thu 19/09/2024

theatre reviews, news & interviews

The Lightest Element, Hampstead Theatre review - engrossing, but fragmentary

Aleks Sierz

British theatre has a proud heritage of science plays. From 1990s classics such as Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia (1993) and Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen (1998) to more recent examples such as Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes (2017) and Marek Horn’s Octopolis (2023), the trick lies in balancing intellectual material about often complex scientific subjects with dramatic flair.

The Band Back Together, Arcola Theatre review - three is a dangerous number

Gary Naylor

We meet Joe first at the keys, singing a pretty good song, but we can hear the pain in the voice – but is that the person or the performance? When Ellie walks in, he leaps up like a cat on a hot tin roof, nervous as a kitten, and we know – it was the person.

Kim's Convenience, Riverside Studios review...

Gary Naylor

One wonders what sitcom writers will do when supermarkets finally sweep the last corner shops away with nobody left old enough to buy cigarettes,...

The Real Ones, Bush Theatre review - engrossing,...

Aleks Sierz

Platonic love should be simple – basically you’re best mates. And without the complications of sex, what could go wrong? Waleed Akhtar, whose...

Our Country's Good, Lyric Hammersmith review...

Helen Hawkins

The latest Greatest Hit to land at the Lyric is Timberlake Wertenbaker’s 1988 award-winning play about a performance of Farquhar’s The Recruiting...

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Why Am I So Single?, Garrick Theatre review - superb songs in Zeitgeist surfing show

Gary Naylor

Marlow and Moss are back with deeply personal exploration of how lives are lived today

The Silver Cord, Finborough Theatre review - Sophie Ward is compellingly repellent

Gary Naylor

Beautifully staged and acted revival of Sidney Howard’s century-old black comedy

Art, Theatre Royal Bath review - Yasmina Reza's smash hit back on tour 30 years after Paris premiere

Gary Naylor

Male friendships buckle as egos clash, with a resonance for today's culture wars

The Real Thing, Old Vic review - Stoppard classic keeps on giving

Demetrios Matheou

James McArdle is immense as Stoppard’s true romantic

G, Royal Court review - everyday realism blitzed by urban myth

Aleks Sierz

Award-winning new writing is full of mystery and metaphor, but a bit too literary

A Night with Janis Joplin: The Musical, Peacock Theatre review - belting Blues singing in an oddly sanitised format

Helen Hawkins

A wealth of musical talent keeps this gig musical afloat

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: L'Addition / Long Distance / The Sun, the Mountain and Me

David Kettle

From meta-theatrical mayhem to dreams of freedom and escape in three shows from the Fringe's closing days

Shifters, Duke of York's Theatre review - star-crossed lovers shine in intelligent rom-com

Gary Naylor

Only the third West End written play by a black woman will not be the last

The 39 Steps, Trafalgar Theatre review - return of an entertaining panto for grown-ups

Helen Hawkins

Patrick Barlow’s brand of silly still delivers a sly Hitchcock spoof

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: REVENGE: After the Levoyah / Puddles and Amazons

David Kettle

Jewish gangsters and ice-cold adolescents in two strong shows at Summerhall

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Òran / This Town

David Kettle

Two solo shows merge poetry, rap, spoken word and theatre to compelling effect

The Fabulist, Charing Cross Theatre review - fine singing cannot rescue an incoherent production

Gary Naylor

Beautiful music, but curious decisions in scripting and staging sink the show

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Ni Mi Madre / Bi-Curious George: Queer Planet

David Kettle

Boys playing girls playing boys in two joyful queer shows at the Pleasance Dome

Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare's Globe review - Egypt in sign language, Rome in pale force

Tom Birchenough

The Globe stretches the theatrical experience with this bilingual BSL production

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Bellringers / Suitcase Show

David Kettle

A troubling take on the climate emergency and a pile of suitcases containing tall tales in two intimate shows at Summerhall

The Birthday Party, Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath review - Pinter still packs a punch

Gary Naylor

Jane Horrocks garners the laughs in a very dark comedy for the ages

Peanut Butter & Blueberries, Kiln Theatre review - rom-com in a time of Islamophobia

Aleks Sierz

Debut two-hander explores a gentle love story of two practicing Muslims

Death of England: Michael / Death of England: Delroy, Soho Place review - thrilling portraits, brilliantly performed, of rebels without a cause

Helen Hawkins

Roy Williams and Clint Dyer's protagonists rage against the limits of their lives

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Adam Riches: Jimmy / TERF

Veronica Lee

One-man play about a sporting great, and a hot topic served cold

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: The Sound Inside / So Young

David Kettle

Unexpected twists in relationships mark out two dramas at the Traverse Theatre

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: In Two Minds / My English Persian Kitchen

David Kettle

Mental health and food form the themes behind two strong dramas at the Traverse Theatre

The Grapes of Wrath, NT Lyttelton review - a bleak journey into migrant purgatory

Helen Hawkins

The National's finely acted staging of Steinbeck's grim classic is a tough watch

The Years, Almeida Theatre review - matchless acting quintet makes for a must-see

Matt Wolf

Annie Ernaux's 'hybrid memoir' comes blazingly alive onstage

Fiddler on the Roof, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - dazzling gem of a production marks its diamond anniversary

Gary Naylor

Unique venue adds a new dimension to canonical musical

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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