sat 20/09/2025

Theatre Reviews

Three Sisters, National Theatre review - Chekhov in time of war

Tom Birchenough

Inua Ellams’ Three Sisters plays Chekhov in the shadow of war, specifically the Nigerian-Biafran secessionist conflict of the late 1960s which so bitterly divided that newly independent nation.

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The Duchess of Malfi, Almeida Theatre review - a radically original perspective on Webster's tragedy

Heather Neill

This play can be a challenge for modern audiences: a woman who is ostensibly in a position of power, "a prince" in Renaissance terms, is nevertheless constrained by social expectations and a prisoner of the will of her overbearing brothers. A widow, she defies them to marry her steward Antonio in secret and tragedy ensues.

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Cyrano de Bergerac, Playhouse Theatre review - James McAvoy triumphant

aleks Sierz

Actor James McAvoy is much in demand: in the BBC's His Dark Materials he is busy saving a parallel world, while in the poetic universe of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac he is tasked with soothing more than one aching heart.

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Fairview, Young Vic review - questioning the assumptions of race

Tom Birchenough

Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview comes to the Young Vic with the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama under its belt, and a reputation for putting audiences on their mettle through a build-up of theatrical...

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Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer, Hampstead Theatre review - it's game over for this chess play

Marianka Swain

We’ve had Chess the musical; now, here’s Chess the play.

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A Christmas Carol, Old Vic Theatre review - the festive favourite mixes gloom with merriment

Heather Neill

"Dickensian" commonly means both sentimental Victorian, apple-cheeked family perfection (especially at Christmas) and abject poverty.

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The Boy Friend, Menier Chocolate Factory review - fun but featherweight

Matt Wolf

There’s slight (White Christmas, to name but one) and then there’s The Boy Friend, a period musical so unabashedly vaporous that if you sneeze, it might blow away.

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Midnight Movie, Royal Court review - sleepless and digital

aleks Sierz

Eve Leigh is an experimental playwright who has tackled difficult issues for more than a decade. Yet most members of the public will know her, and her actor husband Tom Penn, as the neighbours who recorded an altercation between Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds in June this year. At least, that's what it says on the internet. But don't let this distract you.

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The Wind of Heaven, Finborough Theatre review - a welcome, if strange, Emlyn Williams rediscovery

Heather Neill

This is the third Emlyn Williams piece to be presented here in a decade: The Druid's Rest in 2009 was followed by the enormous success of Accolade, directed by Blanche McIntyre, two years later.

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The Wolf of Wall Street, 5-15 Sun Street review - energetic but to what end?

Matt Wolf

Of all the groups you probably wouldn’t want to be part of, surely the hyper-adrenalised, hardscrabble populace of The Wolf of Wall Street, the Jordan Belfort memoir made into an amphetamine rush of a film by Martin Scorsese, must rank near the very top.

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Pages

Advertising feature

★★★★★

A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.
The Observer, Kate Kellaway

 

Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.

 

★★★★★

This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.
The Times, Ann Treneman

 

Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.

 

Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.


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