Cheryl Markosky

The sweet isn't sweet enough and the bitter not bitter enough in a touring production where the pacing's slow and the laughs don't readily come.

In a pitch-perfect production by Max Webster, the RSC nails the futility of violence which resonates with audiences today.

Former Donmar Warehouse artistic director Michael Longhurst swaps war for Italian football in a new, exuberant Royal Shakespeare Theatre adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. The latest in a line of theatrical fixtures – including James Graham's award-winning Dear England and Tyrell Williams' Red Pitch ­­– this tale of returning heroes, their WAGs, rivalries and romance is sure to pull in plenty of young viewers.

Writer El Blackwood's Tending, produced by Another Theatre, is a three-hander based on more than 700 verbatim interviews with NHS nurses over a two-year period. She boils everything down into three characters: a paediatric ICU nurse played by Blackwood, palliative care nurse (Anjelica Serra) and A&E nurse (Ben Lynn).

As I'm probably one of only a handful who hasn't read the book or seen the film of The Da Vinci Code, I was looking forward to the play based on Dan Brown's bestselling novel of 2003 described as thriller, mystery and treasure hunt.

Rowan Armitt-Brewster is an actor, writer, director and producer from North Wales, with a passion for physical comedy. Rowan’s work incorporates mime, clowning, physical comedy and object manipulation, telling simple stories with extreme precision and skill. A Brief Case of Crazy is Rowan’s writing and directing debut and the show is running at Riverside Studios until April 20.

Just three people and a briefcase. No fancy-pants CGI, no video wizardry, no Marvel-like special effects. Just three people and a briefcase is all it takes for Skedaddle Theatre (definitely a company to watch), in association with Shoddy Theatre, to transport you on a riotous and gratifying journey. I know people always say they're taking you on journeys these days, but this particular journey's well worth jumping aboard.

David Tennant and Cush Jumbo lead a first-rate cast in a raw, visceral, brutal and ultimately hopeful show filmed live at the Donmar Warehouse in London.

Grand dame Sian Phillips stealing the show, Adam Cooper giving an unexpected twirl and smaller theatre spaces punching above their weight. These are some of BroadwayWorld reviewer Cheryl Markosky's favourite theatre moments of 2024.

Siân Phillips steals the evening in Theatre Royal Bath's twin-bill tribute to Terence Rattigan's one-act plays: lesser-known Table Number Seven, and The Browning Version ­– hailed by critics as 'a 70-minute masterpiece' when first performed at London's Phoenix Theatre in 1948.

The Coronet's co-production with the Norwegian Ibsen Company (NIC) and Bergen's Den Nationale Scene examines the dangers of idealism through the story of the Ekdal family ripped apart by the arrival of Hjalmar Ekdal's childhood friend, Gregers Werle (also the son of wealthy industrialist Hakon). Read the review.

It's one of the most unlikely moments in the history of entertainment. Two bespectacled 50-something English historians, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, bound onto the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, like rock stars, to tumultuous applause. Eat your heart out, Mick and Keith!

Ahmed deftly weaves humour and tragedy through an entertaining and deeply touching story about a son discovering more about his recently deceased father when he uncovers secrets while packing up his council flat in South Kilburn. See what our critic had to say.

The Irish are renowned for good story telling. From James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and George Bernard Shaw, to simply a good yarn over a pint in a pub. In a long line of cracking good tales, you couldn't get much better than the new immersive revival of Marie Jones' tragicomedy Stones in His Pockets.

What did our critic think of 1984 at Theatre Royal Bath?

Obsessive behaviour takes many forms, from philatelists hunting down rare stamps, ambitious chefs refining gastronomic dishes and online gamers playing through the night to reach the next level. Check out what we thought of the new play here.

What is the purpose of education? Is it to get a place at a hallowed university to ensure a high-paying job and successful future? Or to expand minds and acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake?

If you're after certainty, then you should certainly steer clear of the revival of Harold Pinter's unsettling The Birthday Party at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath. However, if you're up for an intriguing evening of comic surrealism mixed with creepy horror – think the Coen brothers meet Wes Anderson meet Kafka – this fresh take on one of Pinter's early plays is a must.