Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Bleak house

Uncle Vanya<br /> <em>Rose Theatre, Kingston</em> The Death of Margaret Thatcher <br /> <em>Courtyard</em>

issue 16 February 2008

Uncle Vanya
Rose Theatre, Kingston

The Death of Margaret Thatcher
Courtyard

At last the Rose has burst into bloom in Kingston. Luckily I allowed myself twice the suggested 40 minutes to get there from Waterloo. It took me quarter of an hour to extract a ticket from the computerised machines, which have been brilliantly programmed to be thicker and slower than human beings. On reaching Kingston I got instantly lost in a jungle of contradictory signposts. Best advice, make for Kingston Bridge (visible from outside the station), turn upstream and walk for three minutes along the riverbank. And there you are. Peter Hall’s new theatre is a modernist redoubt arranged across three floors. The lobby and bar have been designed with no inventiveness or artistry. The builder has been ordered simply to create the largest possible enclosure for the smallest sum of money.

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