The Independent Recommends: The Five Best Plays

Paul Taylor
Thursday 03 June 1999 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Candide (Olivier, National, London)

Exhilarating staging by John Caird of the wittiest and trickiest of all possible musicals. Alex Kelly is a delectably funny Cunegonde, and Simon Russell Beale turns in a trenchant tour de force doubling as Pangloss and Voltaire. In rep; booking to end Sept

Holy Mothers (Ambassadors Theatre, London)

Blocked lavatories and a last-minute beheading are on the menu in this extravaganza of bad taste by Werner Schwab, Austria's answer to Joe Orton. To 3 Jul

Three Sisters (Whitehall Theatre, London)

Remarkably fresh (if unevenly cast) production by Dominic Dromgoole, with a deeply touching performance from Tom Smith as the unloved Baron Tuzenbakh. To 3 Jul

Tales from Ovid (Swan Theatre, Stratford)

Ted Hughes's brilliant adaptation of Metamorphoses gets the Tim Supple treatment (right), vividly demonstrating the inherent theatricality of these myths. To 7 Oct

Oroonoko (The Other Place, Stratford)

There's political indignation but a refreshing lack of political correctness in Biyi Bandele's powerful dramatisation of 17th-century writer Aphra Behn's look at the slave trade. To 6 Oct

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in