Uncertainty sits at the centre of Michael Frayn’s ambitious piece, Copenhagen . Frayn’s play feels uncannily prescient, with Trump’s threats to destroy an entire culture dominating today’s political landscape. Where does science end and philosophy begin? The splitting of the atom—the twentieth century’s seismic scientific achievement—ushers in the possibility of unprecedented destruction, forcing moral questions to be confronted. By 1941, Nazi Germany had conquered most of Eu

Three years ago, the comedian Jimmy Carr hosted a television debate on whether paintings created by reprehensible artists should be destroyed. The controversial nature of this show elicited criticism, but it did raise the moral question of art provenance. This theme is developed by Marius von Mayenburg in his modern satire Nachtland . Two siblings Nicola and Philip (Lilith Leonard and Gabriel Oprea) are going through their deceased father’s house. This painstaking and emotion

Popular culture has featured World War 2 aeroplane scenes for decades, usually bringing to mind Spitfires, Messerschmitts and Hurricanes. But  Fire Embers Ash  is the true tale of how biplanes made of flimsy wood and fabric took to the skies, playing their part in opposing and reversing the German invasion of the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. The roots of this tale can be traced back a quarter of a century. One of the tenets of the Russian Revolution was, theoretically at

The various nation states that comprise today’s progressive Scandinavia have not always rubbed along in harmony and unity. For hundreds of years, Norway’s identity was suppressed by the  Scandinavian  and later  Dano-Norwegian Unions , accompanied by empire building and self-interest reflective of the patchwork of European states of the time. Ibsen, very much the father of Norwegian literature, went so far as to describe this period as “Four Hundred Years of Darkness”. So, it

And Then The Rodeo Burned Down  is a treat : a smorgasbord of physical theatre, clowning, vaudevillian playfulness and much, much more – a two-hander from the U.S. that offers a queer, sideways look at rodeos and the usually machismo-drenched world of cowboys. This is a charming, funny, poignant and clever hour, but with a layered element of vulnerability. The audience enters The Kings Heads’ three-quarters round space to see, well, not much at all really –  there is precious

“ So here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody’s having fun.”  In supermarkets, shopping centres, pubs, cafes, on radio stations and at parties, these lyrics from  Slade ’s monster yuletide hit have burbled out every December for pretty much the last half century. It’s a given, isn’t it ? Everybody’s having fun. Everyone is filled with festive cheer : Christmas parties, presents, stockings, crackers, mulled wine – the list is endless. Steven Berkoff’s  Harry’s Christmas  dares t