Review: Some Explicit Polaroids, LAMDA at Linbury Studio

An excellent production of Mark Ravenhill’s hard-hitting play about sexual politics. LAMDA can find some period works a bit difficult but every contemporary play I’ve seen them tackle has been good (and they can be very good with Shakespeare too). As always, the actors are rather young to play some of the parts (and they don’t mess around with talcum powder in their hair or painted wrinkles). However, relative ages soon become clear and the play powers along demonstrating what an excellent playwright Ravenhill can be. Not or the faint hearted though – this is definitely unsuitable for children.

I am not sure what logic LAMDA use in deciding where to stage which productions but this certainly benefited from the intimate space of the Linbury studio. There are two plays at the studio and three at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith until 6th June and more to come in July. They are all free but do make a donation – they deserve it!

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Review: The Prisoner’s Dilemma, LAMDA at Linbury Studio

It is difficult to believe this was not a professional production. The excellent play by David Edgar is a gripping analysis of attempts to bring peace to a post-Soviet country loosely based on Yugoslavia. It is mostly talk, but punctuated by one very dramatic scene. I have previously seen LAMDA in commercial theatres such as the Lyric and Riverside Studios but this was in the small studio (previously Royal Ballet rehearsal studio) at LAMDA itself, taking the audience right into the action. I am reluctant to single out any one performance as they were all so good!