UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Two of the most prevalent themes in Ed Thomas' new play, On Bear Ridge, are memories and language. Set atop a mountain in a rural location, presumably somewhere in Wales, butcher John Daniel (Rhys Ifans), his wife Noni (Rakie Ayola) and slaughterman Ifan William (Sion Daniel Young) are bunkering dow...

Prolific duo Stiles and Drewe seem to be having a ball populating London with their works. While Mary Poppins - for which they wrote additional music and lyrics - looms large on the West End from the Prince Edward on Old Compton Street, director Will Keith opened another musical of theirs just south...

Alex is struggling. She's 27 years old, everything is going well, she's planning her wedding and going to med school, and yet she can't cope with reality. She hides in a dreamlike universe to keep her past and present at bay, but by doing so, the boundaries between truth and imagination start to bre...

Just over a year ago Natalia Osipova premiered her own curated programme of work, Pure Dance, to mixed reviews. Amazing how, just one year later and with the pieces sitting more comfortably with the artists on stage, the momentum shifts, making for a much more powerful evening than before. ...

Last week saw the release of new album RE:ARRANGEMENT, on which well-known musical theatre songs have been reinvented to give them a new identity. The eight-track CD features some incredible voices, including Noel Sullivan, Faye Tozer and Matt Terry....

a?oeI've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to diea?? might be one of the most well-known speeches in film history, ...

The Renaissance is in full swing with Lorenzo de' Medici's (Adetomiwa Edun) modern policies and Sandro Botticelli (Dickie Beau) is at the peak of his success. Parties are held in his honour and Florence is thriving as the home of some of the most sought-after painters of their age....

Start spreading the news, Richard Shelton's renowned cabaret Sinatra: Raw is now at Wilton's Music Hall as the culmination of a national tour. Previously receiving an Offie nomination for Best Male Performance, Shelton brings his depiction of one of history's finest singers for a two-week engagement...

The first mixed bill of the season sees the Royal Ballet celebrate a diverse cross-section of 1960s productions - from the clean and tightly choreographed Concerto, to the luscious opulence of Raymonda Act III (so commonly seen as a standalone piece). The two are separated by some picture-perfect As...

The last time a Sam Shepard play was in town, London audiences got to see Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn take on True West directed by Matthew Dunster. Now, Alexander Lass is at the helm of Ages of the Moon at The Vaults, marking its premiere in the UK ten years after its debut in Dublin. It stars C...

The winner of over 90 domestic championships and seven national titles alongside setting a slew of records, Beryl Burton was one of England's most successful cyclists. With a career that started in the late 1950s and that continued into the 1980s, the dedication and strength of a?oethe Yorkshire hou...

At the very least, Kai Samra's comedy hits home with how embarrassing the state of things are in Britain right now. From a council bin for sharp items - a futile attempt to lower knife crime - adorned with everyone's favourite everyman, the Cookie Monster, to the BEST fact, that Tommy Robinson once ...

The London Musical Theatre Orchestra's new concert A Night at the Musicals is a well-judged programme of crowd-pleasing favourites, where my only real complaint was the sound mix. Guided by their charming conductor Freddie Tapner, there are songs from The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamil...

Hannah Khalil's new play grapples with some big issues for over two hours, but the biggest issue of all for any play - the drama between the characters - is absent for much of that time....

Harley (Danielle Williams) is undergoing a psychological evaluation after having been charged for a bank robbery. While the Doctor (Sharon Duffy) tries to get to the bottom of her bruises and prove her subjugation to her partner in crime and life Jay (Joseph Blunt in voiceover), the criminal slowly ...

Alice Sebold made a literary splash with her heart-rending 2002 novel The Lovely Bones. The story follows 14 year-old Susie Salmon, raped and murdered, who now views earth from her vantage point in heaven. Here she witnesses how her family, friends and her killer cope with her death and try to live ...

When does a teenager become an adult? Is there an exact moment or event that shapes us into what we become and how much is our quest to fit in, a help or hindrance? Set in inner-city London, Arinze Kene's play Little Baby Jesus follows the pleasures and pain of three teenagers as they pinpoint momen...

With Extinction Rebellion looming large in the capital, it's canny programming to revive Duncan Macmillan's 2011 play about a couple debating the merits of having a child a?' including fears about how introducing another person might impact the planet. The play also gets a boost from the starry cast...

Brian Friel's Translations, now nearly 40 years old, captures the best of humanity whilst avoiding even a teaspoon of sickly romanticism....

Maxim Gorky's Vassa Zheleznova is currently playing at the Almeida Theatre, in a new adaptation from Mike Bartlett a?' a playwright of brilliant achievements. The last time Gorky's play had a version of it on was in a lukewarm production at the Southwark Playhouse in 2016. The production here was th...

This year, the ever-popular sitcom Friends turns 25 years old; and what better way to celebrate than by seeing it memorialised on stage in musical form?...

Roll up, roll up, it's a revival of John Osbourne's The Entertainer. Shane Ritchie takes the mic as washed-up entertainer, Archie Rice. Osbourne's play shows the drama of his life a?" both on- and off-stage back home....

Originally written in the 50s by musical theatre duo of wonders Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for television but then adapted for the stage multiple times, Cinderella saw actresses of the likes of Julie Andrews and, more recently, Broadway favourite Laura Osnes take on the title role. Now...

Opening the 2019 National Youth Theatre REP season is Neil Bartlett's adaptation of Great Expectations. With director Mumba Dodwell at the helm, this new take on the novel uses ensemble storytelling to great effect....

Sadler's Wells associate artist Russell Maliphant is renowned for his work studying the intricacies of the human body. New piece, first premiered earlier this year at DanceEast, Silent Lines, seeks to continue this endeavour with all of Maliphant's signature creative devices. ...