Letters from the Theatre

Theatre scholar Ana Tomskaya delights in frequenting London’s theatres, observing its theatrical life with care and affection, and sharing her impressions and observations. Her column is devoted to premieres, stage stars, and repertory that truly merits attention.

Culture

Jump over the stream! At the National Theatre they have staged Gorky’s Summerfolk

Ana Tomskaya

Director Robert Hastie, Deputy Artistic Director at the National Theatre, seems to have only just finished Hamlet with Hiran Abeysekera before taking on the incredibly difficult play Summerfolk by Maxim…

Culture

London Theatre in March: Romance and Raw Nerve

Ana Tomskaya

What’s happening on the London stage this March? Not a huge amount — but what’s there is bright and intense. March promises to be fiercely interesting.

Culture

Morning Comes Unexpectedly: A staged reading of Vasily Zorky’s text took place at ARC.SPACE

Ana Tomskaya

“Night Conversation” is not a play but a film script that Vasily Zorky wrote before the war. The action unfolds over the course of several hours in a single location…

Culture

Loyalty Costs a Life: The premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Bird Grove has opened at Hampstead Theatre

Ana Tomskaya

This is a play about the making of the famous George Eliot — or rather about the days when Eliot did not yet exist, when there was only Mary Ann…

Culture

“The Conversation That Never Happened”: how to Choose and Not Make a Mistake?

Ana Tomskaya

On February 10, the theatrical reading with percussion “The Conversation That Never Happened” took place at Arc Space. It was not a performance in the traditional sense, but rather a…

Culture

Theatre interior with stage and rows of comfortable seats

Power — and How to Rid Oneself of It: London Theatres in February

Ana Tomskaya

What does February 2026 have in store for us? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Theatres have shaken off the Christmas frenzy, audiences have replenished their wallets, and the…

People

Stuart Lawson: “Dancers communicate through movement, not words!”

Ana Tomskaya

British photographer Stuart Lawson, the author of distinctive visual narratives about movement, memory, and identity, has long worked at the intersection of photography, choreography, and human character. His signature technique…

Culture

Another Music: Roman Mints’s New Festival in London

Ana Tomskaya

Violinist Roman Mints founded Another Music Festival and successfully staged it in late January. This was the first event of its kind that Roman has organised in London (Moscow audiences…

Culture Miscellaneous

A Theatrical Firmament: Which “Stars” to See on the London Stage This Winter

Ana Tomskaya

Few days ago was Blue Monday — supposedly the most depressing day of the year. New Year’s Eve and Christmas are behind us. It’s cold. Wishes have been made, but…

Culture

Actor and actress in tuxedos open theater curtain

Soul-Saving Musicals: London Theatres in January

Ana Tomskaya

The holidays are over. It’s cold outside. Everyone seems to have already taken down their Christmas trees. The world feels like it’s sliding into some kind of unspeakable nightmare. Tax…

Culture

Six Reasons to Go to the Theatre in 2026… and a seventh one too!

Ana Tomskaya

In the pre-Christmas, pre-New Year rush, we’re not really thinking about light dresses or spring theatre tickets — but London theatres have long since released their schedules and are already…

Culture

Heavenly Melancholy: an Irish tragicomedy at the National Theatre

Ana Tomskaya

Playwright John Synge wrote The Playboy of the Western World in 1907. It was staged at the then brand-new Abbey Theatre. The premiere struck like both thunder and a hurricane…

London Cult.

Letters from the Theatre

Jump over the stream! At the National Theatre they have staged Gorky’s Summerfolk

London Theatre in March: Romance and Raw Nerve

Morning Comes Unexpectedly: A staged reading of Vasily Zorky’s text took place at ARC.SPACE

Loyalty Costs a Life: The premiere of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s Bird Grove has opened at Hampstead Theatre

“The Conversation That Never Happened”: how to Choose and Not Make a Mistake?

Power — and How to Rid Oneself of It: London Theatres in February

Stuart Lawson: “Dancers communicate through movement, not words!”

Another Music: Roman Mints’s New Festival in London

A Theatrical Firmament: Which “Stars” to See on the London Stage This Winter

Soul-Saving Musicals: London Theatres in January

Six Reasons to Go to the Theatre in 2026… and a seventh one too!

Heavenly Melancholy: an Irish tragicomedy at the National Theatre

London Cult.