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Mayer Wakefield
(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
(L) Playwright Richard Bean; (R) John Hollingworth as Donald
Interview / 5 November 2024
5 November 2024
MAYER WAKEFIELD speaks to playwright Richard Bean about his new play Reykjavik that depicts the exploitation of the Hull-based “far-fleet” trawlermen
IS THERE AN IMPERIALIST IN THE ROOM? Davinia Hamilton in Bla
Theatre Review / 5 May 2023
5 May 2023
MAYER WAKEFIELD finds himself caught in the crossfire during a riveting piece of activist theatre
Front: Tarrick Benham as Osman. Back (L-R) Nezar Alderazi as
Theatre Review / 4 April 2023
4 April 2023
MAYER WAKEFIELD falls in love with a deft and hilarious portrait of Cairo after the Arab Spring
SCANDALOUS: Sean Delaney in Brilliant Jerks at Southwark Pla
Theatre Review / 8 March 2023
8 March 2023
MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds the revival of an eerily prophetic drama
Sabrina Wu as Nina
Theatre Review / 21 February 2023
21 February 2023
MAYER WAKEFIELD witnesses a perceptive take on how class, wealth and power manifest themselves in contemporary relationships
'When will it end?'
Theatre Review / 14 November 2022
14 November 2022
An insightful exploration of an unexplored world of rap and its many contradictions impresses MAYER WAKEFIELD
(L to R) Samira Wiley as Angel, Ronkẹ Adekoluejo as Delia,
Theatre Review / 11 October 2022
11 October 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds a timely revival of Pearl Cleage’s 1995 drama
SUPERB CHARACTERISATIONS: Ashna Rabheru (Leila) and Avita Ja
Theatre Review / 17 July 2022
17 July 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a powerful drama from Clean Break who specialise in work concerning women’s experience of the criminal justice system
KEEPING THE AUDIENCE HOOKED: The Company
Theatre Review / 20 June 2022
20 June 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a 1970s US theatre classic that has lost none of its relevance
Barbara Flynn and Robin Soanes as Grandad Bert
Theatre Review / 26 May 2022
26 May 2022
The play’s quaintness makes it an odd choice for innovative theatre, writes MAYER WAKEFIELD
Maggie (Claire Rushbrook) and Gary (Daniel Ryan)
Theatre Review / 17 May 2022
17 May 2022
A classic domestic drama that encompasses the great British elephant in the room - class, writes MAYER WAKEFIELD
(L to R) William Robinson as and Corey Montague-Sholay as Ma
Theatre Review / 9 March 2022
9 March 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a show which finds the pulse of modern Britain in alarming fashion
(L-R) Fode Simbo as Kayode, Selina Jones as Itan
Theatre Review / 20 February 2022
20 February 2022
POLAR OPPOSITES: Safiyya Ingar and Anoushka Chadha
Theatre Review / 14 February 2022
14 February 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a play which asks who is allowed to be radical and what does radicalisation really mean in a world overflowing with injustice?
(L to R) Rez Kabir, Ramzi DeHani and Issa Amro
Theatre Review / 3 February 2022
3 February 2022
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a captivating 45 minutes which deliver some hammer blows when much of mainstream theatre continues to turn the other cheek
BEST EFFORT: Simon Bird as Freud and Séan Browne as Lewis
Culture / 31 January 2022
31 January 2022
Hattie Ladbury as Duke and Ashley Zhangazha as Angelo
Theatre Review / 15 December 2021
15 December 2021
An ideal balance between comedy and gravity in riveting Shakespeare reinvention, suggests MAYER WAKEFIELD
TOFFING IT OUT: Joe Gill as Keith Rae and Nikolas Salmon as
Theatre Review / 24 October 2021
24 October 2021
Never too far from a farce this ideological enmity gets a serious meaning on the WWI battlefields of Flanders, writes MAYER WAKEFIELD
THEATRE / 27 June 2021
27 June 2021
The Notting Hill Carnival's been cancelled but the exhilarating J'Ouvert is a pretty good alternative
DYNAMIC DUO: Athena Stevens (left) and Leigh Quinn
Online Theatre / 3 August 2020
3 August 2020
Stereotypes sharply challenged in dramatisation of fight against injustice by activist with a disability
PUT UPON: Alix Dunmore (Jane)
ONLINE THEATRE / 14 June 2020
14 June 2020
Predictable drama with feminist intimations gets classy revival
FILM ONLINE / 2 June 2020
2 June 2020
Engaging South-Asian response to the pandemic
CAPTIVATING: Alexander Knox
