Cheryl Markosky

Anyone wanting to get to the bottom of newspaper stories about illegal migrants in Britain could learn a great deal from Dial 1 for UK at Riverside Studios. Written and performed by assured actor/dancer Mohit Mahur, his debut one-man play provides plenty of laughs, as well as poignancy when a migrant (loosely based on Mahur's own experience) discovers the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Girls rule ok in Ella Hickson's enchanting revival of the Darling children's 'second star to the right and then straight on until morning' journey to Neverland ­– first performed in 2013 and now showing at the Barbican for a five-week run.

An exhilarating new satire on social media, class and how we live in unreal worlds bursts onto the Donmar stage in a frenzy of must-see vigour. Writer/director Kip Williams – who made his West End debut with Olivier and Tony award-winning The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Succession's Sarah Snook – returns with his bang up-to-date adaptation of Jean Genet's play based on sisters Christine and Lea Papin, who murdered their employer and her daughter in 1933.

How many extended metaphors does it take to change a lightbulb? Only one, please, Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Commissioned by Ralph Fiennes to come up with a new play for the Ralph Fiennes/Theatre Royal Bath Season, Lenkiewicz's Small Hotel offers way too many exciting ideas – alas, none of which string together coherently into an easy-to-comprehend piece.

Douglas Hodge commendably leads a star-studded cast in Lindsay Posner's new adaptation of Endgame at Theatre Royal Bath's intimate Ustinov Studio.

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

Will lovers of Louisa May Alcott's semi-autobiographical novel Little Women, published more than 150 years ago, be content with Anne-Marie Casey's stage adaptation first performed in 2022 and now running at Salisbury Playhouse?

'Who doesn't check twice behind the shower curtain now?' asks presenter Edith Bowman, kicking off a spinetingling evening of thriller film soundtracks from the excellent BBC Concert Orchestra, under the assured direction of American conductor Edwin Outwater at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall.

It's a special 'you had to be there' moment in the world of live music, with master pianist Sir Andras Schiff taking centre stage in a compelling late-morning concert at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

In the 35 years I've been going to Opera Holland Park, I've never been disappointed by the music, performances and sheer joy of being in the open air with accompanying local sound effects. The odd resident peacock squawking, planes soaring overhead, shouts from children kicking a football and dogs barking almost in time with the musicians all add to the city-meets-country experience.

What did our critic think of AS YOU LIKE IT, STARRING HARRIET WALTER, THEATRE ROYAL BATH at Theatre Royal Bath?

Anyone who thinks Lily Allen's simply an upstart pop star plonked onstage to pull in the punters and rake in the cash, well, you can think again. She's delightfully dangerous and destructive – so much so you can't take your eyes off her – in Matthew Dunster's new cheeky version of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in Theatre Royal Bath's intimate Ustinov Studio.

It's a bold move for the Royal Shakespeare Company to slip in a remake of W Somerset Maugham's 1920s lesser-known comedy about infidelity in amongst more serious offerings like King Lear and Timon of Athens.

Fiennes captures the voice and gait of actor-manager Sir Henry Irving and Miranda Raison conveys the intuitive nature of actress Ellen Terry in a superb production by director Jeremy Herrin in Fiennes' new season at Theatre Royal Bath.

A tasty unanticipated treat, these potent and entertaining Rodgers & Hammerstein dream ballets are delights to be lovingly unwrapped and enjoyed.

What could be more pleasing than an evening of extracts from George Eliot's diaries and novels read by Hermione Norris (Cold Feet, Spooks, The Salt Path) and actor/singer/songwriter SuRie?

An unmissable evening of beautiful words from Thomas Hardy (read by National Treasure Anton Lesser) and music from Orchestra of the Swan at Stonehenge.

Must-see new play based on Sathnam Sanghera's novel about a Sikh immigrant family and the tension between seeking success while trying to hold onto older traditional values.

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.