Becky Shaw

“Like binging an addictive TV series in one sitting! ”

“‘Reality is better than fiction’ is not a sentiment that I’ve ever subscribed to. That is until I saw, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind @sohoplace. The true story of William Kamkwamba that this new musical is based on would be hard to fathom even if it were billed as a fantasy. I will not do it a disservice by trying to summarise it here; instead, I urge you to see it and be uplifted, inspired and made to feel ever so slightly idle and inadequate. The lighting, set and puppetry transport you to drought-stricken Malawi from the comfort of your seat in this recently built theatre (arguably one, if not the, comfiest theatre in the West End), whose intimate size means that all seats are good seats. Go with your friends and family, and you will leave wanting to make some kind of mark on the world… or at least wanting to support and help someone, like William Kamkwamba, who did.”

“Having gone to theatre school, I’m embarrassed to admit I never saw Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman live. Lucky me, a friend braved the early morning queue and secured tickets. This play continues to be all the rage, and in New York that means something. As a Euro in the US, the ‘American Dream’ has lived rent free in my mind for years. Miller’s play is as relevant today as ever, and I find comfort in knowing he cast doubt on the concept seventy years ago. Hope may be the strongest antidote to suffering. Steadfast belief is admired when the upside materializes, but one risks looking foolish when it never does. Miller masterfully bends hope into disillusionment, perpetual optimism into naiveté. Nathan Lane, as Willy Loman, is gut-wrenchingly believable. His wife, played by Laurie Metcalf, supports him unwaveringly as the world around them crumbles, both romantic and tragic. Biff inherits the weight of the dream and crumbles under it. Willy, caught up in his own web of delirium, fails to see his son was never the diamond in the rough he imagined. His continual attempt to polish something that simply isn’t there cuts deep. Do we keep rooting for the Willy Lomans of this world? With all their flaws, I think yes. To be clear, he really ain’t a hero. Hope is not a strategy. But I’d rather live in a world of dreamers than one dictated by realists.”