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David Jays

@mrdavidjays.bsky.social
247 followers 181 following 154 posts

Writer and editor on theatre, dance. Guardian, London Standard, Dance Gazette, Why Dance Matters podcast.

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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Finally, a piece exploring youth dance in London, which I thought would become pessimistic (because funding, infrastructure) but the enthusiasm and smarts of the youngers are infectious www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
The battle to keep London's youth dancing
The landscape for youth dance is uncertain, but a few strong voices and organisations are continuing to push for its teaching as a transformative performing art
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Also kind of loved this batshit crazy show last week www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Anyway here's my latest tabloid dance gubbins - on Aakash Odedra's throbbingly vivid Songs of the Bulbul www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Songs of the Bulbul at Sadler’s Wells East review: tumultuous and cinematic
With chords crashing and vocals soaring, it feels like a finale erupts every five minutes
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
"I love your dance reviews," said someone at the theatre last night. "They’re so tabloid!" Which is... thank you?
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Reposted by David Jays
Lazarus Theatre Company @lazarustheatre.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
‘I would go-go dance in a shower then work on sonnets!’ Ncuti Gatwa’s sexy new Shakespearean drama Cheeky Gatwa talks to David Jays in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘I would go-go dance in a shower then work on sonnets!’ Ncuti Gatwa’s sexy new Shakespearean drama
After surviving the whirlwind of Doctor Who, the actor returns to the stage in ‘horny Elizabethan drama’ Born With Teeth. He and co-star Edward Bluemel discuss bust lips, hot pants and queering the Ba...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Elliot Levey is a terrific actor - and such a lovely writer. This is so good on sharing the stage with Michael Gambon's Falstaff: "It got to the point where I was permanently wet, we all were. Michael would throw a water bomb at me as I walked on stage." www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
The play that changed my life: ‘Michael Gambon’s offstage anarchy as Falstaff made the show better’
When Elliot Levey was cast in Henry IV, Parts One and Two, he didn’t expect water-bombing, corpsing and a character redefined by new teeth
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
So this was fun: spoke to Ncuti Gatwa & Edward Bluemel about queering the classics, the best level of fame and Ncuti's student gig as a go-go dancer. (And a bit of Doctor Who obvs) www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘I would go-go dance in a shower then work on sonnets!’ Ncuti Gatwa’s sexy new Shakespearean drama
After surviving the whirlwind of Doctor Who, the actor returns to the stage in ‘horny Elizabethan drama’ Born With Teeth. He and co-star Edward Bluemel discuss bust lips, hot pants and queering the Ba...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Everything Sam Knight writes is golden. He's gleefully good on Jack Draper: "In person, he is large-limbed but contained. He is a jock who might have got a little fucked up last night but is now being polite to someone’s parents. (He might also be about to eat the contents of their fridge.)"
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Marie Phillips @mariephillips.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Wonderful review from @mrdavidjays.bsky.social of Intimate Apparel at the Donmar - who tells me he would have liked to have been able to mention the magnificent costumes by Alex Berry, as well as praise for the entire cast, but word count forbad. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Intimate Apparel review – Lynn Nottage’s exquisitely stitched tale of a seamstress’s dreams
Samira Wiley is superb as a corset-maker who embroiders dreams for herself and others in Lynette Linton’s tremendous production
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
This Bitter Earth review: every scene ends in a strop or a snog & Billy Porter's production presses down hard on the pedals www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
This Bitter Earth review – fighting and flirting in a wild ride steered by Billy Porter
There is crackling chemistry in Harrison David Rivers’ two-hander starring Omari Douglas and Alexander Lincoln
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
LOVED Intimate Apparel. Lynette Linton is a wonderful director of actors - performances in her shows are always warm and ample. A company of talents surpass themselves, in a show rich with care. Loved it. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Intimate Apparel review – Lynn Nottage’s exquisitely stitched tale of a seamstress’s dreams
