UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

It’s a turbulent time in 1984 England. The nation is trapped between the Conservative jaws of Thatcher’s Tories and Charles Hawthorn is fighting the growing problem of morally corrupt horror films. ...

A gut-punching slab of immersive theatre that takes no prisoners may be just what the doctor ordered in these interesting times. The Big House’s Redemption doesn’t have the most enticing of titles but this layered drama takes place in a unique environment and punches well above its weight....

One year on from theatres being allowed to fully reopen, where is the new writing? This is a problem Darren Clark has set out to tackle with his project New UK Musicals. Set up during the pandemic, the project's website makes sheet music and backing tracks to new original musical theatre songs by Br...

Iris Theatre’s summer season is now in its 14th year. This summer, the outdoor theatre specialist present a joyous and light-hearted version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by rising star Sara Aniqah Malik, recipient of the Michael Grandage Award 2019....

Dante Alighieri built his idea of hell as a colossal conical structure that opens up underneath Jerusalem and reaches the centre of the Earth. He makes his descent steadily, accompanied by Virgil. The further away from Jerusalem, the further away from God and goodness. A stone’s throw from Jeru...

A young woman appears at the home of a professor to be tutored for some exams. The premise of The Lesson is simple enough, but as this play comes from the pen of Eugène Ionesco, the master of French absurdist theatre, nothing is ever that simple. Max Lewendel’s returning production is funny, absu...

A tumultuous portrait of a family divided by religion and modernity...

Gregory Doran brings the RSC's decade long History cycle to its conclusion with a worthy, if wordy, Richard III...

The tale as old as time returns to the West End. The 1991 animated film is doubtlessly one of the most beloved out of the Disney catalogue and saw a number of live-action films of varied quality developed over the years. Now, its musical adaptation takes over the Palladium in a grand spectacle direc...

This historical revival of Handel’s Serse particularly emphasises the humorous aspects of the opera, thereby creating a wonderfully entertaining spectacle from start to finish....

Mozart’s Così fan tutte has always been a work that tells us about ourselves....

Tom Ratcliffe's new play sets up some very interesting relationships in a fascinating environment, but doesn't solve the structural problems that arise as a consequence...

A disorientating tone straddles the theatrical no-man's land between satire and seriousness....

Two splendid plays, performed with skill and verve, at the National Theatre's Connections Festival...

As rain threatens to stop play down the road at Wimbledon's famous tennis club, it seems appropriate to be stopping by the theatre to watch Jonathan Church's stage version of Singin' In The Rain. Re-emerging after the pandemic at Sadler's Wells, the light-hearted and brightly cheerful show is now to...

A week after Windrush Day saw Prince William and his wife visiting the National Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station, two children of the Windrush generation are at the heart of Roy Williams's new piece. Debuting at Hampstead Theatre, directed by Paulette Randall, it introduces sisters Dawn (Cherre...

Worlds collide in a thrilling new opera from Tom Coult and Alice Birch....

Sometimes a new play comes along that has all the right ingredients for a delectable theatrical recipe....

Despite the relentless advance of the modern Marvel franchise, the 1978 film of Superman remains one of the best comic book films ever made. This is, in no small part, due to John Williams' remarkable and iconic score that was nominated for an Academy Award....

Treachery, a magical storm, a catastrophic shipwreck. Far-away islands, spirits, and a love story. All permeated by music. Shakespeare’s swansong might be concerned with its own nature of grand spectacle and the limited resources available to produce it realistically, but Prospero is a sorcerer, i...

Chris Bush is having a marvellous year. The writer has been populating theatres across England steadily for months, and now rings in a double-press night on the same day. ...

Early staging of a song cycle that is a delight from start to finish - and can only get better still!...

What is love? It's a question that has plagued philosophers and poets for as long as humans have existed. Unfortunately, we are no closer to finding any meaningful answers to this question in Mel Masry's shallow and unsatisfying play....

The late Nell Gifford, co-founder of Gifford’s Circus, wrote that 'a good circus is a sublimely existential thing, living acutely and only for the present moment.' And so it is with ¡Carpa! (Spanish for tent), the company’s joyful and life-affirming show currently sited in Chiswick House’s ga...

A narrative spider's web that traps its audience and preys upon their naivety. See what our critic thought! Read the review. ...