London Festival Fringe

Whats On Reviews ▼

Theatre-musical ▼

Visual-art ▼

Street ▼

Word ▼

Literature ▼

Event ▼

Film ▼

Music ▼

Comedy ▼

The London Theatre Talks 2010

The London Theatre Talks 2010 will feature top cultural experts in a panel discussion at the famous Phoenix Artists Bar in the heart of Soho.

Theatre is where our thoughts and feelings are expressed in the most creative and direct way to an audience. These discussions are inspired by plays performed in London. Influential writers/thinkers in the world of theatre will discuss and argue these important issues in front of an audience.

Chair for both talks: Aleks Sierz

Aleks regularly chairs Platform talks at the National Theatre and is a journalist, broadcaster, theatre critic of Tribune and co-editor of theatreVOICE website. He is author of In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today (Faber, 2001), The Theatre of Martin Crimp (Methuen, 2006) and John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (Continuum, 2008).

Theatre Talk 1, Tuesday, August, 24, 7 PM: Banks Are More Important to Society Than Theatre

Inspired by: Enron by Lucy Prebble and The Power of Yes by David Hare, The Man by James Graham and The Empire by DC Moore.

Panel:

Nina Caplan, former Arts Editor of Time Out, writes for Time Out, Evening Standard, Sunday Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, Daily Mail and the New Statesman

Shaun Hutchinson, Editor, New Black Magazine

Ben Holland, Ex-city boy, actor and writer who has worked for publications including Institutional Investor, The Sunday Times, and Empire magazine

Theatre Talk 2, Wednesday, August, 25, 7 PM: Is Spectacle in Theatre Killing the Story?

Inspired by: War Horse, Money at Shunt, Punchdrunk’s The Duchess of Malfi and The Railway Children at Waterloo Station.

Panel':

Alistair Smith, Deputy Editor of The Stage

Paul Vale, Theatre Critic at The Stage Newspaper

Louise Mari, co-founder of Shunt

Mike Bradwell, Former Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre and author of The Reluctant Escapologist: Adventures in Alternative Theatre

Tuesday, August, 24	7 pm	Banks Are More Important to Society Than Theatre

Wednesday, August, 25	7 pm	Is Spectacle in Theatre Killing the Story?

More:

Banks Are More Important to Society Than Theatre

Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre examines how the American energy corporation collapsed in 2001 and how greed and madness go hand in hand. But can the theatre clarify and resolve our issues with the financial giants who went unwatched for so long and continue to be so? Also up for discussion is David Hare's The Power Of Yes, a narrative at the National that examined how the banks went bust as well as the upcoming Onassis at the Novello, the story of Aristotle Onassis and how money warped his moral code.

Is Spectacle in Theatre Killing the Story?

Audiences have been wowed by War Horse at the National thanks to the incredibly life-like horses created by the renowned Handspring Pocket Company. Without this visual wizardry, would the play have four legs to stand on? In the face of the recession, audiences have found escapism in the big and glitzy musicals but have plays turned to gimmicks to up their game? Also up for discussion are Money at Shunt which takes place in a three-storey warehouse set where the audience are led around as the story unfolds as well as Punchdrunk's annual interactive play which is the Duchess of Malfi this year.

visitors since Sep 2009