Samira Wiley is superb as a corset-maker who embroiders dreams for herself and others in Lynette Linton’s tremendous production
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
We saw Elton from afar, not to mention Dame Penelope Wilton: a good night for star spotting at Quadrophenia, but the real dazzle was on stage www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet at Sadler's Wells review: 'you can’t look away'
A glittering opening night for The Who’s ballet included a star-making performance from Paris Fitzpatrick
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Dream Ballets at the Open Air was a lovely idea: pairing serious dance talent to lush Rodgers & Hammerstein. But still can't work out how/why all 3 choreographers staged versions of the same limiting scenario www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill at Regents Park review: flawed but endearing
This collation of ballets from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s game-changing musicals is packed with treats, but still feels diluted
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Loved revisiting Theatr Clwyd to see the redeveloped theatre (had a hard hat tour, a day out doesn’t get better than this). And Tick, tick... boom! is a punchy opening show - a statement of intent about the urgent necessity of making art www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Tick, tick … Boom! review – a triumphant shout for theatrical ambition
Performed and designed with gusto, Jonathan Larson’s zippy musical about creative passion is a fitting show to relaunch this cherished Welsh stage
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
In Matthew Bourne's The Midnight Bell, everyone drinks so much you may feel slightly squiffy yourself. It's furtive glances, dire couplings and blotto all the way to bedtime www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
The Midnight Bell at Sadler’s Wells review: a splendidly seedy dance drama
Matthew Bourne peers into the aching hearts frequenting a seedy 1930s pub in his production’s latest work
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Reposted by David Jays
Niamh Ní Longáin (pronounced ‘Knee-uv’) @niamhie.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Bush theatre in blue hour rain #blueskymonday
Buildings and Lime bikes and bush theatre sign and cats with headlights in background
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
We used to see a load of Robert Lepage shows in London. This Macbeth doesn't sound great, but still makes me want to see more of his boggling sense of stage design
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Also! I met lord of the theatre poster Bob King. Enjoyed hearing about strong graphic design, and even more about the dog which got sent home in a taxi when his owner went on to the theatre www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
theguardian.com
From nude Harry Potter to a scribbled Hitler: meet the man behind theatre’s most eye-grabbing posters
He created the iconic Phantom of the Opera mask, made Daniel Radcliffe go topless and even had his Führer design banned on the tube. Theatreland’s go-to graphic artist Bob King talks us through his bo...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Reviewed flamenco diva Sara Baras at Sadler's Wells. Phenomenal footwork and a beast of a curtain call that is quite possibly still going on www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Excited to see The Frogs - you should get a badge every time you add an unseen Sondheim to your list. It's not great, but it's Sondheim www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
theguardian.com
‘Please don’t fart, this is art’ – Stephen Sondheim’s musical The Frogs review
A droll Dionysos, an ab-obsessed himbo and a waddling ballet for goggle-clad frogs can’t outshine Sondheim’s songs in this rarely seen version of the ancient Greek satire
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Review catch up - Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre, choreographed by Cathy Marston, is slightly overstuffed - but reminded me of happy days bunking off to read the novel (adult David would never etc) www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Jane Eyre at Sadler’s Wells: 'thickets of men blunt the emotional force'
Northern Ballet’s take on Jane Eyre is faithful to the book but is a little over-stuffed
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Had a delightful chat with Crystal Pite - still giggling at the genius choreographer insisting she really REALLY doesn't like choreographing www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Probably the world's greatest choreographer does not like choreographing
Crystal Pite is in demand around the world for her visceral, epic work but for the Canadian artist, the demands of creation means the journey to success can be a struggle
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
One of the most emotional interviews I've done in a while - with the brilliant choreographer & movement director Coral Messam, on Stranger Things, Steve McQueen & the stroke that changed everything www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/m...
