4.48 Psychosis at Royal Opera: Devastating avant-garde anguish 4/5 Director Ted Huffman and composer Philip Venables’ opera version of Sarah Kane’s final play is a stunning journey into despair Evening Standard · Oct 20
4.48 Psychosis review – a dazzling, harrowing opera worthy of Sarah Kane’s furious writing Six fearless singers and the Chroma Ensemble, conducted with arresting immediacy by Naomi Woo, rise to the challenge of the brutal musical onslaughts and anarchic orchestrations of Philip Venables’ raw, imaginative score The Guardian - UK · Oct 18
A critical mauling: Brian Logan on comedy critics being portrayed as horrible snobs Two Edinburgh fringe shows feature savage send-ups of reviewers. Is this petty revenge or do they have a case? Our writer finds one ‘a hoot’ – and thinks the other let him off lightly The Guardian - UK · Aug 14
Cleansed at the Almeida: A gruelling, gripping orgy of cruelty 4/5 Sarah Kane’s notoriously extreme play returns to shock audiences again, but with good reason Evening Standard · Aug 3
Cleansed review – Sarah Kane’s visions of brutal torture resonate more intensely than ever Rebecca Frecknall pulls off this notoriously difficult 1998 play, in which appalling cruelty and violence is balanced against human yearning for love and beauty The Guardian - UK · Jul 30
Audience member faints on opening night of London play during graphic scene ‘Cleansed’ by Sarah Kane has been known for provoking strong reactions among audiences The Independent UK · Jul 30
This play gave its cast nightmares and had audiences fainting. Now it’s back INTERVIEW: The late playwright’s violent, sexually explicit drama is often regarded as one of the most ‘hardcore’ pieces of modern British theatre. Director Rebecca Frecknall and star Leo Bill speak to Louis Chilton about the Almeida’s new revival, and why there’s so much more to ‘Cleansed’ than just the sensational… The Independent UK · Jul 25
I can’t afford a tutor to help my daughter get into grammar school. Will she still fulfil her potential? You may be projecting your own school experience on to your daughter, but her needs are different and she has you to support her The Guardian - UK · Jun 21
Not to be: Hamlet rages in Stockholm against the political closure of a cultural institution The experimental annexe of Sweden’s national stage, Elverket, has fallen victim to severe government cuts. Its final play is a powerful protest against being forced to leave its home The Guardian - UK · Oct 24, 2025
4.48 Psychosis review – bared anguish and delicate detail in Sarah Kane’s final play Kane’s emotionally unswerving gifts as a writer are on full display in a 25th-anniversary production reuniting the original cast The Guardian - UK · Jun 19, 2025
4.48 Psychosis at the Royal Court Theatre review: a hard, harsh watch illuminated by flashes of poetic clarity 3/5 Sarah Kane’s final work condenses her vision into something untouchable and implacable Evening Standard · Jun 19, 2025
James Graham unveils AI comedy at ‘greatest hits’ gala for Paines Plough Playwrights and actors paid homage to the small but mighty UK theatre company that nurtured them, as part of a fundraising initiative for new writers The Guardian - UK · Feb 11, 2025
‘We were booed. I felt proud’: Daniel Evans on his rollercoaster journey to RSC supremo The joint RSC boss is on unstoppable form, making a blistering return to the stage with a 4:48 Psychosis performed in the small hours – and an Edward II that will be a ‘screw you’ to his school bullies The Guardian - UK · Jan 27, 2025
Drama about hunt for Raoul Moat part of Royal Court’s new season Other plays to feature include a production of Sarah Kane’s final work and a saga involving a British Museum artefact The Guardian - UK · Oct 17, 2024
The Guardian - UK · Aug 19, 2024 ‘Peter Capaldi was punched off his chair’: Fifty years of explosive theatre company Paines Plough From locking playwrights up until a drama emerged to dreaming up Sarah Kane’s Crave in a pub; the talent behind half a century of innovation reveal their secrets
The Guardian - UK · Feb 19, 2024 ‘She plumbed our secret, shameful depths’: why are Sarah Kane’s plays still so shocking? The writer, who took her life 25 years ago this month, wrote five searing dramas that took in everything from despair to love, from mutilation to cannibalism. What was it like to direct or star in them?
The Guardian - UK · Jun 26, 2023 ‘We sing the word faggot lovingly, hundreds of times’: inside Manchester’s queerest show Composer Philip Venables and director Ted Huffman’s previous shows have caused panic attacks. How will The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions go down? Ahead of its premiere, the duo talk f-words, love-ins and the capitalist patriarchy
The Guardian - UK · Mar 26, 2023 Novelist Rebecca Watson: ‘I can leave a show or book unmoved, but with football I always feel’ As the adaptation of her novel, little scratch, returns to the London stage, the author and Nottingham Forest fan traces the links between theatre, fiction and the beautiful game
The Guardian - UK · Mar 5, 2023 ‘I’m not really a freedom fighter’: actor David Jonsson on Tinseltown and making it on home turf David Jonsson is being courted by Hollywood. But the star of Industry and Rye Lane prefers roles that reflect Black British life. He talks to Michael Segalov
The Conversation · Mar 3, 2023 National Theatre’s Phaedra review: suicide tragedy leaves a bad taste Suicide is an act so shocking and violent that it undoes not only sensation, memory and feeling, but meaning. Poet and novelist Ocean Vuong describes how it unpicks even the connective tissue of language.
The Guardian - UK · Nov 11, 2022 An explosive act of violence: why Britten’s Rape of Lucretia speaks to our brutal times Britten’s opera is a strange, unsettling and unbearably private piece. Set in ancient Rome and written over 70 years ago, its theme is still all too contemporary, writes the director of a new production
The Guardian - AU · Jun 6, 2022 This extreme play makes people faint. How do the actors stay sane, night after night? Sarah Kane’s Cleansed is notorious for showing torture, assault and gore – but a new Sydney production is handling it with extra care. The director and actors share how they’ve got through harrowing rehearsals
Daily Record · Apr 7, 2022 Thursday's headlines: Loch Ness monster sighting and council leader branded 'Sturgeon puppet' Here are the main headlines from the Daily Record website today.
Daily Record · Apr 7, 2022 Rangers fan who allegedly slashed Celtic-fan sister after Old Firm game walks free from court Sarah Kane said she couldn't remember much about the incident with Darren Holland because she was so 'intoxicated'.