This Is London 5 April 2019

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16 © Michael Brosilow. DOWNSTATE Dorfman The consequences of a crime can last a life time – and not just for the victim. In Bruce Norris’s provocative new play (a co-production between Steppenwolf and the National Theatre which premiered in Chicago last year) Tim Hopper’s Andy, who was sexually abused as a 12 year old, has come, 30 years later, to confront the man who ruined his childhood, and his life, hoping that a reconciliation statement will finally give him closure. Fred (Francis Guinan), his former piano teacher, is mild-mannered, seemingly harmless and now confined to a wheelchair. Yet there is something creepily, subtly coercive about this Chopin-playing old man. Like the three former prisoners with whom he shares a house in downstate Illinois, he has served his jail sentence, but still fails to acknowledge the wrongness – or the extent of the damage caused by – past behaviour. Ankle–tagged and on the sex offenders register, they are all banned from using smart phones or the internet, or crossing defined local boundaries. It’s a brave subject to tackle – audience sympathy is automatically with the victim. But Norris (who wrote the multi award-winning Clybourne Park) takes us inside the heads of these men who will probably be ostracised for life, making each one an individual, from Glenn Davis’s obnoxiously loudmouthed Gio (his ‘Level 1’ crime the statutory rape of a girl who lied about her age) to reclusive Felix (Eddie Torres) who breaks down in tears because he is forbidden to communicate with the daughter he abused yet professes to care about deeply. Then there’s the excellent K Todd Freeman’s elderly African American Dee, once a show biz performer who still maintains that his long-lasting sexual relationship with a 14 year old boy on tour (when he himself was 37) was love. Pam MacKinnon’s first rate production grips (uncomfortably) from start to finish. It has its moments of humour, but, as Cecilia Noble’s weary, seen-it-all, gun-toting parole officer Ivy knows – there are no easy solutions to this disturbing and contentious matter. Louise Kingsley DAVID BLAINE TAKES HIS MAGIC ON THE ROAD Having revolutionised modern magic and mesmerised audiences unlike any performer in history, magician, illusionist and stunt artist, David Blaine is to embark on his first-ever UK and Ireland tour. Blaine’s one-man show brings his unique brand of entertainment, promising to be an unforgettable interactive experience that both shocks and amazes. An experiment in and of itself, his perfomance combines his world-famous sleight of hand with his death-defying endurance acts. Blaine was buried alive in a clear coffin in New York City for one week. The following year he stood inside a six-ton block of ice for 63 hours with no food or sleep. Blaine endured 44 days of starvation inside a glass box suspended by a crane near the River Thames in <strong>London</strong>. In 2006, he lived underwater for a week in a sphere shaped aquarium at thLincoln Centre in New York City. He then attempted to break the world record for breath holding, resulting in emergency divers pulling him out to save his life. t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g a z i n e • t h i s i s l o n d o n o n l i n e
THIS ‘ IS THE SHOW WE ALL NEED RIGHT NOW ’ nick Curtis , the Sunday Times THE NEW MUSICAL BASED ON A REMARKABLE TRUE STORY COME FROM AWAY. Book, Music and Lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Musical Staging by Kelly Devine. Directed by Christopher Ashley. NOW PLAYING AT THE PHOENIX THEATRE COMEFROMAWAY.CO.UK
Page 1: 63 Years Informing International &
Page 4: 4 SIR ANDY MURRAY TO START 2019 VIR
Page 7 and 8: SUSAN CALMAN VOICE OF NEW CALEDONIA
Page 9 and 10: ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA PLAYS MEN
Page 11 and 12: CELEBRATING MOZART’S WOMEN! This
Page 14 and 15: 14 Vincent van Gogh - Self-portrait
Page 18 and 19: 18 JAC YARROW’S PROFESSIONAL STAG
Page 20 and 21: 20 PLAYS TWILIGHT ZONE Adapted by A
Page 22: 22 FUNICULAR’S ‘THE MURDÉR EXP

This Is London 5 April 2019

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