UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Trust me, dishing out two stars as a fully fledged member of the Strictly Come Dancing superfans is a painful choice, but after seeing Somnium: A Dancer's Dream, this colourful and vibrant show's flaws unfortunately cannot be ignored....

The latest drunken venture coming from Magnificent Bastard Productions's ludicrously perverse minds is the story of everybody's favourite sad guy: Hamlet. The preamble is simple: each performance sees the professionally trained cast dealing with the aftermath of an afternoon spent drinking by one of...

Somewhere in the Russian countryside, three sisters - Olga, Masha, and Irina - are waiting for their youth to end. They are deeply, tragically over-cultured and over-qualified for their surroundings; fluent in foreign languages and proficient in philosophy, yet hundreds of miles from the nearest cit...

Arthur Pita adapts Hans Christian Andersen's The Story of a Mother for Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard in a contemporary dance work that is unblinkingly clear and ferocious in its storytelling....

The world premiere of Anthony McCarten's (The Theory of Everything, Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour) play The Pope at Royal and Derngate looks at a turning point moment in the Catholic Church - the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and his replacement with Pope Francis. Two popes living, but more than...

Now in wind-down mode for the summer, programmers at the Royal Opera House are treating audiences to a host of performances from young dancers, overseas companies and, of course, later on in July, a short residency from the Bolshoi. The relatively newly unveiled Linbury Theatre is the setting for th...

It took nearly two decades for the Comedie-Francaise, the oldest theatre company in the world, to come back to the UK. Now, they invade the Barbican stage with Ivo van Hove at the helm to deliver his own acclaimed, thrilling vision of Luchino Visconti's The Damned....

Illuminated by a masterful performance from Bryn Terfel, this production is a gruelling but rewarding, often stunning, revisit to the Musorgsky's original 1869 version....

David Blaine is arguably the best magician currently living on this planet. But he isn't just a master of stagecraft; he is also an illusionist and stuntman. Rounding off his first-ever UK and Ireland tour, he performs to a packed out Eventim Apollo....

We're all familiar with at least one fairy tale. We've been told them since we were young. Sure, it may not be the original version of the story, but it'll be one that intrigued, excited and amazed. Fairy tales are a product of society's current tastes, and are adapted to suit each audience member. ...

When David Mamet's new play was announced back in January, it was met with more than a raised eyebrow. Bitter Wheat is a comedy about movie mogul Barney Fein, a man who bears more than a passing resemblance to disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, and sees John Malkovich make a return to the London s...

Adam Guettel's extraordinary music, wonderfully played by the Orchestra of Opera North, is the best reason to revive a show that is hobbled by a pedestrian book and awkward stereotypes....

It's the 1960s and the Muscolinos are raising three daughters in Brooklyn. As Italian immigrants, they are striving to maintain their own identity while rebelling against an outdated patriarchal structure in their own individual ways....

Known for his breakout role in the Pitch Perfect films and subsequently the likes of Book of Mormon and Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt has carved out a very successful career for himself across the pond. Over here in the UK, we've not had the pleasure of experiencing his star status on stage, but judgi...

Tom Littler's latest venture is a glorious four-version take on Oscar Wilde's masterpiece The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted by Lucy Shaw. They examine the original text and extrapolate its myth, stripping it down to its core and leaving the soul of the story bare for everyone to see. Shaw becomes ...

Everybody knows that the internet is the host of some very awful matter. Images and links are permanent and if you dig hard enough, an underworld of crime starts spreading behind the screen....

The one-time highly controversial David Hare play still packs a punch and a message that seems, if anything, even more insistent in these Austerity / Brexit days....

Driving Miss Daisy, Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer-winning 1987 play made famous by a 1989 film adaptation starring Morgan Freeman, is brought back to the stage in a new production by York Theatre Royal....

Right in time for Pride month, Nicholas Hytner draws a curious card from his sleeve for his own Bridge Theatre, introducing A Midsummer Night's Dream as a beguiling triumph of identity....

Brexit looks at, well, Brexit and finds comedy in the twists and turns it forces upon the new Prime Minister, Adam Masters - but the jokes could be funnier and the satire more biting....

At a quieter moment of Lynn Nottage's Sweat, Jessie (Leanne Best) stands with a cake celebrating her 43rd birthday in Mike's Tavern. If not for the bartender Stan (Stuart McQuarrie) and his assistant Oscar (Sebastian Capitan Viveros), Jessie would be alone. Dressed in white cowgirl boots, Jessie whi...

Afterglow opens with a blaze of strobe lights, the throbbing pulse of dance music, and three naked lads writhing on a bed. Some groping and kissing later, they come up for air and a chat. Josh (Sean Hart) and Alex (Danny Mahoney) are married, but their relationship is open. Darius (Jesse Fox) is sin...

The 2011 musical adaption of the 2006 Academy Award-winning film Little Miss Sunshine comes to the stage in a hilarious and heart-warming production. The show is currently making a stop at Brighton Theatre Royal as part of a UK tour directed by Mehmet Ergen....

Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show has had audiences worldwide shivering in 'antici...pation!' for more than 40 years, and shows no sign of stopping with its 2019 world tour....

The second edition of the Italian Theatre Festival comes to end with a real gem. Multi-talented performer Marco Paolini graces the stage of The Coronet with a tremendous take on the myth of Ulysses. Accompanied by Saba Anglana and Lorenzo Monguzzi, he delivers a devastatingly honest tale of loss ...