"Not The Worst Place" / "The Magic Toyshop"

I reviewed two theatre productions for the British Theatre Guide this week, both about adolescent girls in crisis, and both, in an odd coincidence, referencing the ever-controversial story of the Greek god Zeus coming to earth in the form of a swan, and seducing/raping earth-woman Leda.

The first was Sam Burns “Not The Worst Place” at Sherman Cymru; an increasingly rare example of a playwright getting results (eventually) after sending a script on spec to a theatre company. The second, Alan Harris’ adaptation of Angela Carter’s “The Magic Toyshop”, at Chapter, is an increasingly common example of a writer forming a company to produce his own work.

Two jaundiced takes on family life, one a seafront-set comedy drama with mythic overtones, one a none-more-dark fairy-tale inflected fable; both accomplished and effective.