You for Me for You, Royal Court ***

Mia Chung's play is not a Royal Court play. If you go to the upstairs space at the theatre for a metaphorical sledgehammer to the head. They are punchy and to the point holding nothing back. You for Me for You in comparison is a subtle and reserved play, perhaps due to its prior American productions. Despite these differences, however, it is just as powerful and moving as other more blunt productions in the vibrant upstairs space. The play examines the differences and similarities between America and North Korea through the lens of two sisters separated trying to escape the best country in the world. One particularly strong moment for me was the pressure to stand for the national anthem showing that, whilst America is clearly more free than North Korea, similar intimidation and conformity is used in both states and is made especially relevant after the outrage of Corbyn's 'refusal' to sing our national anthem. It deals with the frightening language barrier for immigrants with Daisy Haggard's various American character's speaking things that sound meaningless but taking more meaning on over time as Katie Leung's Junhee learns more of the language. The absurdism of Wendy Kweh's Minhee's journey across North Korea to find her son is harder to get your head around and I still don't quite understand the point being made by Chung here. Richard Twyman's production show these two countrie's obsession with style and facades, with a beautiful design from Jon Bausor hiding the grim and dark reality of both countries. Performances are strong across the board although none stand out as truly great. I still don't quite understand Chung's message in this play but there is still plenty to get from it even without knowing this.

Lela & Co, Royal Court ***

Seeing Lela & Co being compared to the infamous Blasted by Sarah Kane in a review scared me. Comparing anything to a play in which eating dead babies wasn't the most horrible thing there is slightly off-putting. Whilst there is no baby eating here, it is still a horrifying depiction of an abused and neglected woman. You enter through a dark corridor with defiled newspaper cuttings and sexist posters before coming out into a space, designed by Ana Inés Jabares Pita, that has a garish stage that is in the corner whilst Katie West sits in an egg-shaped chair and a nervous looking David Mumeni welcomes audience members in. From the outset, you can see the controlling nature of Mumeni's character and the controlled nature of West's Lela. This carries on once the play begins. The play text describes it as a monologue but from the outset Mumeni's male character's interject and undermine whatever Lela says. As the play carries on, it starts to be confused as to whether it is a monologue or actual conversations and scenes, which starts to detract from the plays power. The start has an absurd over-theatricality to it, with every gesture from the men exaggerated and aware. However, the façade fades very quickly and, as the darkness falls, the language and situation becomes more and more grotesque. West's storytelling is vivid and charismatic whilst Mumeni has a scary and slimy nature to him. The darkness allows certain images to infiltrate your brain and create a far more frightening picture than by depicting the acts on stage. Jude Christian's direction occasionally feels confused with an odd aside comparing the hell of Lela's situation to a modern day business which feels disconnected to the aesthetic of the production. However, despite this and Cordelia Lynn's confusion over the play's form, it makes for a powerful and deeply upsetting 90 minutes.

Violence and Son, Royal Court *****

The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs is such an exiting space to walk into. You never know what form it will take. It can transform from a typical raked seating to a classroom to a grimy room with weathered deck chairs and decaying walls. The play itself is quite remarkable. It's disturbing, devastating yet also tremendously funny at times. It is certainly the most wholesome play to come out of the Royal Court in the past year if not the best. Owen's script messes with your head and takes you to dark places. The plot twists in unexpected ways and uses characters which scare you. Hamish Pirie's direction shows an understanding of how to play in the round in a way that many directors don't have. He maintains the intimacy it brings whilst not neglecting part of the audience in the process. He also encourages some of the most remarkably naturalistic performances from all four members of the cast. David Moorst's Liam is inspired, showing a subtly estranged performance and keeps the character real as the plot takes you to darker places. All four members of this wonderful production deserves an award for their complex and frightening portrayals. Jason Hughes' 'violence' is played in a way that the audience's sympathy for him and the other characters fluctuate for the duration. This is the Royal Court packing a punch to the gut leaving me shocked and profoundly moved.

