thu 17/07/2025

theatre reviews, news & interviews

That Bastard, Puccini!, Park Theatre review - inventive comic staging of the battle of the Bohèmes

Helen Hawkins

Before Luigi Illica wrote the libretti for Puccini’s Tosca and Madama Butterfly, he had joined the composer as the librettist in a race to stage the first production of La Bohème. The race was against Ruggero Leoncavallo, a composer Illica had once collaborated with on a libretto – for Puccini, his Manon Lescaut.

Till the Stars Come Down, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - a family hilariously and tragically at war

Helen Hawkins

The 2024 play at the National Theatre that put writer Beth Steel squarely centre-stage has now received a West End transfer. Its title taken from an Auden poem urging people to dance till they drop, it’s probably the most passionate show in that locale, and definitely the lewdest.

Nye, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen...

Heather Neill

The National Health Service was established 77 years ago this month. Resident doctors are about to strike for more pay, long waiting lists for...

theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 -...

David Nice

Anyone seeking local genius in an international festival should look no further than the annual Ravenna concerts from Riccardo Muti – Neapolitan by...

Girl From The North Country, Old Vic review -...

Gary Naylor

Well, I wasn’t expecting a Dylanesque take on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" as an opening number and I was right. But The Zim, Nobel Prize ‘n all,...

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The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe review - hedonistic fizz for a summer's evening

Rachel Halliburton

Emma Pallant and Katherine Pearce are formidable opponents to Falstaff's buffoonery

Run Sister Run, Arcola Theatre review - emphatic emotions, overwrought production

Aleks Sierz

Chloë Moss’s latest play about the different lives of two sisters is deeply felt

Intimate Apparel, Donmar Warehouse review - stirring story of Black survival in 1905 New York

Helen Hawkins

An early Lynn Nottage work gets a superb cast and production

Hercules, Theatre Royal Drury Lane review - new Disney stage musical is no 'Lion King'

Gary Naylor

Big West End crowdpleaser lacks punch and poignancy with join-the-dots plotting and cookie-cutter characters

Showmanism, Hampstead Theatre review - lip-synced investigation of words, theatricality and performance

Gary Naylor

Technically accomplished production with Dickie Beau never settles into a coherent whole

4.48 Psychosis, Royal Court review - powerful but déjà vu

Aleks Sierz

Sarah Kane’s groundbreaking play gets a nostalgic anniversary reboot

Joyceana around Bloomsday, Dublin review - flawless adaptations of great dramatic writing

David Nice

Chapters and scenes from 'Ulysses', 'Dubliners' and a children’s story vividly done

Stereophonic, Duke of York's Theatre review - rich slice of creative life delivered by a 1970s rock band

Helen Hawkins

David Adjmi's clever and compelling hit play gets a crack London cast

North by Northwest, Alexandra Palace review - Hitchcock adaptation fails to fly

Gary Naylor

Emma Rice's storytelling at fault in misconceived production

Hamlet Hail to the Thief, RSC, Stratford review - Radiohead mark the Bard's card

Gary Naylor

An innovative take on a familiar play succeeds far more often than it fails

The King of Pangea, King's Head Theatre review - grief and hope, but no connection

Gary Naylor

Heart and soul proves insufficient in world premiere of therapeutic show

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bridge Theatre review - Nick Hytner's hit gender-bender returns refreshed

Helen Hawkins

This Dream is a great night out, especially for Shakespeare first-timers

Miss Myrtle’s Garden, Bush Theatre review - flowering talent, but needs weeding

Aleks Sierz

New play about loss, love, grief and gardening is humane, but flawed

Fiddler on the Roof, Barbican review - lean, muscular delivery ensures that every emotion rings true

Rachel Halliburton

This transfer from Regent's Park Open Air Theatre sustains its magic

In Praise of Love, Orange Tree Theatre review - subdued production of Rattigan's study of loving concealment

Heather Neill

Unspoken emotion flows through this late work

Letters from Max, Hampstead Theatre review - inventively staged tale of two friends fighting loss with poetry

