Articles By Anne McElvoy
May 2013
A double bill of Alan Bennett plays expertly transports us to a world of childhood hopes and grief
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April 2013
The Book of Mormon has some awful jokes but ultimately succeeds because of its affection for its subject
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March 2013
Revivals of Harold Pinter and Simon Stephens explore memory and the consequences of actions long ago
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January/February 2013
Castigating conservatives on stage is now mandatory—This House at the National doesn’t, and so succeeds
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December 2012
Four Uncle Vanyas in a year is too many, but better Chekhov in Russian than ‘immersive theatre’
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November 2012
Scenes from an Execution proves that age cannot wither Fiona Shaw but Juliette Binoche's British debut in Mademoiselle Julie is a flop
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October 2012
Two new plays and one classic depict young women who are mad, bad and dangerous to know
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September 2012
Contemporary analogies and a strong cast can save below-par Shakespeare like Timon of Athens
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July/August 2012
The National's Antigone is politically compelling but lacks a sense of awe
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June 2012
Amid the fad for immersive drama, a Rattigan/Hare double-bill shows you just can’t beat good writing
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May 2012
Revivals from three countries explore the anxieties of superfluous men and women
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April 2012
A brave new play at the National challenges liberal received wisdom on multiculturalism
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March 2012
She Stoops to Conquer at the NT is so unsubtle as to be OTT—like many of the National’s comedies
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January/February 2012
The death of Christa Wolf has left Germany bereft of a powerful bridge of literary consciousness, whose universal work could talk to a once-divided nation
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January/February 2012
Peter Capaldi at the Gielgud is a scream but Lenny Henry at the National gets out of hand
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December 2011
The wonderful story of The Pitmen Painters is spoiled by Lee Hall’s insistent left-wing moralising
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November 2011
The West Yorkshire Playhouse’s production of King Lear is a pacy triumph
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October 2011
A new revival of Top Girls shows that Caryl Churchill’s Thatcherite satire retains its dramatic vigour
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September 2011
The Donmar’s new production of Anna Christie benefits from Jude Law’s muscular energy
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July/August 2011
Reworking a masterpiece can be a tricky business. The National Theatre succeeds with Goldoni but not with Chekhov
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June 2011
The National’s dramatisation of the Ipswich murders is touching and telling in equal measure
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May 2011
On the centenary of his birth, two Rattigan revivals showcase his best — and worst — work
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April 2011
Mike Leigh’s Ecstasy casts a chink of light on social misery. Neil LaBute’s new play lets in even less
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March 2011
The climate has changed for eco-dramas. Greenland at the National doesn’t work; The Heretic at the Royal Court does
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November 2010
By making Elsinore a modern surveillance state, Hytner’s production has added menace
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August 2008
Nudge is glib trickery, albeit of a very nicely spoken, bland cross-party 21st-century sort
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About Anne McElvoy
Anne McElvoy is Public Policy editor of the Economist and presents the arts programme Night Waves on BBC Radio 3. She was made Deputy Editor of the Spectator in 1996 and Associate Editor of the Independent in 1998. She has published two books on Germany.
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