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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Death becomes him: Everyman @NationalTheatre


Judgement day and getting taken to the cleaners takes on a new meaning in this spectacular new take on the classic fifteenth century morality play Everyman at the National Theatre with Chiwetel Ejiofor.

It feels like every theatrical trick is deployed during the roughly ninety minutes it takes for one man to account for his life. There  is a giant video screen, dazzling lights, a urinating penis prop. It’s all terrific stuff and an awe inspiring updating of the tale to modern and secular London.


Everyman arrives at his fortieth birthday party entering from the rooftop (the reasoning becomes apparent later) and then scenes from a birthday party, choreographed with intense fury and relentlessness (by Javier de Frutos) go some way to explain his hectic, crazy and slightly debauched life. This a high net worth  alpha-Everyman for London.

But the party does not end well and he is confronted by God, depicted as a cleaning lady complete with Marigolds. Most of us had been ignoring the lady (Kate Duchene) while she swept the stage as we were taking our seats. She introduces him to Death, and puts on his hazmat outfit and pursues Everyman while he confronts his past and his future.


This new translation by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy is a filthy, gritty, expletive laden experience that knows how to relate to National Theatre audiences, since some of the original sins are replaced with ecology and the environment and other palatable causes. But the effect makes the work seem relevant and urgent.


There is also a spectacular scene where Everyman’s encounter with a homeless man, Knowledge (played by Penny Layden). Sleeping rough in a part of SE1 that appears to evoke the old Cardboard City he tries to piece together what he can show of his life to God. Then Death brings forward a storm complete with wind machine that blows away the material possessions and money. At this point the audience also gets caught up in the gust of wind. Fake money and light debris showers into the audience. Getting blown away at the theatre never felt so real.

And with music by William Lyons underscoring the drama and a memorable performance by Sharon D Clarke as Everyman’s mother singing “Stormy Weather” it makes for unforgettable evening.

First impressions with @johnnyfoxlondon, follow.

listen to ‘Dead boom: first impressions of #ntEveryman with @johnnyfoxlondon @nationaltheatre’ on audioBoom


Everyman is playing at the National Theatre through to August.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎


Photo credit: Production photos by Richard Hubert Smith


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