tue 10/12/2024

Theatre Reviews

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

Helen Hawkins

Two boys in east London, one Black, one white, grow up together, play pranks at school, then decades later have a tempestuous falling out. That’s the main narrative arc of these twin plays, but it accounts for none of their extraordinary richness and the superlative acting they entail. 

Read more...

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: Adam Riches: Jimmy / TERF

Veronica Lee

Adam Riches: Jimmy, Summerhall 

Read more...

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: The Sound Inside / So Young

David Kettle

The Sound Inside, Traverse Theatre

Read more...

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

David Kettle

In Two Minds, Traverse Theatre  

Read more...

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

Helen Hawkins

It’s a brave company that embarks on a staging of John Steinbeck’s award-winning 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath. A grim study of human goodness in an unrelentingly cruel universe, it’s a long slog for both cast and audience.

Read more...

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

Matt Wolf

The title sounds as if we ought to be in for an evening of Virginia Woolf, and, indeed, one of the astonishing women on view (Deborah Findlay) was in fact a co-star of the recent West End version of Orlando. In fact, this late-summer offering is a scorching reminder of the power of European theatre at a venue, the Almeida, that has of late focused its attentions (often very well) on the American repertoire, from Tennessee Williams to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, amongst others.

Read more...

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

Gary Naylor

If I were a rich man, I'd be inclined to put together a touring production of Fiddler on the Roof and send it around the world, a week here, a week there, to educate and entertain. But, like Tevye, I also have to sell a little milk to put food on the table, so I’ll just revel in the delights of this marvellous show in the theatrical village nestling within Regent’s Park.

Read more...

A Chorus Line, Sadler's Wells review - high-kicking fun that's low on pathos

Helen Hawkins

A Chorus Line reigned supreme on Broadway from 1975 to 1990, a bold, bare-bones piece that for once put musical theatre’s hoofers in the spotlight. “As welcome as a rainbow after a thunderstorm” was Clive Barnes’s summation in the New York Times.

Read more...

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 reviews: The Mosinee Project / Gwyneth Goes Skiing

David Kettle

The Mosinee Project, Underbelly Cowgate 

Read more...

Frankie Goes To Bollywood, Southbank Centre review - lots of lights, but a dull show

Gary Naylor

In the 1960s, Cilla Black was rescued from hat check duties at The Cavern and made a star. In the 1980s, Rick Astley was whisked away from tea-making at the Stock-Aitken-Waterman studios to launch, 30 years later. a billion RickRolls. In the 2020s, Frankie Taylor is spirited away from a Milton Keynes cinema popcorn stand to the bright (and I mean bright) lights of Bollywood. 

Read more...

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.


latest in today

Help to give theartsdesk a future!

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.

It followed some...

Black Doves, Netflix review - Keira Knightley and Ben Whisha...

It’s rare to spot Keira Knightley in a TV series, and it’s no doubt a sign of changing times that she’s starring in this six-part spies-and-guns...

The Commander review - the good Italian

Patriotic Italian films set during the Fascist war effort are...

Ballet Shoes, Olivier Theatre review - reimagined classic wi...

Those with treasured battered copies of Noel Streatfield’s 1936 story of three young adopted sisters in pre-war London may have...

Christmas with Connaught Brass, Milton Court review - deligh...

Connaught Brass is a quintet of twenty-something...

Cinderella, Royal Ballet review - inspiring dancing, but not...

Romeo and Juliet or Cinderella? Prokofiev’s two great scores have provided the Royal Ballet with a pair of popular...

Nocturnes review - the sounds of the rainforest transport yo...

If you suffer from lepidopterophobia, this film will either cure your fear of moths or push you over the edge. Warning: the screen is often...

Julia Holter, Islington Assembly Hall review - shelter from...

On a wet, dreary, winter evening in north London, at Islington Assembly Hall, a crowd gathered for an ethereal although not always engaging set by...

Music Reissues Weekly: John Leyton - Lone Rider The Holloway...

For John Leyton, it was third time lucky as far as his singles were concerned. The actor’s manager Robert Stigwood teamed him with producer Joe...

theartsdesk Q&A: filmmakers Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen J...

Somewhere in Germany, G7 conference leaders including German Chancellor Ortmann (Cate Blanchett) and US President Wolcott (Charles Dance) repair...