theguardian.com
‘I was on the top of the world. Then I couldn’t walk’: go-to choreographer Coral Messam
She had just finished working with Steve McQueen and was starting on the Stranger Things stage show when she had a stroke. But the movement director is determined to come back stronger
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Review! Fun was had at the opening night of Breakin'Convention - especially the entranced young ones next to me, starting solemn then bobbing & whooping with the best www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells review: a bank holiday bonanza
The street dance festival kicked off with a high octane dance battle for Fierce Friday
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Three-headed creativity, angry sweat-drenched dance, plus the easiest pitch of my career - I meet (La)Horde as they collab with Rambert www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
France's edgiest dance collective hits the Southbank: 'this is the energy of now'
Britain’s leading contemporary dance company Rambert are bringing over ultra-cool French collective (La) Horde for the first in a series of cutting edge collaborations
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Rutgers Law School @law.rutgers.edu · 05/05/2025
The (not-so) secret lives of #RutgersLaw lawyers👏
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
It was a delight to chat ballet with Christina for Why Dance Matters - and especially her reflections on dance class as a sanctuary in turbulent times and on ballet as a model for civil society. Love it when non-dance pros bring unexpected perspectives and experiences to the podcast.
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
REVIEW It’s only Torvill & Dean! Art and cheese skate arm in arm here, but they keep it classy www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/a...
theguardian.com
Torvill & Dean: Our Last Dance review – Olympic champs’ classy glide down memory lane
This highlight reel of totemic routines interspersed with some dazzling cast numbers showcases the couple’s former greatness and timeless elegance
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
REVIEW I had the best time at The Forsythe Programme (ENB @sadlerswells.bsky.social) - exhilarating experiment and wall-to-wall panache. I could watch Playlist every day and never lose this goofy grin www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
The Forsythe Programme at Sadler’s Wells: cerebral and sassy
American choreographer Forsythe’s triple bill at English National Ballet is a triumph of experimentation and fun
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
REVIEW Holly Blakey's new double bill. Raw and febrile, and the moves come at you with dizzying speed. www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Holly Blakey at Queen Elizabeth Hall review: a glinting fever review
This marmite choreographer serves up raw, dirty and dizzying moves in her latest double bill
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Theatre pals, the 3rd ep of @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social is an ace dive into London's Yiddish theatre (with exuberant @davidschneider.bsky.social). Loved the rambunctious energy & hearing Shylock in Yiddish (my mum remembered a Yiddish Merchant of Venice; her best friend recalled Yiddish Strindberg!)
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Big podcast recommend for the fascinating @cockneyyiddish.bsky.social. Shifting language, radical protest, saucy new lives, songs and stories (read wonderfully by Miriam Margolyes & Nick Cassenbaum): and that's just the first 2 episodes. What's not to love?
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
REVIEW! Balanchine and the joy of dance making at the Royal Ballet (pro tip: don't marry Balanchine) www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Balanchine: Three Signature Works (Royal Ballet) review: an extraordinary dance brain
This triple bill in the Dance Reflections festival is a joyous look at a man who wasn’t fun to marry, but was a remarkable choreographer
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
REVIEW Lots to enjoy in new double bill by Ballet Black, in My Sister, The Serial Killer. Too few ballets open with the heroine getting rid of a corpse... www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Ballet Black: Shadows at Hackney Empire: this double bill resists a neat conclusion
The performances are dynamic, even if the vigorous choreography sometimes feels like a decorative add-on
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew @bushtheatre.bsky.social - a perfect play for spring. Coral Wylie is a talent: impressively empathetic writing, even about the frets of middle age. Enjoyed Debbie Hannan & Max Johns' traverse staging, showing the other half of the audience also mopping their eyes...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Review! Dance Reflections festival is back in London. Mixed opening night - couldn't love an ice-meltingly slow solo, but adored Trisha Brown company’s double bill and superb dancers - making miracles from everyday moves www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Dance Reflections at Sadler’s Wells review: from the classy to the cutting-edge
The return of the Dance Reflections festival is a mixed bag — as it should be
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Still thinking about the costumes by Lambdog1066 - not so much clothes as gorgeously unlikely poems (delicious photos by Manuel Harlan)
Laura in the Glass Menagerie in her ruffled costume, holding up her little glass unicorn Tom in the Glass Menagerie, his shirt embroidered with cherriesJim in the Glass Menagerie, in a zoot suit meets cowboy ensembleAmanda in the Glass Menagerie - her coat bifurcated with fur. Great purple gloves.
