theatre reviews, news & interviews
aleks.sierz |

New writing for the theatre is good at taking us into the darkest of places – and there are few more painful environments than prisons and mental institutions. Places where agony radiates off the walls, and anguish is in the air we breathe.

Gary Naylor |

Hamilton may have helped the West End recover from The Covid Years, but it carries its share of blame too.

Demetrios Matheou
As a proposition, this production raises the immediate questions how, and why? While Suzanne Collins’s young adult series of books were logically and…
aleks.sierz
Here comes Dad – and he’s muttering a mantra: “My name is Winston Smith and only good things happen to me.” With a name shared with the everyman…
Heather Neill
Perspectives on Shakespeare's tragedy have changed over the decades. As Nonso Anozie said when playing the title role for Cheek by Jowl in 2004,…

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Gary Naylor
Sam Heughan's Macbeth cannot quite find a home in a mobster pub
Matt Wolf
Alan Hollinghurst novel is cunningly filleted, very finely acted
Helen Hawkins
The RSC adaptation is aimed at children, though all will thrill to its spectacle
Gary Naylor
Scandinavian masterpiece transplanted into a London reeling from the ravages of war
Helen Hawkins
Witty but poignant tribute to the strength of family ties as all around disintegrates
Matt Wolf
Tracy Letts's Off Broadway play makes a shimmeringly powerful London debut
aleks.sierz
This Verity Bargate Award-winning dramedy is entertaining as well as thought provoking
Matt Wolf
Nick Payne's new play is amongst his best
Helen Hawkins
Kip Williams revises Genet, with little gained in the update except eye-popping visuals
aleks.sierz
Katherine Moar returns with a Patty Hearst-inspired follow up to her debut hit 'Farm Hall'
Gary Naylor
Raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible
Gary Naylor
Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that needs one
Gary Naylor
Impressive spectacle saves an ageing show in an unsuitable venue
Demetrios Matheou
Hiran Abeyeskera’s childlike prince falls flat in a mixed production
Rachel Halliburton
Łukasz Twarkowski's production dazzles without illuminating
Gary Naylor
Informative and interesting, the play's format limits its potential
Gary Naylor
Shakespeare, in this adaptation, is at his most perceptive
aleks.sierz
West End transfer of National Theatre hit stars Stephen Fry and Olly Alexander
Gary Naylor
If you love the songs of KC and the Sunshine Band, Please Do Go!
Rachel Halliburton
James Graham's play transfixes the audience at every stage
Helen Hawkins
Will Lord's promising debut burdens a fine cast with too much dialogue
Rachel Halliburton
A visually virtuoso work with the feel of a gripping French TV drama
aleks.sierz
Lively star-led revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 debut raises uncomfortable questions
Gary Naylor
Date movie about repeating dates inspires date musical

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