Gary Naylor

Innovative take on familiar comedy proves hit and miss as lovers and fairies fight

#MeToo and cancel culture needs a new angle sadly lacking in humdrum new play

War is over. The Labour Party has won a historic majority and will form a government anchored by socialist principles (fancy that), the NHS about to be born - and financed. The world was turning upside down and, so too, was the humble kitchen of the not so humble manor house of a peer who took the new government’s whip. New was sliding past old, but the friction so caused sent sparks flying - one was always going to ignite.

The two old favourites are no longer in Whitehall, but need each other just as much

If it's not quite as slick as it might be, this oldies show can still push a lot of the right nostalgia buttons

Whitney White collapses time and space to insert new perspectives into old plays

Kenneth Williams brought back to life, tics and torments intact.

The story of how an international military effort was cobbled together at the last minute to save Kurdish lives in the afternath of The Gulf War

The sad end and glorious high points of the still much-loved cheeky chappie are explored in a worthy two-hander

Denise Gough and Rosa Salazar also excel in unexpectedly deeply moving stage version of the much-loved movie

There are many times you catch yourself, as a parent, doing things you never thought you would do - worse, that you would scoff at if reported by others. I recall looking at one, probably both, of my sons in their crib and becoming aware that I couldn’t see or hear them breathing. You walk away (“It’s nothing”), then you come back. You pause. You tell yourself again that it’s ridiculous. But then you check, and the world falls back into order.

Theatre is, of course, a window on another world, often glitzier and brighter than our own, sometimes a reflection that can comfort or discomfit us and sometimes a portal into what it is to be human at all. It is an escape - and who can deny that we need such refuges more than ever - but it can be so much more than mere escapism. The best theatre of 2025 made those lofty promises - and kept them.

Perfect medicine for the winter blues

Part-panto, part-pastiche, an affectionate and funny homage to genres past and present

Musically impressive with real high points, the drama does not quite hold together

A free exhibition at the National Theatre proves an eye-opener for those of us who, too often, take stage design for granted

Richhard Linklater's film is set of the opening night of Oklahoma! in 1943, the beginning of the end for Richard Rodgers' first lyricist