Three Kings
September 6, 2020
Livestreamed from the Old Vic, Andrew Scott gives a riveting performance of this tale of lost fathers and sons.
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Sleepless
September 2, 2020
Musical theatre returns at the Troubadour Wembley Park with this stage version of Sleepless in Seattle.
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Songs for a New World
July 25, 2020
Jason Robert Brown’s musical, produced digitally with an all-star cast, chimes with our extraordinary ‘moment’.
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Hamilton
July 1, 2020
Premiering on Disney+, this outstanding recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical puts us all in the room where it happened.
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The Last Five Years
June 26, 2020
Socially distanced heartbreak in Jason Robert Browns’ musical, which has new lockdown resonance.
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Cats
May 16, 2020
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, featuring glorious Gillian Lynne choreography, is a purr-fectly theatrical experience.
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The Thread
April 20, 2020
Greek folk and contemporary dance unite in Russell Maliphant’s striking piece, now streaming via Sadler’s Wells.
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Treasure Island
April 16, 2020
Patsy Ferran anchors a creatively updated adventure story – excellent lockdown family viewing from the National Theatre.
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Drawing the Line
April 14, 2020
Modern history becomes dark farce in Howard Brenton’s account of the Partition of India at Hampstead Theatre.
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Jane Eyre
April 10, 2020
The latest National Theatre at Home offering is Sally Cookson’s fiery, feminist Brontë adaptation.
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Rumpelstiltskin
April 6, 2020
Sadler’s Wells share balletLORENT’s engaging yarn for young audiences – a sunnier take on the Brothers Grimm.
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I and You
March 24, 2020
Now streaming via Hampstead Theatre, this YA play – starring Games of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams – is oddly pertinent.
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Sondheim at 90 Songs: ‘I’m Still Here’
March 23, 2020
We’re celebrating the great man’s birthday with our favourite numbers – mine is from Follies.
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The Last Five Years
March 5, 2020
An actor-musician production at the Southwark Playhouse adds an enriching new layer to Jason Robert Brown’s musical.
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The Prince of Egypt
February 26, 2020
This Moses musical at the Dominion Theatre, scored by Stephen Schwartz, goes big and broad.
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The Haystack
February 7, 2020
Al Blyth’s flawed but trenchant surveillance state thriller at the Hampstead Theatre asks who’s watching the watchers.
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Endgame/Rough for Theatre II
February 5, 2020
Beckett is played for laughs in this Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe-starring double bill at the Old Vic.
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Faustus: That Damned Woman
January 29, 2020
Chris Bush’s gender-swapped adaptation at the Lyric Hammersmith has feminist urgency, but lacks dramatic coherence.
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Rags: The Musical
January 20, 2020
Current events lend dramatic urgency to this immigrant tale at the Park Theatre.
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Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer
December 6, 2019
Tom Morton-Smith’s Cold War chess play, premiering at Hampstead Theatre, is stubbornly undramatic.
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Dear Evan Hansen
November 19, 2019
A stirring American musical, now at Noel Coward Theatre, tackles relationships in the internet age.
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Mary Poppins
November 13, 2019
The magical nanny returns to Prince Edward Theatre in a lavish but old-fashioned production.
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Ghost Quartet
November 1, 2019
Dave Malloy’s beguiling song cycle opens the new Boulevard Theatre.
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The Man in the White Suit
October 9, 2019
Stephen Mangan helms this muddled Ealing comedy adaptation at Wyndham’s Theatre.
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Noises Off
October 4, 2019
The sublime chaos of Michael Frayn’s backstage meta-farce returns to the West End.
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What Girls Are Made Of
September 13, 2019
Cora Bisset shres her Britpop memories in euphoric gig-theatre at Soho Theatre.
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Preludes
September 12, 2019
Dave Malloy’s innovative musical journeys into the mind of Rachmaninoff at Southwark Playhouse.
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Falsettos
September 5, 2019
The Other Palace hosts an engaging if chaotic UK premiere of this landmark musical.
