UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Samuel Beckett is no stranger to Jermyn Street Theatre. In 2012, Trevor Nunn’s All That Falls went on to become an international hit and in 2020 it saw Beckett Triple Bill with Nunn at the helm again. But times have changed and post-pandemic theatre (although one could say we’re not there yet) -...

Sydney seen through the eyes of a fracturing family over 40 years introduces many of the issues faced by post-industrial cities, but this play doesn't really explore them in any depth....

“Remembering is not different from imagining” says Old Mrs Hemlock to the Boy, all grown up now, as he tries to secure his recollection of the past. Neil Gaiman’s book The Ocean at the End of the Lane is bewitching. It holds a deep pull for people of all ages, who find common ground in it. It�...

The Northern Comedy Theatre's madcap mash-up hits more than it misses with laughs broad and subtle....

As far as entertainment goes, our multiple lockdowns ended up being characterised by distinct obsessions. There were live workouts in the mornings, sourdough baking, people hunted for pasta and toilet paper, and they watched television. As the second lockdown was knocking on our doors, one more of t...

A strange decision to return to a novel very much of its time and place appears even stranger after seeing the show....

SIX exploded onto the musical theatre scene in 2017, turning a university theatre group's Edinburgh Fringe production into a storming success that is now performed worldwide - from London to Broadway. And, with a lively pop score, award-winning choreography (from Carrie-Anne Ingrouille) and casts...

After a short run as part of Jermyn Street Theatre's Footprints Festival Eoin McAndrew's inventive and intriguing play, The Girl Who Was Very Good At Lying, now arrives at Clapham's Omnibus Theatre. Catriona is a young woman, still living at home in a small town in Northern Island. She works in a...

The stage version of the successful comedy podcast flounders on the transition from the everyday to the absurd...

The Hound Of The Baskervilles, one of Sherlock Holmes’ most famous cases, is not known for its comedy. In this revival from The Original Theatre Company and Octagon Theatre Bolton, the macabre story becomes a fast-paced and humorous farce....

Sixty-three Wycliffe Road is a quiet terraced house in Battersea, just south of the River Thames. A stone’s throw from the station, it's an ideal spot for modern real estate standards. But in 1956, life turned into a living nightmare for the Hitchings family....

After months of refurbishments and closure due to coronavirus, the Royal Albert Hall is back open and ready to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Part of its full re-opening programme was the return of Letters Live, an event which has taken place at various venues across the world (from the Union Chap...

We were well and truly transported back to the Swinging Sixties thanks to What's New, Pussycat?, a brand-new musical comedy featuring the music of the Welsh wonder that is Sir Tom Jones....

Not for the purists but beautiful to behold, this Pinafore updates the humour while respecting the music....

Hampstead Theatre gets back on its feet properly and reopens at full capacity bringing Stockard Channing back on stage, who was last on stage in London at Trafalgar Studios in 2017. The former Rizzo now plays Thelma,  Rebecca Night’s Jessie’s elderly mother who lives by herself apparently ignor...

Whilst the RSC are renowned for their world-class Shakespeare productions, they have also turned their hand to many successful musical adaptations over the years - most recently the global phenomenon Matilda the Musical, but Les Miserables, Carrie the Musical and many others also originated with ...

Igor Memic's Papatango Award winner introduces us to four compelling characters and reminds us of the brutality of war...

In the right hands, Ronald Harwood’s Olivier award-nominated tragicomedy The Dresser is poignant, hilarious and also heart-breaking. Terry Johnson’s new touring version captures the undercurrent of deep sorrow of the play in a this rather meta production about a touring theatre company....

The Great American Songbook is a constantly evolving canon that arguably spans almost 100 years of music. It is a collection that includes work by some of the greats of the music industry spanning decades but also genres. No one has encountered as many artists, pieces of music or indeed understands ...

When Booker Prize-winner Julian Barnes saw The Lemon Table early in its world premiere run, he gave his seal of approval to the adaptation of his short stories. A fine accolade for adaptor and star Ian McDiarmid, best known for his role as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars films, Olivier and Tony...

“We’re going to need a bigger theatre.” Back in summer 2019, this fascinating behind-the-scenes tale took a bite out of the Edinburgh Festival....

Made famous by the 1935 film featuring the legendary Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Top Hat is a nostalgic and light-hearted piece of escapism now playing at The Mill at Sonning. The story follows Jerry Travers, a Broadway star in his prime, who travels to England and falls for the society beaut...

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” To some, Bob Marley is the dreadlocked king of reggae, writer of feel-good hits such as “One Love” and “Three Little Birds” – but there was far more to his life than that. Abandoned by his father and sh...

Richard Norton-Taylor and Nicholas Kent have fashioned a play from statements at the Grenfell Inquiry that leads a horrified audience to specific and more general conclusions and the siren call that 'this must never happen again'....

Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t love Dolly Parton? Even country music-haters know her tunes and appreciate her philanthropy. 9 To 5 The Musical debuted on stage in 2009 and is an entertaining adaptation of the revenge satire film, which saw Dolly, along with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda out...