Helen Hawkins

Sarah Ruhl turns her bond with a student into a lesson in how to love

Elephant, Menier Chocolate Factory review - subtle, humorous exploration of racial identity and music

Rachel Halliburton

Story of self-discovery through playing the piano resounds in Anoushka Lucas's solo show

This is My Family, Southwark Playhouse - London debut of 2013 Sheffield hit is feeling its age

Gary Naylor

Relatable or stereotyped - that's for you to decide

The Frogs, Southwark Playhouse review - great songs save updated Aristophanes comedy

Gary Naylor

Tone never settles, but Sondheim's genius carries the day

Mrs Warren's Profession, Garrick Theatre review - mother-daughter showdown keeps it in the family

Matt Wolf

Shaw's once-shocking play pairs Imelda Staunton with her real-life daughter

The Crucible, Shakespeare's Globe review - stirring account of paranoia and prejudice

Rachel Halliburton

Ince's fidelity to the language allows every nuance to be exposed

The Fifth Step, Soho Place review - wickedly funny two-hander about defeating alcoholism

Helen Hawkins

David Ireland pits a sober AA sponsor against a livewire drinker, with engaging results

The Deep Blue Sea, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - Tamsin Greig honours Terence Rattigan

Matt Wolf

The 1952 classic lives to see another day in notably name-heavy revival

The Brightening Air, Old Vic review - Chekhov jostles Conor McPherson in writer-director's latest

Matt Wolf

The Irishman's first new play in over a decade is engaging but overstuffed

Footnote: a brief history of British theatre

London theatre is the oldest and most famous theatreland in the world, with more than 100 theatres offering shows ranging from new plays in the subsidised venues such as the National Theatre and Royal Court to mass popular hits such as The Lion King in the West End and influential experimental crucibles like the Bush and Almeida theatres. There's much cross-fertilisation with Broadway, with London productions transferring to New York, and leading Hollywood film actors coming to the West End to star in live theatre. In regional British theatre, the creative energy of theatres like Alan Ayckbourn's Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, the Bristol Old Vic and the Sheffield theatre hub add to the richness of the landscape, while the many town theatres host circling tours of popular farces, crime theatre and musicals.

lion_kingThe first permanent theatre, the Red Lion, was built in Queen Elizabeth I's time, in 1576 in Shoreditch; Shakespeare spent 20 years in London with the Lord Chamberlain's Men, mainly performing at The Theatre, also in Shoreditch. A century later under the merry Charles II the first "West End" theatre was built on what is now Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and Restoration theatre evolved with a strong injection of political wit from Irish playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Catering for more populist tastes, Sadler's Wells theatre went up in 1765, and a lively mix of drama, comedy and working-class music-hall ensued. But by the mid-19th century London theatre was deplored for its low taste, its burlesque productions unfavourably contrasted with the aristocratic French theatre. Calls for a national theatre to do justice to Shakespeare resulted in the first "Shakespeare Memorial" theatre built in Stratford in 1879.

The Forties and Fifties saw a golden age of classic theatre, with Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud starring in world-acclaimed productions in the Old Vic company, and new British plays by Harold Pinter, John Osborne, Beckett and others erupting at the English Stage Company in the Royal Court. This momentum led in 1961 to the establishing of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, and in 1963 the launch of the National Theatre at The Old Vic, led by Olivier. In the late Sixties Britain broke the American stranglehold on large-scale modern musicals when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice launched their brilliant careers with first Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and then Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970, and never looked back. The British modern original musical tradition led on to Les Misérables, The Lion King and most recently Matilda.

The Arts Desk brings you the fastest overnight reviews and ticket booking links for last night's openings, as well as the most thoughtful close-up interviews with major creative figures, actors and playwrights. Our critics include Matt Wolf, Aleks Sierz, Alexandra Coghlan, Veronica Lee, Sam Marlowe, Hilary Whitney and James Woodall.

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