Lulu

Synopsis

The tragic tale of one woman's rise to the darling of the cabaret world and society doyenne to her decline back into the gutter.

Our Review:

19 March 2001

Following last year's successful Almeida transplant, in a former film studio in Shoreditch, comes this year's venture at an old bus station near King's Cross. This time, of course, there are no alternatives; the venue is as much necessity as ingenuity since the company's Islington home is being completely renovated.

Lulu is the first of the Almeida's season of productions at the new venue, and it is certainly an appropriate choice, luring Islington trendies to venture into one of London's seamier neighbourhoods. The story of a woman who moves from lover to lover, before meeting her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper, shocked audiences when it was first performed. Today's audiences are less shockable, but even so, the piece still manages to serve up some decidedly uncomfortable moments.

Playwright Nicholas Wright has condensed two plays, Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, into one and, in the process, has taken considerable liberties with [Fran...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 9 April 2001:

What a load of over hyped nonsense. On the face of it the first half of the play is pretty interesting. The characters are suitably grotesque and Alan Howard's newspaper editor is especially cringe worthy. After the interval, however, the play starts to go down hill. You get to see just how superficial the characters really are and in the end...(I won't spoil it for you) I just didn't give a damn. ...

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