and English tutor at Keble College. ...
11 years ago
FT Weekend: Oxford Literary Festival
The Play That Goes Wrong
Joanna Matthews
The Play That Goes Wrong is anything but, being a masterclass in perfectly executed physical comedy and spot on timing. This technically complex piece is delivered by a slick company very adept at ...
11 years ago
The Play That Goes Wrong
3 Legendary Rock'n'Roll Tours
Joanna Matthews
This was a night of nostalgia at the New Theatre, as a talented group of musicians recreated the teenage hits of the late ‘50s and had the audience dancing in the aisles. The Winter Dance ...
11 years ago
3 Legendary Rock'n'Roll Tours
Father Christmas And The Icicle Bicycle
Joanna Matthews
A very children friendly show pedals into the Burton Taylor studio just in time for the Christmas holidays. Eta and Erb are bicycle workshop elves who have millions of bicycles to build for Santa to ...
11 years ago
Father Christmas And The Icicle Bicycle
Kathryn Tickell & the Side
Joanna Matthews
Kathryn Tickell, virtuoso of the Northumbrian pipes and a pretty mean fiddler, has brought together a folk-classical ensemble "The Side", comprising Louisa Tuck (cello), Ruth Wall (harp) ...
11 years ago
Kathryn Tickell & the Side
To Sir With Love
Joanna Matthews
A play with a real feel-good factor, To Sir With Love, explores how a willingness to learn can transform the lives of teacher and pupils alike. The setting is post-war Stepney, the east end of ...
11 years ago
To Sir With Love
Ciphers
Joanna Matthews
Justine works for the British intelligence services. She may also work for the Russian secret service too, but we are not sure. She is very good at languages (how many English people are fluent in ...
11 years ago
Ciphers
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Joanna Matthews
Crace and Sutherland were in lively form on Friday morning and although billed as a talk on sex and marriage as represented in Literature (the sort with a capital L, by which we know we mean serious ...
12 years ago
Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2013
Rutherford & Son
Joanna Matthews
First performed 101 years ago, Rutherford & Sons received universally rave reviews in London and New York and its playwright, KG Sowerby, gained notoriety because of her gender. Her subject ...
12 years ago
Rutherford & Son
Quiz Night At The Britannia
Joanna Matthews
Do you know who won the Derby in 1992 or which politician made the memorable quote about lies, damn lies and statistics? If you did and a smug smile crossed your lips or you were driven to look ...
13 years ago
Quiz Night At The Britannia
Richard II
Joanna Matthews
This wasn’t just a performance of a Shakespeare classic. This was a performance in Palestinian Arabic, brought to the UK as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, in the Globe to Globe season ...
13 years ago
Richard II