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Once on This Island
August 15, 2019
The British Theatre Academy’s version of this folkloric Caribbean musical at Southwark Playhouse charms.
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Evita
August 9, 2019
Jamie Lloyd gives us a diva dictator for 2019 in this super-sleek, contemporary updating at Regent’s Park.
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Blues in the Night
July 25, 2019
Hard times, hot tunes: the mighty Sharon D. Clarke leads a steamy, soulful revue at the Kiln Theatre.
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The Bridges of Madison County
July 24, 2019
Trevor Nunn’s busy Menier production competes with Jason Robert Brown’s score in this middling revival.
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Jesus Christ Superstar
July 10, 2019
Regent Park’s heavenly resurrection of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical gets an encore Barbican run.
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On Your Feet!
June 27, 2019
Gloria Estefan’s bio-musical, making a UK debut at the London Coliseum, hits familiar jukebox show notes.
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Cash Cow
June 25, 2019
Oli Forsyth’s new play at Hampstead Theatre offers a flawed but timely look at pushy tennis parents.
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Man of La Mancha
May 1, 2019
This historical musical, revived with Kelsey Grammer at the London Coliseum, is better left in the past.
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Ain’t Misbehavin’
April 25, 2019
Tyrone Huntley and Oti Mabuse make creative debuts with this jazz-hot musical revue at Southwark Playhouse.
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Sweet Charity
April 18, 2019
Swinging Sixties design dominates in Josie Rourke’s Donmar swansong.
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Betrayal
March 14, 2019
Tom Hiddleston anchors a bold, brooding Pinter production from Jamie Lloyd at Harold Pinter Theatre.
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Follies
February 23, 2019
The National’s Sondheim spectacular returns, better than ever.
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The American Clock
February 14, 2019
Rachel Chavkin’s creative Old Vic revival can’t quite tame Arthur Miller’s sprawling epic.
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Violet
January 22, 2019
Jeanine Tesori’s faith musical, getting its UK premiere at Charing Cross Theatre, is a gentle pleasure.
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Aspects of Love
January 11, 2019
An intimate Andrew Lloyd Webber production at Southwark Playhouse lays bare both strengths and weaknesses.
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Fiddler on the Roof
December 6, 2018
Trevor Nunn’s revival of the classic musical at Menier Chocolate Factory is a soulful seasonal outing.
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Hadestown
November 14, 2018
Anaïs Mitchell’s folk musical, further developed at the National Theatre, is hotter than hell.
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Company
October 17, 2018
Marianne Elliott’s gender-swapped Sondheim at Gielgud Theatre is a revelation.
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Heathers The Musical
September 20, 2018
A keen fanbase follows Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe’s sardonic show to Theatre Royal Haymarket.
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The Humans
September 7, 2018
At Hampstead Theatre, Stephen Karam uses domestic drama to tell a contemporary American horror story.
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Little Shop of Horrors
August 11, 2018
Vicky Vox is inspired casting in Maria Aberg’s monstrously entertaining production at Regent’s Park Open Air.
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The King and I
July 4, 2018
Kelli O’Hara leads a golden revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic at London Palladium.
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Fun Home
June 28, 2018
Now at the Young Vic, Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel becomes achingly intimate musical theatre.
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Red
May 16, 2018
Alfred Molina is a towering Rothko in John Logan’s richly textured play, revived by Michael Grandage at Wyndham’s Theatre.
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Bat Out of Hell
April 20, 2018
The Meat Loaf musical returns, batty as ever, now very much at home in the Dominion Theatre.
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Tina
April 18, 2018
Powerhouse Adrienne Warren is the saving grace of a simply OK Tina Turner bio-musical at Aldwych Theatre.
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Summer and Smoke
March 8, 2018
Rebecca Frecknall’s exquisite Tennessee Williams revival at the Almeida showcases the skyrocketing talents of both its director and star Patsy Ferran.
