John Shand - Writing in the Dark

May 29, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

AT HOME AT THE ZOO

Flight Path Theatre, May 22 8.5/10 Imagine if Botticelli, a couple of decades after painting The Birth of Venus, had decided to give her a haircut. Edward Albee did something even more radical, albeit with not such a masterpiece. His first play, 1959’s The Zoo Story, was a one-act piece…

May 25, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

THE BIRDS

Belvoir St Theatre, May 20 8.5/10 This is Paula Arundell’s defining role. A one-actor adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds (which Alfred Hitchcock ensured pecked at a shared, ancient paranoia in his 1963 film version), it taps into every aspect of Arundell’s acting powers, and she’s never found wanting.…

May 22, 2026 / Features

Paula Arundell: The intoxicating power of commanding a stage alone

Has someone been kidnapping actors? You settle in your seat in a theatre where six or eight actors routinely fill the stage, and find… just one? And for the next 100 minutes? One-actor plays may be as old as theatre, itself, but their frequency has suddenly radically increased. The list…

John Shand Posts

AT HOME AT THE ZOO

THE BIRDS

Paula Arundell: The intoxicating power of commanding a stage alone