Theatre Reviews

A Tale of Two Cities, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre review - it was the longest of times

Susan Sheahan Monday, 17 July 2017

Much loved, yes. But Dickens’s novel is probably little read by modern audiences and so a chance to see a new adaptation of this tale of discontent, riot and general mayhem set in the French revolution and spread across London and Paris in the late 1700s should be a genuine treat for theatregoers.

Bodies, Royal Court review – pregnant with meaning

aleks Sierz Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Surrogacy is an emotionally fraught subject. The arrangement by which one woman gives birth to another’s baby challenges traditional notions of motherhood, and pitches the anguish of the woman who can’t have children herself against the agony of another woman who gives up her child.

Queen Anne, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - slow, long and dull

alexandra Coghlan Tuesday, 11 July 2017

How well do you know your British history? Fancy explaining the causes and origins of the Glorious Revolution or listing the members of the Grand Alliance? What about the terms of the 1701 Act of Settlement or the Occasional Confirmity Bill of 1702? I ask not because Helen Edmundson’s Queen Anne will require you to know any of this, but rather precisely because it won’t.

The Tempest, Barbican Theatre review - sound and fury at the expense of sense

james Woodall Friday, 07 July 2017

Can The Tempest open on stage without a tempest – of crashing, shrieking and torment – and thus without what can become five minutes-plus of inaudibility? In Gregory Doran’s 2016 Stratford production for the RSC, revived at the Barbican Theatre, the answer is, as so often, no.

Comment

The Mentor, Vaudeville Theatre review - having fun with artistic integrity

Heather Neill Wednesday, 05 July 2017

German writer Daniel Kehlmann’s light-touch 90-minute comedy is a chic satire on the slippery business of making art – and especially on the difficulty of assessing it. Whose judgement matters, after all?

Committee review - we're all on trial in new Kids Company musical

Marianka Swain Tuesday, 04 July 2017

A memorable 2015 parliamentary select committee hearing asked Kids Company CEO Camila Batmanghelidjh and chair of trustees Alan Yentob whether the organisation was ever fit for purpose.

The Wind in the Willows, London Palladium review - an effortful slog

David Benedict Friday, 30 June 2017

An enormous amount rides on a musical's opening number. Without explicitly expressing it, a good opener sets tone, mood and style. Take The Lion King, where "Circle of Life" so thrillingly unites music, design and direction that nothing that follows equals it. "Spring", the opener of The Wind in the Willows, repeatedly announces the warmth of the season, and precious little else.

Mr Gillie, Finborough Theatre review - theatrical buried treasure

Jenny Gilbert Thursday, 29 June 2017

Labels have their uses but they can also be a blight. The works of the Scottish playwright James Bridie – with their regional accents and domestic settings – bear many of the hallmarks of so-called Kitchen Sink drama but didn’t make the canon.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Wyndham's Theatre review – searing stuff

Matt Wolf Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Broadway so frequently fetes its visiting Brits that it's nice when the honour is repaid.

Ink, Almeida Theatre review - The Sun rises while show sinks

aleks Sierz Wednesday, 28 June 2017

The recent general election result proves that the power of the rightwing press has diminished considerably in the digital age, but there was a time when media magnate Rupert Murdoch could make grown-up politicians quake in their socks.

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★★★★★

‘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.

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