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Girl from the North Country
January 12, 2018
Bob Dylan fuels a dreamlike drama, as Conor McPherson’s beguiling work transfers to Noel Coward Theatre.
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Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
November 22, 2017
This new British musical, transferring from Sheffield to the Apollo Theatre, is an inclusive, joyful, homegrown hit.
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Venus in Fur
October 18, 2017
Pain and pleasure in David Ives’s steamy two-hander at Theatre Royal Haymarket, starring Natalie Dormer and David Oakes.
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The Lie
October 9, 2017
The war on facts takes marital form in Florian Zeller’s comedy, the latest import to Menier Chocolate Factory.
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Committee
July 4, 2017
Kids Company’s downfall is slickly dramatised in a Donmar Warehouse musical that puts us all on trial.
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Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
May 16, 2017
Lee Hall’s sublimely foul-mouthed choristers storm the Duke of York’s in a pitch-perfect transfer.
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The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
May 3, 2017
Lenny Henry covers Donald Trump’s greatest hits in the Donmar Warehouse’s comedy roast of a revival.
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The Wild Party
February 21, 2017
Gin, skin and sin in Drew McOnie’s scorching production of a slight musical, opening the revamped The Other Palace.
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Death Takes A Holiday
January 24, 2017
Thom Southerland revives Maury Yeston’s lush but ludicrous musical at Charing Cross Theatre.
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Nice Fish
November 26, 2016
Mark Rylance is waiting for cod-ot in this absurdist trifle at Harold Pinter Theatre.
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Side Show
November 1, 2016
A flawed work about conjoined twins at Southwark Playhouse is redeemed by its central pair.
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Murder Ballad
October 7, 2016
A starry cast elevates an insubstantial new rock musical at the Arts Theatre.
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No Man’s Land
September 21, 2016
Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart combine with Pinter for a haunting, unforgettable production, now at Wyndham’s Theatre.
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Things I Know To Be True
September 17, 2016
Love hurts in Andrew Bovell’s shattering family portrait at Lyric Hammersmith.
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Pick of the Week
September 1, 2016
Poldark, Woody Allen, Proms pleasures and Blackpool illuminations.
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Some Girl(s)
July 20, 2016
Neil LaBute’s masochistic odyssey at Park Theatre is sporadically thought-provoking.
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The Stripper
July 12, 2016
A musical take on pulp noir at St James Theatre is frustratingly uneven.
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Bugsy Malone
June 30, 2016
Generation-bridging joy with the return of the mobster musical pastiche at Lyric Hammersmith.
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Opinion: Post-Brexit, we need theatre more than ever
June 26, 2016
The arts hold the key to our collective humanity.
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Macbeth
June 24, 2016
Incoherent vision results in a (Mac)duff Globe production.
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Henry V
June 23, 2016
Michelle Terry anchors a reflective exploration of leadership and nationhood at Regent’s Park Open Air.
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Wild
June 21, 2016
Mike Bartlett’s ponderous Snowden drama at Hampstead Theatre is animated by an astonishing finale.
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The Quiet House
June 11, 2016
Gareth Farr produces an agonising portrait of fertility struggle at Park Theatre.
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The Spoils
June 3, 2016
Jesse Eisenberg writes himself another narcissistic misfit, this one landing on Trafalgar Studios.
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Sideways
May 6, 2016
Stage version of trip through Californian wine country at St James Theatre is quaffable, if lacking acidity.
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Romeo and Juliet
May 26, 2016
Kenneth Branagh’s la dolce vita at Garrick Theatre is ravishing, but superficial.
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The Philanderer
May 18, 2016
Modern-dress George Bernard Shaw at Orange Tree Theatre is resonant but long-winded.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
May 6, 2016
New Globe artistic director Emma Rice makes a joyfully irreverent start.
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Pick of the Week
April 28, 2016
Oscar-winning Son of Saul, Nick Payne’s latest and Line of Duty‘s nail-biting climax.