Who Cares, Royal Court ****

You know that you are experiencing a play with heart when you are offered tea as part of the piece. The Royal Court, which has been lampooned recently for a mistimed and ill judged move with The Twits (which I am seeing later on in the run), has done quite the opposite with a verbatim play about the NHS that comes at the perfect time in the run up to a general election. This is the first in a run off plays in subsidised theatre that are preparing for the election, with the National playing Light Shining in Buckinghamshire where they are also reading extracts from the transcript of the 1647 Putney Debates, and The Vote at the Donmar where I would sell my soul in the hope of getting a ticket. However, I don't think that any play could have as much heart as this rather wonderful experience at the Royal Court. You enter into a side building which has transformed into an A and E waiting room. From which, the audience are broken up into groups in what could be the most complex system in getting an audience to move into precise places at precise times and then meet up at exactly the same time at the main Jerwood theatre. This feat is executed impressively in a way that I can't quite comprehend.This is a totally different theatrical experience which I loved. It creates an intelligent debate without picking a side, leaving us to choose who to believe. It brings out the humanity of the NHS through characters such as Marjorie, played with heart by Eileen O'Brian. The rest of the ensemble cast bring together this potentially dry piece and gives it charisma and beauty. This complex play is something that people need to see, not just because of the content but it provides an alternative theatrical experience.

God Bless the Child, Royal Court *****

Amanda Abbington and the children in God Bless the Child

Wow! Just wow!
The Royal Court have done it this time. This play models theatre that is exiting, dynamic and thoughtful. This play is about a primary school class testing a new scheme of learning and a revolution which occurs within the class room. After coming out of Hope on Saturday, I bought the playtext of this play and was instantly amazed by it. Over that weekend, I re- read it four times and then finally managed to grab a ticket for the show on Tuesday. Walking into the theatre was like walking back into primary school.The set wasn't a set. It was a classroom with children playing about and behaving exactly as we behaved 'back in the day'. Then when the action begins, you are totally hooked. Performance wise, everyone is superb. The child cast I saw was the one where Louie was a girl but the idea of having the lead child being played both by a girl and a boy is a superb casting decision. Their stamina is impressive and the fact that they are maintaining such high energy performances this late on in the run is impressive. As far as the adult cast is concerned, Amanda Abbington puts in a performance which is far superior to her boyfriends attempt at Richard III. Ony Uhiara as Ms Newsome reminds me of many of the better primary school teachers I once had and Nikki Amuka- Bird is perfect at showing the conflicted Ms Evitt. Hesmondhalgh is wonderful too as the kind Mrs Bradley. Original plays such as these ought to be replacing durge, such as The Mousetrap, on the west end in order to show off to the world what our country's talent can do.

The Wolf from the Door, Royal Court ***

The cast of the Wolf from the Door

 After the reviews came out for this rather surreal piece from Rory Mullarkey, I was full of dread for to see this piece, not least due to the alert of full- frontal male nudity. Despite this, I left feeling pleasantly surprised. Of course there are serious flaws. The budget seems to have been blown on Anna Chancellor and the huge quantities of food used throughout, the set could be done much better, with scene changes indicated by an LED screen, and the script does require a space which can both be intimate and provide huge spectacle which this theatre cannot pull off well. As well as this, the numerous deaths in the play could have been handle in a better fashion. I was not expecting Titus Andronicus scale gore but just to have a voice over giving stage directions. But on the other hand, this fantasist piece tackles a tricky subject in a rib- tickling manner with a very heartfelt speech given by Chancellor to some civil war reenactors. Pearce Quigley and Lucy Robinson are fantastic as the ensemble with special note to Quigley's taxi driver which gives perhaps the most poignant moment of the play. He is never quite as funny as his Bottom in Midsummers Night Dream last year at the Globe but to be honest, it would have been hard to top that. The two leads also are great, as is expected. Whilst this production will never set the world alight, there is plenty in it to cherish.