Theatre Reviews
What If If Only, Royal Court review - short if not sweetTuesday, 05 October 2021
Few sights speak so eloquently of loss, of an especially cruel and painful loss, as one glass of wine, half-full, alone on a table. A man speaks to a partner who isn’t there, wishes her back, but knows that she has gone. Then another woman materialises to speak of of the futures he could have enjoyed - but now will not - and of the many, many futures that hunger for life, shut out of our world by deliberate action and unintentional chance. Read more... |
The Normal Heart, National Theatre review - Ben Daniels triumphantMonday, 04 October 2021
Hypocrisy. Is this the right word? I don’t mean the play, but the audience. Read more... |
How to Survive an Apocalypse, Finborough Theatre review - millenarian millennialsMonday, 04 October 2021
Despite its painfully relevant title, How To Survive An Apocalypse was written in 2016. If only Canadian playwright Jordan Hall knew, eh? The end times aren’t just creeping but hurtling towards us, these days. Read more... |
Curious, Soho Theatre review - a young playwright puts herself centre-stageMonday, 04 October 2021
Jasmine Lee-Jones has a hard act to follow – namely, herself. Read more... |
Witness for the Prosecution, London County Hall review - return of Agatha Christie's gripping courtroom dramaFriday, 01 October 2021
Lucy Bailey's production of Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, first staged at County Hall in 2017, has a few years to make up on The Mousetrap's near 70, but it has already proved its staying power, despite the hiatus of the lockdown months. Read more... |
Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre review - a spectacular West End show to delight fans old and newTuesday, 28 September 2021
There’s a lot of going back to the future in theatres just now - shows (like this one) postponed by 18 months or so and delayed still further by co-star Roger Bart being indisposed on press night are bringing the bright lights back to the West End. Read more... |
Shining City, Theatre Royal Stratford East review - occasional sluggishness alongside a true star turnMonday, 27 September 2021
When Brendan Coyle, playing a modestly magnetic widower and sales rep called John in this revival of Conor McPherson's 2004 play Shining City, first appears on stage, he looks thoroughly bewildered. His eyes dart back and forth as he initially struggles to find his bearings. Read more... |
The Last Five Years, Garrick Theatre review - bittersweet musical treat gets West End upgradeSaturday, 25 September 2021
Much has happened in the five years since your reviewer braved the steep rake at The Other Palace and saw The Last Five Years (not least my now getting its “Nobody needs to know” nod in Hamilton – worth a fistful of Tonys in prestige, I guess) so it’s timely to revisit Jason Robert Brown’s musical. Read more... |
Blithe Spirit, Harold Pinter Theatre review - an amusing, if dated, revival of the Coward classicWednesday, 22 September 2021
We’re in an agreeable drawing room with an author, Charles Condomine, who is looking forward to having a bit of fun with a local spiritualist, Madame Arcati, whom he has invited over for an evening séance. Read more... |
Black British Musical Theatre 1900-1950, Wigmore Hall review – a disappointing missed opportunityWednesday, 22 September 2021
The Wigmore Hall is a bastion of white musicians playing the music of white composers to a largely white audience and it is to the credit of the management that, in seeking to diversify, it staged this lecture-recital on the history of black musicals in Britain from 1900-1950 in a main evening slot. Read more... |
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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.
Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.
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