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Doctor Faustus
April 26, 2016
Jamie Lloyd’s contemporary take on Marlowe at Duke of York’s Theatre is crowded, lurid and weightless.
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Funny Girl
April 21, 2016
Sheridan Smith is the greatest star in a winning West End transfer.
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The Flick
April 20, 2016
Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize winner at the National Theatre makes the ordinary extraordinary.
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Guys and Dolls
April 15, 2016
The all-time Broadway great, now at Phoenix Theatre, remains a reassuringly safe bet.
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The Brink
April 12, 2016
Brad Birch offers an expressionistic lesson in acute millennial anxiety at the Orange Tree.
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The Caretaker
April 7, 2016
Timothy Spall leads an empathetic but overly broad Pinter revival at the Old Vic.
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X
April 6, 2016
Alistair McDowall’s journey through time and space at the Royal Court is beguiling and maddening.
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Bug
March 30, 2016
James Norton and Kate Fleetwood share delusions in an intimate Tracy Letts revival at Found111.
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Reasons to Be Happy
March 25, 2016
Neil LaBute’s reunion with old friends at Hampstead Theatre strays into soap.
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People, Places & Things
March 24, 2016
Denise Gough reprises her tour-de-force performance as a recalcitrant recovering addict at Wyndham’s Theatre.
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The Painkiller
March 17, 2016
Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon’s double act elevates Sean Foley’s goofy throwback farce at the Garrick.
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The Truth
March 16, 2016
French playwright Florian Zeller offers a witty challenge to the virtue of honesty at Menier Chocolate Factory.
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Pick of the Week
March 3, 2016
A new Coen caper, Hermione’s directing debut, ENO’s strike battle, and revolution in the music industry.
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The Maids
February 29, 2016
Macabre savagery meets existentialist thought in Genet’s vision, brought to Trafalgar Studios by Jamie Lloyd.
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The Patriotic Traitor
February 27, 2016
Jonathan Lynn offers a plodding appraisal of divisive French leaders de Gaulle and Pétain at Park Theatre.
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We Made It: Stufish Entertainment Architects
February 21, 2016
Set designer and architect Ric Lipson on creating work for U2, Madonna, Chinese theatre and a new West End version of The War of the Worlds.
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Mrs Henderson Presents
February 17, 2016
A cosily escapist new British musical, now at Noël Coward Theatre, salutes Blitz spirit and patriotic nudity.
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Hand to God
February 16, 2016
Robert Askins’ raucous puppet farce at Vaudeville Theatre is frequently hilarious, but too scattershot.
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The End of Longing
February 12, 2016
The one where Matthew Perry writes a fatally artificial play, debuting at the Playhouse Theatre.
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Rabbit Hole
February 5, 2016
David Lindsay-Abaire’s examination of grief, now playing at Hampstead Theatre, is smart and sincere, but too studied.
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Red Velvet
February 3, 2016
Adrian Lester is a blazing triumph as pioneering Ira Aldridge in the deserving transfer of Lolita Chakrabarti’s debut.
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The Mother
January 27, 2016
Gina McKee provides a memorable portrait of maternal breakdown in Florian Zeller’s desolate farce at Tricycle Theatre.
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Pick of the Week
January 7, 2016
Awards season hots up, the next Harry Potter headlines a Broadway classic, and epics are reimagined on stage and screen.
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Hangmen
December 7, 2015
Gallows humour galore in Martin McDonagh’s triumphant return, now at Wyndham’s Theatre.
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Macbeth
December 4, 2015
Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin’s interpretative production at the Young Vic is queasily topical.
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Ben Hur
November 25, 2015
Patrick Barlow’s epic in miniature follow-up to The 39 Steps brings sublime silliness to Tricycle Theatre.
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The Homecoming
November 24, 2015
Jamie Lloyd’s bold Trafalgar Studios production makes this familiar Pinter play freshly unsettling.
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We Made It: Wildlife photographer Roger Hooper
November 15, 2015
Waiting out leopards, being chased by elephants and campaigning with the WWF.
