Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Lack of edge disappoints
The play’s quaintness makes it an odd choice for innovative theatre, writes MAYER WAKEFIELD
Barbara Flynn and Robin Soanes as Grandad Bert [Alex Brenner]

We Started to Sing
Arcola Theatre

 

DALSTON’S Arcola is one of London’s last fringe theatres to reopen its indoor space after two dark years.

They welcome back writer, and in this case also director, Barney Norris to his theatrical home, having had his debut Visitors and its follow-up Eventide staged in the old paint factory in the mid-2010s.  

His latest work is perhaps the most evidently personal play I’ve ever seen. In it, he reimagines interactions between his parents and grandparents — “a study of the people whose lives led to mine,” as he writes in his intro.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
 SISTERS IN HARMONY The Company of The ministry Of Lesbian Affairs [Pic Mark Senior]
Theatre review / 9 July 2025
9 July 2025

MAYER WAKEFIELD relishes a witty and uplifting rallying cry for unity, which highlights the erasure of queer women

cockfosters
Theatre review / 6 May 2025
6 May 2025

MAYER WAKEFIELD laments the lack of audience interaction and social diversity in a musical drama set on London’s Underground

(L to R) Arian Nik as Samir, Shazia Nicholls as Faiza) Sabrina Sandhu as Harleen
Culture / 15 April 2025
15 April 2025
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
AWKWARD HOMOGENISING OF RCIAL GROUPS: Gershwyn Eustache Jnr
Theatre Review / 3 March 2025
3 March 2025
MAYER WAKEFIELD wonders why this 1978 drama merits a revival despite demonstrating that the underlying theme of racism in the UK remains relevant
Similar stories
moon
Theatre review / 27 June 2025
27 June 2025

MARY CONWAY revels in the Irish American language and dense melancholy of O’Neill’s last and little-known play

Nigel Betts (Billy) and Nigel Cooke (Cliff) in Double Act
Theatre review / 29 January 2025
29 January 2025
MARY CONWAY applauds a study of comedians in whose cheap prejudice the tenets of the emerging political right are crystal clear
RAW POSSESSIVENESS: Jemma Carlton, Dario Coates and Sophie W
Theatre Review / 19 September 2024
19 September 2024
MARY CONWAY marvels at the totally engrossing revival of a little-known classic that speaks volumes to interpersonal relationships today
Theatre review / 29 August 2024
29 August 2024
PETER MASON is enchanted by a unique take on the Oscar Wilde favourite delivered through the ancient form of marionettes