UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Fresh from a sold-out Melbourne season, the Australian Shakespeare Company serve up a solid, but slightly staid production of the Bard's Macbeth in the beautiful setting of London's Kew Gardens....

Once reliable Oscar bait, the classic “inspirational” biopic become something of a social media punchline in recent years. They all have the same familiar beats – the humble beginnings, the early setbacks, the internal tensions, and the rising from the ashes – and rarely say anything new or ...

The Australian Shakespeare Company returns to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew for a charming take on Lewis Carroll's beloved Alice in Wonderland....

The East London Shakespeare Festival continues its tradition of “bringing high quality and accessible Shakespeare to East London audiences” with this year’s production of As You Like It, the Shakespeare comedy that follows a group of characters who find themselves in the Forest of Arden after ...

When a business venture begins with “a single British pound pushed across the desk” and leads to iconic musicians like Bruce Springsteen performing at the venue, one knows they’re in for a good story. Brixton Calling is a play, written by Alex Urwin and directed by Bronagh Lagan, that tells th...

A program featuring one of the world's most beloved symphonies, a stunning piano concerto allowing pianist Alexandre Kantorow to show off his prowess, and a fascinating contemporary piece by Scottish composer Jay Capperauld, the 10th BBC Prom 2025 marks a triumph for conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and...

Current geopolitics mean the Royal Ballet and Opera no longer welcomes the big Russian companies - Bolshoi and Mariinsky - for summer seasons when the resident company take their annual break. This of course leaves room for others…so welcome the National Ballet of Japan (for the first time), with ...

Fine singing and pleasant songs, but the book needs work and the staging kills the energy...

From the moment the first note rang out, this was no ordinary Proms night. Four wildly different pieces, one restless thread: mischief. Mendelssohn is the marquee name here but really this was a foray into the world of fairytale birds, lyrical longing, mythological monkeys and death-defying prankste...

Staged in the lush, storybook setting of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Dream Fairies: Adventure Through Bubble Land by The Australian Shakespeare Company offers a gentle, enchanting escape for families seeking a touch of summer magic....

101 Dalmatians is a solid retelling of a classic that feels life-affirming without being too sentimental. It’s a reliable choice for a family evening, that is, if you can get over those freakish dog puppets....

Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio were both born one hundred years ago in Montbrison and Oneglia, respectively. During the course of their lengthy careers, they worked separately and together, innovating in their own ways as the 20th century brought new technology to music. For this Late Night Prom, E...

Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) makes her National Theatre debut as Jessica. Writer Suzie Miller and director Justin Martin reunite following their global phenomenon Prima Facie with this searing examination of modern masculinity and motherhood....

How better to celebrate a selection of Gallic compositions than with Cristian Măcelaru conducting the Orchestre Nationale de France? The programme for the evening was bookended by a pair of pieces by Ravel, with works by Joseph Bologne (better known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges), Charlotte So...

“What is it about this hotel room?” This is the question posed by a cast member of Echo, over halfway through the play, when we’ve been trapped inside a deliciously kitsch B&B, all lilac wallpaper and shag carpets, for over an hour. The effect is claustrophobic, somewhere between the Overlook ...

How do you follow up a blistering international success such as Prima Facie? Former lawyer-turned-playwright Suzie Miller now reunites with director Justin Martin for Inter Alia, which will surely create just as much impact. ...

Lovely one man play that will delight Wodehouse fans - present and future...

Jennifer France gives everything in a role demanding bel canto singing and bloody revenge...

Burlesque the Musical has finally arrived in London. Loosely based on the 2010 film starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, Burlesque moves from LA to New York, as small-town girl Ali comes to the big city to search for her birth mother. On the way she starts working in a burlesque club as a waitr...

A slightly curious evening lay in wait with this Prom, performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the guiding baton of Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth. Shostakovich, Ravel and Walton are all familiar names to the classical music enthusiast, but the pieces themselves don’t appear to have a...

Now on its third revival, Rodula Gaitanou's heart-stopping version of Verdi's tragic La Traviata is as affecting as ever. Opening with courtesan Violetta gasping for air, it never lets up its hold on the senses....

Once Proms season comes around, there aren’t many better places to be on a Sunday morning than at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a return to more traditional Proms fare this time, with a trip to the 17th and 18th centuries for a selection of mostly Vivaldi and Bach pieces - although the programme a...

Don’t Rock the Boat tries to be a wild ride down the Thames as the title suggests, but it only lightly bumps into its chaos. The cast make a valiant effort with the material and its set beautifully fits the Mill at Sonning, but its outdated nature makes me question who this play is for in 2025....

The scheduling of certain Proms seems to be a controversial topic in some quarters, with certain factions expressing a desire for the first week of the season to be entirely classical - and then start dipping into different genres once the dust has settled. That’s not the way things are being done...

Adapted by Penny Farrow based on the novel by Lewis Carroll, Broadway Haus and DEM Productions have conjured up a delightfully imaginative retelling of Alice in Wonderland at the Marylebone Theatre, under the inventive direction of Nate Bertone and the sharp, playful guidance of Associate Director E...