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Four Minutes Twelve Seconds
November 13, 2015
Revenge porn and modern parenting tackled in James Fritz’s compelling but contrived debut at Trafalgar Studios.
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Pick of the Week
November 12, 2015
Maggie Smith on the big screen, London Jazz Festival, Dawn French, Derren Brown and a four-person Ben Hur.
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The Winter’s Tale, All On Her Own/Harlequinade
November 9, 2015
Kenneth Branagh’s new Garrick season opens with flawed Shakespeare, riotous Rattigan and a boozy unburdening.
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Elf
November 5, 2015
This syrupy and overpriced family Christmas musical at the Dominion Theatre is instantly forgettable.
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Xanadu
November 2, 2015
The 1980 movie flop-turned-retro roller-skating musical comedy at Southwark Playhouse is divinely bonkers.
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Dinner With Friends
October 30, 2015
Donald Margulies’s astute but limited play puts marriage and friendship under the microscope at Park Theatre.
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Husbands & Sons
October 27, 2015
Ben Power’s inspired melding of three DH Lawrence mining plays at the National Theatre creates a quiet triumph.
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Listed: The 100 Funniest Things About Downton
October 24, 2015
As the series draws to a close, we list its mostly unintentional hilarity, from the entail and the Turkish corpse to the death-by-political-correctness of Isis the dog.
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Downton Abbey: Alien vs. Dowager
October 18, 2015
Julian Fellowes channels James Cameron in a gory end to His Lordship’s heavily signposted mystery illness.
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An Open Book: David Lan
October 17, 2015
The Young Vic’s artistic director shares his favourite reads, from Steinbeck and social history to the only theatre book ‘that really matters’.
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A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes
October 15, 2015
Marcus Gardley sacrifices Molière’s subversion for Deep South slapstick in a broad Tricycle production.
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In the Heights
October 13, 2015
Swagger, salsa and soul in this exhilarating production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, transferred to King’s Cross Theatre.
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Ticking
October 12, 2015
Death row unlocks family secrets in Paul Andrew Williams’ blunt but grippingly played thriller at Trafalgar Studios.
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Listed: Suffragettes portrayed
October 11, 2015
As the film Suffragette opens, we examine the women’s movement in art, from drama and novels to documentary and song.
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Dark Tourism
October 1, 2015
Daniel Dingsdale’s debut at Park Theatre is as vacuous and mean-spirited as the celebrity culture it’s attempting to satirise.
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Tipping the Velvet
September 29, 2015
Laura Wade gives Sarah Waters’ Victorian Sapphic novel an inventive postmodern reframing at Lyric Hammersmith.
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Nell Gwynn
September 24, 2015
Nell’s story is reclaimed, but sold short, in Jessica Swale’s merry romp at the Globe.
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Martyr
September 23, 2015
Marius von Mayenburg offers an impassioned but tonally uncertain take on religious extremism at Unicorn Theatre.
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Casa Valentina
September 20, 2015
Harvey Fierstein’s Sixties cross-dressing drama at Southwark Playhouse is heartfelt, but overloaded.
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Pick of the Week
September 17, 2015
A feast of theatrical openings, plus Ai Weiwei, Courtney Pine, and a TV costume drama battle royale.
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Mouthful
September 14, 2015
An evening of short plays at Trafalgar Studios responding to the global food crisis are efficient, but too didactic.
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Future conditional
September 10, 2015
Matthew Warchus kicks off his Old Vic tenure with Tamsin Oglesby’s flawed but provocative examination of education.
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When We Were Women
September 7, 2015
Sharman Macdonald’s Scottish World War Two play, revived at the Orange Tree, flirts awkwardly with formal experimentation.
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Lady Chatterley’s Lover
September 6, 2015
Sanitised Lawrence is more soppily sentimental than scandalous in Jed Mercurio’s revisionist BBC adaptation.