THEATRE ONLINE / 15 May 2020
15 May 2020
Moving drama on untimely death of WWI poet Charles Hamilton Sorley
MAKING WAVES: Rona Morison as Cora Preece
Theatre Review / 9 February 2020
9 February 2020
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees a timely reminder of the threat posed by an unfettered surveillance state
VERY BEST:
Year round-up / 18 December 2019
18 December 2019
ON NEUTRAL GROUND: Elliot Levey and Amber James in Snowflake
Theatre / 17 December 2019
17 December 2019
Mike Bartlett's Christmas cracker an antidote for post-election blues
Monochrome prisoner: Peter Hamilton Dyer in #WeAreArrested
Theatre / 21 November 2019
21 November 2019
A play on the arbitrary detention of a journalist resonates beyond its Turkish context, says MAYER WAKEFIELD
‘Shit parenting’: Andrea Hall (Grace) with Ivan Oyik (Ri
Theatre Review / 5 November 2019
5 November 2019
Timely indictment of how young offenders are failed by prison system
Excelling: The cast of Little Baby Jesus
Theatre Review / 24 October 2019
24 October 2019
Early work by Arinze Kene disappoints
Existential anxieties: Leda Douglas as Astrid in Nuclear Fut
Interview / 8 October 2019
8 October 2019
Can we afford to pretend that nuclear weapons don't exist? Gameshow director MATTHEW EVANS talks to Mayer Wakefield about the issues their new production Nuclear Future raises
David Edgar
Interview / 4 October 2019
4 October 2019
Radical playwright DAVID EDGAR talks to Mayer Wakefield about the personal and political questions posed in his one-man show Trying It On in which, at the age of 70, he confronts his 20-year-old self
Astonishing: Hammed Animashaun and Lucian Msamati
Theatre Review / 3 October 2019
3 October 2019
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees a brilliant production of an autobiographical play set in the early years of apartheid
Eyes on the margins: Faith, Hope and Charity in rehearsal
Interview / 5 September 2019
5 September 2019
ALEXANDER ZELDIN tells Mayer Wakefield what he hopes to achieve with his new play about the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable
In denial: Franz (Edward Hogg) and Bo (Steven Mackintosh)
Theatre Review / 23 August 2019
23 August 2019
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a hard-hitting drama of a family in denial about past collusion in the ‘triangular trade’
Features / 1 July 2019
1 July 2019
Chuka Umunna’s former CLP has taken a decisive step in favour of peace by affiliating to the Stop the War Coalition. Why not follow Streatham’s example, suggests MAYER WAKEFIELD
Disconsolate: Tok Stephen as Alvin with Debra Michaels (Vern
Theatre Review / 21 June 2019
21 June 2019
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends an emotionally charged drama on a family caught between two cultures
Ruthless: Roger Allam as John Rutherford
Theatre review / 30 May 2019
30 May 2019
Contemporary parallels abound in a late Edwardian drama of an industrial oligarch on the rocks
Indomitable: Sharon D Clarke
Theatre Review / 12 May 2019
12 May 2019
Arthur Miller's classic gets a worthy but underpowered production
Driving force: Conrad Murray
Theatre Review / 26 March 2019
26 March 2019
Music, poetry and storytelling give powerful voice to a generation's fears about London's housing crisis
Punishing experience: Downstate
Theatre Review / 25 March 2019
25 March 2019
Set in a group home for sex offenders in Illinois, Bruce Norris's play pulls no punches
OUT IN THE OPEN: Amnesty International protest outside Downi
Features / 22 March 2019
22 March 2019
The lack of coverage in the mainstream media of a war in which Britain is so deeply involved is nothing less than disturbing, writes MAYER WAKEFIELD
Frightened people: Dawid Minnar and Janine Ulfane
Culture / 12 March 2019
12 March 2019
Athol Fugard's play is an acute reminder of the horrors of apartheid-era South Africa
Spot on: Rina Fantania in Approaching Empty
Theatre Review / 22 January 2019
22 January 2019
Authentic: Ben Weatherill's Jellyfish
Culture / 9 December 2018
9 December 2018
By MAYER WAKEFILED
Poet in the Corner
Theatre Review / 2 October 2018
2 October 2018
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees grime poet Debris Stevenson score heavily in her battle against prejudice
Theatre Review / 9 July 2018
9 July 2018
Jellyfish is a pointed drama on attitudes towards disabilities, says MAYER WAKEFIELD