UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

LARC is a rehabilitation centre that specialise in making people fall out of love with their partners. Layla checks herself in after being subjected to her boyfriend Joe's regular physical and psychological abuse. She revisits her memories and focuses on trying to overcome her feelings in a brief pl...

Two guys write a musical about two guys writing a musical. That's the plot of Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell's 2004 project [title of show]. Written as an entry to the first edition of the New York Musical Festival, it went on to conquer audiences first Off-Broadway, then on Broadway, and then all aroun...

John Wilson and his orchestra return to the BBC Proms in a concert titled a?oeThe Warner Brothers Storya??, taking audiences on a whirlwind trip through the mammoth catalogue of music written for 1930-1960s Hollywood movies....

Friday's press night performance of Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet was one of the most breathtaking nights at the theatre in a long time, and that's without including a live show stop. ...

It's hard to say what FRUITS or, The Decline of a Distant Memory is about. It's certainly not about literal fruit but it is about a decay of some sort. The Collective describe themselves as an 'international experimental performance group' on Twitter, and one can clearly see why. The piece is, essen...

It's official. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has found its niche, in hosting productions that are inventive and bold reimaginings of well-established works. We had Jesus Christ Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors...and now we have Jamie Lloyd's Evita, which dazzles with an interpretation that is sty...

Nicholas Wright's new play, set on the road in wartime America, examines the relationships between Paul Robeson and his Othello co-stars, José Ferrer and Uta Hagen. It does not waste that wonderful set up....

Tara Lake introduces her family to Camden Fringe after a critically acclaimed US tour. I Know It Was The Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman recounts her growing up in Jersey in the 80s and 90s. Southern roots, bizarre reunions, and lots of music all have a place of honour...

Fourth Monkey's Two Year Rep programme students take over the entirety of The Monkey House directed by Rich Rusk and create a world dominated by Norse Mythology. Loki becomes the master of ceremonies in this site specific piece, introducing Odin, giant spiders, fortune tellers, and an army of Valkyr...

There is something innately sad about Portuguese dramatist Tiego Rodrigues' play, Sadness and Joy in the Life of Giraffes. This is the final play of the Orange Tree Theatre's Directors' Festival where Director Wiebke Green explores an intriguing play about childhood, loss and growing up....

Iris Theatre's The Hunchback of Notre Dame lacks a little focus and is far too long, but has its moments of delight illuminated by a fine central performance from Robert Rhodes....

Anita Luna is not merely a diva, she's The Diva. She takes a look at her life-story, sharing it through physical comedy and cabaret aiming to find bittersweet humour in the tragedy. Anita Giovannini is the star. Hailing from Italy and narrating the tomboy roots of her characters, her journey is nost...

The BBC Philharmonic made a triumphant return to the BBC Proms for Prom 23: a concert showcasing the work of two of Russia's finest classical exports - Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky....

After President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be elected to be a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, Doctor Christine Blasey Ford accused him of a sexual assault happened at a house party 36 years prior when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh went on to call t...

Miss Donny's life hasn't been the same since she's been crowned Miss Doncaster in 2007. It hasn't exactly planned out the way she thought and now she's stuck in a mundane job, which keeps her occupied after her wild nights....

Prom 26: Mozart's Requiem, is the perfect expression of the Proms in a darker mood; a captivating evening of music redolent of love, loss and death. This was a wonderfully emotionally charged concert, with powerful performances of epic pieces....

Two friends get together and discuss their relationship with death. From saying goodbye to the older people in their lives to being faced with the loss of a close friend gone too soon, mourning is a universal experience....

Last night at the Savoy Theatre, audiences were encouraged to come and dance the night away as the Chicago Blues Brothers appear in the West End for the very first time. Performing a medley of Motown classics, their high-energy antics and over the top production values prove a little too cringe for ...

In 1917 Franz Kafka wrote a short story titled A Report to an Academy. In the piece, he introduces an ape called Red Peter who, in order to escape captivity has forced himself to behave like a human....

A low-budget tv show crew and two treasure hunters seeking shelter from the storm find themselves in the same spooky mansion at night. Unaware of each other, they try to figure out if they're actually the only ones in there....

Enda Walsh's Chatroom debuted as part of the 2005 National Theatre Connections, receiving its first staging the following year starring Matt Smith and Andrew Garfield among the cast. UpStaged Theatre Company revives the chilling tale of cyberbullying and manipulation as part of this year's Camden Fr...

Carmen (Cova Camblor) and Audrey (Victoria Lynn Hamilton) are auditioning to be the new presenter of Ready, Steady, Cook!. The first needs the money to pay for her pet iguana's very expensive medical bills, while the other is going through a rough divorce and wants to keep affording her over the top...

Three women are caged by their own lives. One hates her office environment (Rachel Causer), one is an exasperated mother (Roisin Bevan), one's conservative father oppresses her (Niamh Watson). Then at 2:16 everything changes, an energy takes over and they engage in an animalistic liberation from soc...

Freya Alderson premieres her new play Baby Mine at Etcetera Theatre, as part of Camden Fringe. Deeply disturbing, it meets present and past to tell a jarring tale of violence and obsession. A young woman's infatuation with a boy at university transforms into a horror story when she is raped in a par...

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??Close your eyes. Think happy thoughts. Imagine that the waves are gently pushing the water to your feet. Be at peace with yourself and your surroundings. Feel better?...