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Song from Far Away
September 4, 2015
Simon Stephens’ raw meditation on grief at the Young Vic creeps under the skin.
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You Won’t Succeed On Broadway If You Don’t Have Any Jews
August 27, 2015
A keen cast of up-and-comers just about salvage this jumbled, inane revue at St James Theatre.
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An Open Book: Bruce McCall
August 15, 2015
The renowned satirical writer and artist talks compensatory learning and the lure of Atlantic liners.
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Pick of the Week
August 13, 2015
The latest from Edinburgh, Green Man Festival and will The Man From U.N.C.L.E will be a Cold War hit?
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Dear Lupin
August 3, 2015
Michael Simkins transposes Roger Mortimer’s waspish letters to his son into cosy semi-drama at Apollo Theatre.
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Listed: Precocious Writers
July 18, 2015
As the Royal Court launches new plays by children, we celebrate great youthful authors, from Austen to Caitlin Moran.
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Constellations
July 14, 2015
Nick Payne’s dazzlingly inventive theoretical physics romcom, revived at Trafalgar Studios, is out of this world.
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Orson’s Shadow
July 6, 2015
Austin Pendleton’s dramatisation of Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier’s 1960 backstage feud at Southwark Playhouse is for superfans only.
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The Seagull
June 25, 2015
Torben Betts’s sparky free adaptation and Matthew Dunster’s striking staging reinvigorate Chekhov’s classic at Regent’s Park Open Air.
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The Oak Tree
June 24, 2015
Tim Crouch’s experimental meditation on performance at the National Theatre is indelibly powerful.
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Luna Gale
June 23, 2015
Rebecca Gilman’s socially conscious drama about child protection at Hampstead Theatre is hampered by sensational twists.
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We Want You To Watch
June 16, 2015
RashDash and Alice Birch’s dance theatre attack on pornography at the National is too scattered and superficial to have real impact.
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We Made It: Hauser & Wirth Somerset
June 13, 2015
Gallery director Anna Workman explains how a derelict West Country farm became a world-class contemporary art gallery.
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An Audience With Jimmy Savile
June 12, 2015
Jonathan Maitland’s responsible theatrical reconstruction at Park Theatre honours the victims, but lacks real drama.
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Waiting for Godot
June 7, 2015
Sydney Theatre Company provides a humane if occasionally too cosy take on Beckett’s classic at the Barbican.
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Stop!…The Play
June 4, 2015
David Spicer’s comedy of theatrical disaster at Trafalgar Studios doesn’t match up to Noises Off, but offers amusing antics.
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As You Like It
May 20, 2015
Blanche McIntyre’s warming traditional production at Shakespeare’s Globe needs more theatrical magic.
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Pick of the Week
May 14, 2015
With big drama on stage and television, from Death of a Salesman to the latest Scandi must-watch, there are no austerity measures in theartsdesk’s coverage.
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C
ommunicating Doors
May 13, 2015
Ayckbourn produces fusion confusion with his time travel comedy thriller, revived at Menier Chocolate Factory.
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The Father
May 12, 2015
Florian Zeller’s brutally honest portrait of dementia, transferred to the Tricycle, is unmissable theatre.
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Beyond Bollywood
May 11, 2015
New musical at the Palladium is nothing more than tourist bait, couching energetic routines in an execrable script.
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The Audience
May 6, 2015
Kristin Scott Thomas proves a worthy successor in Peter Morgan’s rejigged, but fatally limited, revival at the Apollo.
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Everyman
April 30, 2015
Carol Ann Duffy’s take on the morality play, stylishly presented by new National head Rufus Norris, needs more subversion.
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Clarion
April 22, 2015
Mark Jagasia’s insider tabloid takedown at Arcola Theatre has real pre-election heft.
______________________________________________________________
Ah, Wilderness!
April 21, 2015
A rare comedy from Eugene O’Neill at Young Vic, forming the blueprint for greater works, is charming but insubstantial.