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Felt a pang at my final visit to the old @theyardtheatre.bsky.social, though The Glass Menagerie is a beautiful way to say goodbye. The long fragile scene between Laura and her gentleman caller is breathtaking - sensationally delicate stage debuts by Eva Morgan & Jad Sayegh
Laura & the gentleman caller dancing together, bathed in golden light.
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Today I will mostly be watching peregrine falcons on the London Met livecam. Falcon currently enjoying a light breakfast hml.londonmet.ac.uk/Live/34
hml.londonmet.ac.uk
London Met Falcon Cam
The breeding season for Peregrine Falcons starts from March onwards and our Peregrines return each year to London Metropolitan University's Tower Building to lay their eggs. During the winter months y...
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Review! Every detail tells a story in the Royal Ballet’s Romeo & Juliet - opening strongly with a soft boi Romeo and wised up Juliet www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Ballet: this glorious old ballet refuses to act its age
The Royal Ballet inhabits their heritage production like a well-loved home
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
"It strikes me that while our conversation rests upon Brown’s death, its sights are set on life. That seems right: in the dance field Brown made waves when she was alive, but each life must itself finally break – & when it does, its water ripples outwards & returns that life to the world." Beautiful
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
First wild garlic of the year. Spring, despite everything, is springing.
A green tangle of wild garlic leaves, freshly picked
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
A heartrending listen: about a life falling through the the cracks, and about tenacious attempts to honour that life.
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Acosta Danza review: fantastic dancers, patchy choreography www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Folclor at Linbury Theatre: ballet maestro Carlos Acosta delivers a patchy oeuvre
Acosta Danza gives this piece balletic finesse and contemporary heft, even if the choreography is patchy
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Roses are red Lemons are tarter On Valentine's I took my love To see tanztheater www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Vollmond at Sadler’s Wells Theatre review: a watery wonderland of restless romance
Pina Bausch’s world of humans on the edge combines abundant silliness with spiky music - and lots of rain
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Reposted by David Jays
David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Had a tour of brand spanking new Sadler's Wells East. I always thought the rule about not letting new buildings loom behind St Paul's Cathedral was an urban myth - but it's real, so @sadlerswells.bsky.social had to redesign their original plan www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Sadler's Wells East: the insider story behind London's new dance mecca
Sadler’s Wells East has finally opened on the new East Back: here is the story behind a long but fruitful journey
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Had a tour of brand spanking new Sadler's Wells East. I always thought the rule about not letting new buildings loom behind St Paul's Cathedral was an urban myth - but it's real, so @sadlerswells.bsky.social had to redesign their original plan www.standard.co.uk/culture/danc...
standard.co.uk
Sadler's Wells East: the insider story behind London's new dance mecca
Sadler’s Wells East has finally opened on the new East Back: here is the story behind a long but fruitful journey
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Catching up on my recent bits - here's a review of Belarus Free Theatre's KS6 at the Barbican www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
theguardian.com
KS6: Small Forward review – Belarusian basketball star tells high-energy story of becoming a dissident
Katsiaryna Snytsina gives a merrily messy account, complete with deft displays of her ball skills, of being driven from sport into politics
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Doubt and the known unknowns... review of starchy Maxine Peake in the Ustinov's revival in Bath www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
theguardian.com
Doubt review – Maxine Peake leads a crusade against a priest
In an emphatic production that prowls around the mess of human motive, Peake’s Sister Aloysius doggedly pursues a suspicion of abuse
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David Jays @mrdavidjays.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Oedipus review! Spectacular dance creates the world and its terrors here. Rami Malek will get some stick, but it's an interesting physical performance - and I'd blame text/direction rather than celebrity casting for any lack of conviction www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
theguardian.com
Oedipus review – delirious dancers and booming soundtrack shake the plasterwork
Rami Malek’s outsider vibes enliven seamy, superb new staging of Sophocles’ family tragedy
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