About a third of the way through today’s performance of Children of the Sun , the show had to be stopped due to a patron becoming ill. Now obviously, that in itself isn’t a good thing and I wish him a speedy recovery, but the instance added a certain frisson to the remainder of the performance. Until then, it felt like the actors were going through the motions, and to be honest I wasn’t really paying attention. As soon as the stage manager entered, however, a charge became apparent, and after a break the actors returned with a punch. The interruption felt pertinent to the show, which throughout always has the possibility of sudden upheaval moments away. Set in a cavernous-but-decaying house, Maxim Gorky’s play focuses around a group of intellectuals and their self-interest during a time of social change. At the centre is Protasov (Geoffrey Streatfield), an unhappy scientist devoured by his work at the expense of his relationship with his wife Yelena (Justine Mitchell). She looks towards other men while his sister Liza slowly falls into despair. Strip away the context and it’s not much more than a few interwoven love stories between middle-aged people. Except it’s...

at the Royal Court Theatre, Saturday 5th January 2012 The best place to start when trying to comprehend Martin Crimp's In the Republic of Happiness is probably right there, at the title. For me, the key word is not "Happiness" but "Republic", throwing up images of democratic rule and/or tyranny of the majority depending upon one's own political persuasion. But the fact that it is a "Republic of Happiness " subverts this notion; how can it be possible to live in a democratic republic and yet control the emotions of your population? Are we okay with a constant assessment of a nation's 'Happiness Index' as a measure of success? Do we understand happiness? What connection does it have with the freedom of the individual? These are just a few of the questions Crimp probes into in his play, and, brilliantly, Dominic Cooke's production only makes these ideas more complex. The play, subtitled "an entertainment in three parts" is, unsurprisingly, split into three sections which each revolve around a different notion (all peppered with songs), and it's worth considering each separately to understand the span of the piece (this review, therefore, will contain spoilers). Part one, "Destruction of the Family"...

at the Cottesloe Theatre, Wednesday 19th December 2012 Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a bit of a science fanatic. If there's any topic which is likely to come up in a conversation with me other than theatre, it's likely to be quantum physics, the cosmos or the like. Lucy Prebble's The Effect , therefore, satisfies both these passions of mine, indulging each to excess and leaving me giddy with possibility. Along with director Rupert Goold, she questions the way in which we conduct clinical trials whilst probing the very notion of depression. If Three Kingdoms was my favourite production of 2012, then T he Effect is without doubt my favourite play . The play is essentially a dramatised amalgam of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science/Pharma and Adam Curtis' The Trap , involving two young people (Tristan and Connie) involved in a drugs trial for a new anti-depressant which increases dopamine levels in the brain. They fall in love, though its not quite clear whether this is due to the drug or their natural urges. In a beautiful scene, they escape the confines of the trial, heading to a disused asylum to question their attraction to one another...