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Alice’s Adventures Underground
April 17, 2015
Les Enfants Terribles offer an engaging if flawed alternative journey through The Vaults with their immersive new work.
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The Glass Protégé
April 15, 2015
Dylan Costello’s revisiting of Golden Age Hollywood’s repression at Park Theatre is mired in cliché.
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theartsdesk Q&A: Choreographer Stephen Mear
April 11, 2015
The theatrical dance dynamo talks striptease, triple threats and the power of escapism.
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Dead Sheep
April 2, 2015
Jonathan Maitland’s witty insider look at Howe’s betrayal of Thatcher at Park Theatre is solid vote-winner.
______________________________________________________________
Bad Jews
March 25, 2015
Joshua Harmon’s searing study of identity, transferred to the Arts Theatre, is the Rocky of comedies.
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Harvey
March 23, 2015
The appeal of Mary Chase’s dated comedy at Theatre Royal Haymarket is as elusive as its giant invisible rabbit.
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Buyer & Cellar
March 19, 2015
Jonathan Tolins’ riotous romp at Menier Chocolate Factory deliciously skewers Barbra Streisand and acquisition culture.
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Stevie
March 16, 2015
Hugh Whitemore’s writerly biographical drama about poet Stevie Smith at Hampstead Theatre lacks dramatic thrust.
______________________________________________________________
The Armour
March 6, 2015
Ben Ellis’s flawed site-specific drama exploring The Langham hotel’s history gains substance the further back it reaches.
______________________________________________________________
Pick of the Week
March 5, 2015
An action-packed week includes experimental indie-pop, Juliette Binoche taking on Antigone, and the latest incarnation of Poldark.
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T
he Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco
March 3, 2015
Andrew Whaley’s richly allegorical exploration of Zimbabwe’s history at Gate Theatre needs sharper elucidation.
______________________________________________________________
Lippy
February 28, 2015
Bush Moukarzel and Dead Centre’s absurdist piece at the Young Vic is an onerous journey into the unknown.
______________________________________________________________
M
uswell Hill
February 19, 2015
Torben Betts interrogates First World malaise via an entertaining dinner party from hell at Park Theatre.
______________________________________________________________
Boa
February 10, 2015
Real-life theatrical couple Harriet Walter and Guy Paul add frisson to Clara Brennan’s two-hander at Trafalgar Studios.
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Little Light
February 8, 2015
Tragic loss devastates in Alice Birch’s gut punch of a play, which continues a great run at the reborn Orange Tree Theatre.
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The Last of the De Mullins
February 6, 2015
Rediscovered Edwardian play by St John Hankin offers surprisingly robust feminist discourse at Jermyn Street Theatre.
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Di and Viv and Rose
January 30, 2015
Amelia Bullmore’s powerful meditation on defining friendships impresses in its West End transfer.
______________________________________________________________
Pick of the Week
January 29, 2015
Our verdict on Oscars-snubbed Selma, Jessie J hits Eventim Apollo, and Christian Marclay brings superhero sound effects to White Cube.
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Hello/Goodbye
January 27, 2015
Cupid takes the form of property dispute in Peter Souter’s deft romcom, promoted to Hampstead’s upstairs space.
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The Railway Children
January 17, 2015
Mike Kenny’s crisp adaptation of Edith Nesbit’s classic at King’s Cross Theatre offers spirited family entertainment.
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Saxon Court
November 25, 2014
At Southwark Playhouse, Daniel Andersen’s brassy office comedy recalls the early days of the financial crisis, with mixed results.
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Accolade
November 18, 2014
Blanche McIntyre produces a note-perfect revival of Emlyn Williams’ thoroughly modern masterpiece at St James Theatre.
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Listed: Wall Flowers – The Best of Berlin
November 8, 2014
On the 25th anniversary of its fall, theartsdesk salutes great stories, songs and dramas inspired by the Berlin Wall.
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JOHN
November 5, 2014
DV8’s verbatim physical theatre work at the National powerfully relates the life of a social outsider.
