Hampstead Theatre - 2020

Agree, although a shame they went for "The Dumb Waiter" for the first one as that was done last year as part of Pinter at the Pinter, rather than another rarer one.

Nice idea - a revisiting of modern classics; shame that none of the plays really grab me (and I've seen the Dumb Waiter enough). A good review or two could convince me otherwise, though.

Aren't those all very small cast plays (2 or 3)? Suppose that's one way of keeping costs down. The Fagon play most interests me - there is some interesting material at the NT Black Plays Archive: www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/explore/playwrights/fagon-alfred

Londoners only on this thread please.

It looks to me as though it's a season driven by the need to save money - and certainly not what I'd expect within the first year from an Artistic Director who stressed that she would be focusing on new works. I don't know "The Death of a Black Man" but it seems to have a cast of three, whilst the other three are definitely two-handers on single sets. I guess one of the upsides is that they'll almost certainly have meaty parts for good actors - and I'm sure at least one of them will have an eye on a longer life as an additional income generator.

I've nothing against revisiting plays from the past - and Hampstead has hardly been awash with the discovery of great new writing over the last few years (certainly long before the arrival of the current AD) - but it's another example of a London fringe (or off-west end) theatre having a lack of identity - and possibly a corresponding lack of audience. This is equally applicable to Donmar, Bush, Kiln, Lyric Hammersmith and Stratford East - all of whose work is now largely interchangeable.

For The Dumb Waiter my travel time to get there will be longer than the running time of the play itself. That’s was my point. I appreciate that Learfan would travel up to 6 hours to see A Chaste Maid In Cheapside (it’s a play, I hasten to point out) but we are not all so dedicated.

Being a relative newcomer to London from the sticks, nowhere is really more than an hour away and fortunately can consider anywhere within the M25 as being local along with being a kid in a candy store everywhere is open for consideration.

lynette I would consider the odd Saturday matinee at the Orange Tree, as the Donmar, Almeida and Park become more interesting the Orange Tree rarely disappoints and the Lyric in Hammersmith has its moments..

I’m loving The Park and am amused at the way the area around it is now brimming with eateries.. and I have visited the Orange Tree a while ago when we had friends ho lived near there.