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Performance Monkey

David Jays on theatre and dance

Performance Monkey

This is what theatre and dance audiences do: we sit in the dark, watching performances. And then, if it seems worth it, we think about what we’ve seen, and how it made us feel. The blog should be a conversation, so please comment on the posts and add your thoughts.

You know what I’ve always enjoyed about this writing lark? Well, yes, the cheque. But also the sense of being goaded to work out what I really think about a show or an author – what’s important to me, what’s worth sharing with an anonymous reader, what will accompany me the next time I enter a darkened auditorium. A good friend will often prompt and challenge those thoughts – but a blank page and a deadline are frequently even better, and lead to other conversations. I hope this blog will manage something similar, so please do talk back at me.

Performances take place in the here and now, but continue working after you leave the theatre. They prompt us to think about words, bodies, and how we perceive them: that’s what this blog is about. It’s written from London, so will inevitably have a British perspective (not to mention British spelling). And the name? Monkeys are admirably inquisitive. And, like critics, they’re very nearly human.

David Jays

I am a writer and critic on performance, books and film and currently write for, among others, the Sunday Times and the Guardian. I edit Dance Gazette, the magazine of the Royal Academy of Dance. I’m also a lifelong Londoner: it’s the perfect city for connecting to art forms that both look back and spring forward. [Read More]

Performance Monkey

This is what theatre and dance audiences do: we sit in the dark, watching performances. And then, if it seems worth it, we think about what we've seen, and how it made us feel. The blog should be a conversation, so please comment on the posts and add your thoughts. You know what I've always … [Read More...]

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Recent Comments

  • Veronica Horwell on Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17: “Know what you mean about the underpowered pre-17late90s shoulder: a bottle slope approach to body outline — the Hamilton coats…” Jul 8, 13:41
  • Sarah Lenton on Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17: “Blimey. A tour de force! Hugely enjoyable. Slight demur on whether a period raised fist would have produced a scrunched…” Jul 7, 21:44
  • william osborne on Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17: “An article that analyzes the serious problems with “Hamilton” by Ed Morales, a journalist and lecturer at Columbia University’s Center…” Jul 7, 20:20
  • william osborne on Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17: “Indeed, in the late 18th century people learned that properly toned-down attire was important for slave owners proclaiming democracy. And…” Jul 7, 19:28
  • David Jays on Bringing Up Baby | Lockdown Theatre Club 16: “Hello Ana, and thanks so much for this. Joining in is, I hope, easy: we all find the film on…” Jul 3, 16:02
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Recent Posts

  • Hamilton | Lockdown Theatre Club 17
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