UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

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...

This new play raises interesting questions about father-son relationships in a world in which middle-aged men can struggle to find a role, but its lack of detail prevents its potential being realised fully...

Love and Other Acts of Violence is a pretty dark and uneasy evening. It's effectively staged and the performances draw you in with their intensity, but as a whole it doesn't quite click into place....

One would assume that beyond the original novel and the 200+ films made in his honour, there is little more to explore surrounding the lore of Bram Stoker's most iconic villain. Yet in true Imitating the Dog fashion, the innovative theatre company sparks new life into the traditional tale, proving ...

Marek Horn's blistering satire hits plenty of marks as he gets a tune out of a fine cast obsessing about tuna...

Alan Strachan and Alistair Whatley’s well-received production of A Splinter Of Ice was streamed online before a national tour. This understated and intriguing look at friendship, loyalty and allegiance now comes to the Jermyn Street Theatre. In 1987, the Cold War is very recent history. Ben Bro...

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Suzan-Lori Parks confronts the audience with big themes in her thrilling and radical play, which has received its European premiere at The Bridge Theatre. The writer describes this work as something that, “rips the face off of civilisation.” And I’d agree that it ...

Francesca Annis is in show-stealing form in Chekhov's masterpiece of changing times in a Windsor I last saw on television coverage of Harry and Meghan's wedding - appropriately enough....

Dante Alighieri is frequently said to be the Italian William Shakspeare, and he certainly is in many aspects. Often pictured from his side - with prominent nose, laurel crown, and red tunic becoming the stars of his portraits - he somewhat invented the Italian language before modern Italy was even c...

It couldn't be more timely that the iconic 70s British TV sitcom, The Good Life - attracting 21 million viewers at its peak in 1977 - now comes to theatres....

“There’s no point in anything because I am going to die” Sarah Kane says 4:48 Psychosis. Posthumously performed in 2000, the play is usually regarded as one of the greatest British playwright’s suicide note. A distressed mind, Kane took her own life at the age of 28 in 1999 and left an immen...

Saoirse Ronan provides a much needed opportunity to listen and learn from Shakespeare's tale of ambition's dangers amidst much wailing and gnashing of teeth...

This Swedish satire on loneliness in the city hits its marks but is undermined a little by the method of its creation...

A brilliant new collection of voices has just hit bookshelves. 50 Women in Theatre, published by Aurora Metro, shines a light on the invaluable contributions of women across all disciplines and fields of stagecraft. From stage designers to actors, the volume is an inclusive and all-around eye-openin...

As part of their new Recovery Season, the Orange Tree Theatre, in a co-production with Actors Touring Company now brings us Rice, a powerful, thought-provoking and funny play about cultural identity, class, race and power told through two very different women, who form an unlikely friendship. Se...

Archie Maddocks' new play treads some familiar ground, but updates it for the 21st century, as identities are forged and fractured in the contested spaces of gentrifying London....

Martin McDonagh may be best known for his cinema successes Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and In Bruges, but he made his name as a playwright. It was in 1996 that the then twenty something writer's debut The Beauty Queen of Leenane premiered in Ireland before going on to enjoy Broadway an...

Irrational Theatre resurrect a long neglected work from the early days of the celebrated composer and find plenty of parallels with 20th century comedy and 21st century politics....

Ayub Khan Din’s much loved modern classic East is East premiered at the Birmingham Rep back in 1996 before being adapted for the screen a few years later. In celebration of its 25th year the play arrives at the National Theatre for a limited run. Thanks to cleverly considered, often sensitive dire...

Ambitious and never less than interesting, the 90 minutes all-through running time turns already gruesome material into a tougher watch that it need be....

Many people got through the first lockdown engrossed in the final part of Hilary Mantel’s literary trilogy following the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell. After the successful stage adaptations of the first two books, fans have waited seven years to see The Mirror And The Light; the concluding par...

Real-life partners Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales turn star-crossed lovers in Kenneth MacMillan's definitive staging of Sergey Prokofiev's ballet...

At long last, the Young Vic has unveiled Cush Jumbo and Greg Hersov's hugely anticipated and much delayed collaboration on Hamlet. Jumbo, familiar to many from the US series The Good Fight, joins the ranks of female actors who have tackled the gargantuan role of the Danish Prince in Shakespeare's gr...

Dirty Dancing debuted on stage back in 2006. After numerous tours it is now back at Richmond Theatre, which has opened its doors for the first time in 559 days. The show is a faithful interpretation of the much-loved film following the story of 'Baby’ Houseman as she spends a summer discovering lo...

Lots has changed in the United Kingdom since the referendum in 2016, and so has in British theatre. International, multicultural shows are now a steady presence in the fringe, making different points of view louder and stronger. These pieces are usually in English, our common language, or have some ...