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First Episode
November 1, 2014
Tom Littler’s affectionate revival of Rattigan’s lost play at Jermyn Street Theatre hints at greatness to come.
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Wet House
October 24, 2014
Paddy Campbell gives the desperate fate of addicts and outcasts bracingly humorous treatment at Soho Theatre.
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Neville’s Island
October 22, 2014
Transferred from Chichester to the Duke of York’s Theatre, Tim Firth’s comedy about stranded middle-managers is a damp squib.
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The House That Will Not Stand
October 21, 2014
Marcus Gardley’s slice of reclaimed African-American history at Tricycle Theatre is most effective when it embraces the operatic.
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The Cherry Orchard
October 17, 2014
Katie Mitchell delivers Chekhov’s masterpiece with devastating power at the Young Vic, supported by Simon Stephen’s taut adaptation.
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10 Questions for Playwright Simon Stephens
October 16, 2014
The acclaimed dramatist discusses the challenges and rewards of taking on his idol Chekhov’s seminal work.
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Uncle Vanya
October 14, 2014
Anya Reiss’s breezy updating of Chekhov at St James Theatre plays too safe in a production that lacks resonance.
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Warde Street
October 7, 2014
A flawed new play at Park Theatre about the 7/7 London bombings trades reflection for sensationalism.
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Speed-the-Plow
October 3, 2014
This much-hyped West End revival and its star Lindsay Lohan escape disaster, but fail to deliver a triumph.
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Next Fall
October 1, 2014
Geoffrey Nauffts’ wry exploration of religion and homosexuality at Southwark Playhouse lacks ferocity.
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Kingmaker
September 26, 2014
Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s Boris Johnson satire at St James Theatre unwisely attempts clichéd revenge thriller.
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Pick of the Week
September 25, 2014
All the world’s a stage this week, with Sofie Gråbøl, Kristin Scott Thomas and Roger Allam treading the boards.
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Evita
September 23, 2014
The operatic revival of Lloyd Webber and Rice’s musical at Dominion Theatre lacks satirical bite, but is elevated by a star turn.
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Fully Committed
September 11, 2014
Kevin Bishop is a tour de force in Becky Mode’s merciless skewering of the swanky restaurant biz at Menier Chocolate Factory.
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Breeders
September 9, 2014
Ben Ockrent’s frank and funny Breeders at St James Theatre is ultimately too nice to do its provocative subject matter justice.
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The Comedy of Errors
September 5, 2014
Shakespeare’s relatively unsophisticated farce gets a boost from Blanche McIntyre’s spirited and inventive Globe production.
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Dogfight
August 16, 2014
This uneven jarhead musical at Southwark Playhouse is a lover, not a fighter, its odious premise redeemed by an artless romance.
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Jezebel
August 15, 2014
Mark Cantan’s Soho Theatre debut is genial but inconsequential screwball, relying too heavily on cosy sitcom laughs.
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Sommer 14 – A Dance of Death
August 9, 2014
Rolf Hochhuth’s epic history lesson at the Finborough offers an incendiary view on the causes of World War I.
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A Bright Room Called Day
July 28, 2014
A revival of Tony Kushner’s sluggish polemic about political conflict in 1930s Berlin at Southwark Playhouse lacks punch.
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Battle in the ballroom
July 18, 2014
An ill-conceived new ruling about same-sex couples could have disastrous effects on the dance community.
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Shutters
July 13, 2014
Three American short plays performed by an all-woman cast provide insight into the female experience at Park Theatre.
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Julius Caesar
July 3, 2014
Dominic Dromgoole’s fluent Globe production of Shakespeare’s great political play intelligently dissects tools of persuasion.
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Carousel
June 27, 2014
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic sings out with renewed vigour in Morphic Graffiti’s reimagining at the Arcola.
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Orange Tree Theatre Festival
June 14, 2014
Sam Walters bids farewell with a varied festival, the highlight of which is a puppetry adaptation of Duck, Death and the Tulip.
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