Affair of the Heart

"The best theatrical read of the year." - British Theatre Guide A book of selected theatre reviews from 1992 to 2020 from one of the foremost authorities on British theatre. Each chapter starts with a brief commentary on the developments of that era and the social, political and cultural context within which British theatre was being produced. Key obituaries and letters in response to reviews written are also included, providing a rich collection of curated archival material. Following on from his first collection, One Night Stands, Michael Billington's chronicle offers a rich, authoritative insight into British theatre over the last 3 decades from his unique professional perspective. It begins with Tony Kushner's UK premiere of Angels in America at the National Theatre in 1992 and culminates with Inua Ellams's celebrated adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the same venue almost 30 years later. En route, we're exposed to the fallibility of theatre criticism through his much-regretted original criticism of Sarah Kane's Blasted and its role in identifying major talents at the first opportunity. Having recently retired from his 48-year position as the Guardian newspaper's drama critic during which time he wrote around 10,000 theatre reviews, Michael Billiington was Britain's longest-serving theatre critic. Through his work, he was present at an eye-watering number of premieres during this time and witnessed first-hand the exciting developments in British theatre over the past 30 years and the substantial pressures it faced - never more so than today.

Michael Billington

Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1. Towards the End of the Millennium: 1992-9 1992 Angels in America Faith Healer Moby Dick The Rise and Fall of Little Voice 1993 Is there Life after Deptford? 400 Years since the Death of Christopher Marlowe Arcadia Moonlight Cabaret 1994 The Atheist's Tragedy Footfalls John Gielgud: a celebration of his 90th birthday The Queen and I/Road Measure for Measure Pentecost The Life and Legacy of John Osborne 1995 Blasted Letters to the Editor about Blasted Dealer's Choice Skylight The Importance of Being Earnest/ Private Lives Mojo 1996 Shakespeare on Screen The Beauty Queen of Leenane Divine Right Hedda Gabler Ashes to Ashes 1997 Bird and Fortune Ivanov A Six-Point Plan for Theatre Playhouse Creatures Blue Heart The Weir 1998 An Experiment With An Air Pump Naked Cleansed Copenhagen The Merchant of Venice/As You Like It Via Dolorosa 1999 The Colour Of Justice Lift Off 71 House and Garden Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants Mnemonic Noel Coward Centenary 2. Hopes of Renewal: 2000-9 2000 The Island Celebration/The Room Richard II Blue/Orange 4.48 Psychosis The Bogus Woman Is there a Crisis in Black Theatre? 2001 A Raisin in the Sun Alive From Palestine Mother Clap's Molly House The Seagull No Man's Land 2002 The York Realist Up For Grabs The Marriage of Figaro Frozen The Coast of Utopia Joan Littlewood A Number 2003 Iphigenia Henry V Fallout The Elephant Vanishes Iain Duncan Smith's Leader's Speech at the Conservative Party Conference The Sugar Syndrome Cut-Price Shakespeare Lear's Daughters 2004 The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? When Harry Met Sally Endgame Festen Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads Guantanamo Stuff Happens Thou shalt not cough Don Carlos 2005 Professor Bernhardi Mammals Is the Fashion for the 90-minute Play suffocating Dramatists? Elmina's Kitchen Talking to Terrorists Death of a Salesman Blackbird The Wild Duck 2006 Nights at the Circus Resurrection Blues The Clean House Rock 'N' Roll Frost/Nixon A Moon for the Misbegotten Krapp's Last Tape 2007 The Seagull Black Watch King Lear Macbeth The Crisis in West End Theatre Noughts and Crosses 2008 Tribute to Paul Scofield 1922-2008 Gone With the Wind The English Game The Pitmen Painters Her Naked Skin Hamlet Breaking the Rules: Leading Article on Harold Pinter Tribute to Harold Pinter 2009 Be Near Me Death and the King's Horseman The Arts in the 1980s: Reflections on Theatre under Margaret Thatcher The Great Game: Afghanistan The Contingency Plan Jerusalem Enron Critic's Notebook 3. Bright Spots in the Lost Decade: 2010-19 2010 Off the Endz Sweet Nothings Ruined Religion and Theatre The Persians The Game Onassis Men Should Weep 2011 What's Wrong with Spoilers? The League of Youth The Merchant of Venice truth and reconciliation Othello Tribute to Shelagh Delaney Foxfinder The Animals and Children Took to the Streets 2012 Signs of Second-Rate Plays Julius Caesar Ten Billion Three Sisters This House All That Fall Red Velvet The Effect 2013 The Audience Chimerica A Season in the Congo Handbagged The Scottsboro Boys 50 Years of The National Theatre 2014 Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins King Charles III Khandan (Family) Wonderland Ballyturk The James Plays Gypsy 2015 Oppenheimer The Hard Problem Nicholas Hytner's 12-year-reign as Director of the National Lampedusa The Trial Hamlet Hangmen Tribute to Brian Friel Elf the Musical 2016 Escaped Alone Cleansed Hamlet The Flick 246 Sixty Years of the Royal Court Why Shakespeare lives on 400 Years after his Death Father Comes Home from the Wars Oil The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism King Lear 2017 Hamlet Consent The Ferryman An Octoroon Barber Shop Chronicles Donald Trump and Shakespeare Fatherland Girl From The North Country Tribute to Sir Peter Hall Albion Ken Dodd at 90 2018 The Inheritance The Writer Nine Night Red The Jungle The Lehman Trilogy Caryl Churchill at 80 Company The Watsons Sweat 2019 Our Lady of Kibeho Rutherford and Son Betrayal Kunene and the King Small Island Romersholm Ian McKellen The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil Fleabag A Very Expensive Poison Three Sisters Letter to Oliver Dowden in The Guardian Index