What makes a farce? This was a question we tossed around at our Talkback on Thursday morning, where we discussed the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s production of Francis Veber’s play The Painkiller. The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company is a one...

We began another London morning at the Swan, gathered to discuss the previous night’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder at the Old Vic. The production was directed by the Old Vic’s new Artistic Director, Matthew Warchus, and the...

Following another Lancaster London Hotel breakfast that couldn’t be beat, we gathered upstairs at the Swan for our first true Talkback of the trip. Daniel started us off with a reminder that–as much as the Matt Wolfs and other theatre...

Okay, we’ll get to Prince Charles shortly. But don’t skip ahead. We began our first true theatre day at the Swan, a marvelous pub one block down Bayswater Road, where we gather each morning on the second floor to talk...

The first of two successive week-long London Theatre Tours is underway! We hope you’ll follow our adventures through the Chester Theatre Company blog. One of the themes of the start of our trip was the gradual gathering of the full...

On our sixth and final day, we all gathered once more at South Water Kitchen. We had a lively discussion of the previous day’s performance of Sucker Punch at Victory Gardens Theatre. Sucker Punch was an exciting mix of elements:...

The group met again at South Water Kitchen for a spirited conversation about last night’s performance of Treasure Island, at Lookingglass Theatre. The production was full of wonderful visuals and physical moments, as well as music–traditional English sea shanties and...

We began day four in Chicago with an exciting Talkback about the previous night’s production of Ayad Akhtar’s play Disgraced, at the Goodman Theatre. Steve Oxman had told us, in his talk our first morning, to expect fireworks, and the...

After another terrific breakfast, we gathered in our room in the South Water Kitchen to discuss the previous night’s performance of East of Eden at Steppenwolf Theatre. The script was adapted by Frank Galati–a long time Steppenwolf ensemble member, and...

We woke to a wonderfully sunny first full day in Chicago. After breakfast in the South Water Kitchen, we gathered to hear from Steve Oxman, Chicago theatre critic for Variety. He gave a marvelous talk, ranging from the origins of...