UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, two of America's most brilliant poets, wrote over 800 pages of letters to each other. They were best friends, platonic soulmates who rarely met but exchanged such soulful and heart-wrenching words between each other....

Kieran Hodgson dissects the history of the UK's relationship with Europe in this funny, poignant and wonderfully well-informed show....

It is difficult to overestimate how popular Notre Dame de Paris is in France, leaving audiences in raptures for twenty years. However, the critics were not kind when it was last performed in London back in 2000. Poor translation of the lyrics and a prerecorded backing track seemed to be the main iss...

What a strange thing is Violet - indeed, what a strange thing is Violet, our eponymous heroine. But more of that later....

With the last remains of glittery Nutcracker magic now behind us for another year, just two days after the end of the run of the festive classic, the Royal Ballet return with a fun, bright and uplifting mixed bill to ease us through January....

With the TV series having only finished in December, Strictly Come Dancing 2018 is still very much fresh in people's minds. Last night saw the opening of the arena tour in Birmingham, starring seven much-loved celebrities from the show, alongside an ensemble of professional dancers....

Following Macbeth in 2016 and The Tempest in 2017, Southwark Playhouse presents Twelfth Night as part of their Shakespeare For Schools programme. The aim of their annual project is to bring top-notch professional Shakespeare productions targeted to younger audiences, some of whom might be experienci...

A Modest Little Man tells us something of the man and his achievements, Clement Attlee surrounded by egos and rivals (talented though) in this gem of a political comedy....

Those who have attended an excruciatingly awkward cocktail party will revel in this production of Abigail's Party by Mike Leigh....

Manon is not a ballet for the #MeToo era. The story follows Manon as she falls in love with Des Grieux, a poor student. She is, essentially, pimped out by her brother to become the mistress of wealthy aristocrat Monsieur GM. Swayed by the material world of gambling and courtesans, we see Manon fall...

A bird, a bunny, and a baby; a shoemaker and a clock and a critter on a walk. Waltz of the Hommelettes is a breezy, charming distraction of a play, 50 minutes of children's illustrations brought to life through costume, props, and puppetry....

It is easy to be wowed by Cirque du Soleil; the acts themselves are often utterly thrilling and defy any expectations of human strength, dexterity and flexibility. With TOTEM, returning to the Royal Albert Hall for the next six weeks, a lack of some truly breathtaking acts, a coherent storyline and ...

Rosenbaum's Rescue compelling drama concerns itself with big questions (like what is truth) as they apply to a fractured family today and the interpretation of traumatic events in the past....

A quarter of a century after its premiere, the long-running production is still worth a shot....

Gabriel Gbadamosi's writing touches on many hot button topics for 2019, but it never quite finds the characters to lend credibility and, crucially, empathy, to his contemporary and important play....

Greed can do terrible things to a person. The desire to constantly make money will inevitably lead to ethics being lost, friendships being tainted and mistakes being made. The themes of pain and mistrust are ever so evident in Ishy Din's new play, which sees a man with a dream risk it all to win big...

The Royal Opera's new production sidelines the opera in favour of meaningless chaos....

Having the entire Motown back catalogue to work with must be a dream starting point for any jukebox musical. There are decades worth of hit after hit to cram in. And cram them in Motown The Musical certainly does. 66 of them to be precise. It's a whistle-stop tour of all of Motown's greatest artists...

Jermyn Street Theatre opens 2019 with a bang dressing the mental health discourse in a pink fluffy bunny suit. Original Death Rabbit is Rose Heiney's new play which details the downfall and eventual becoming of an unnamed 31-year-old who found sudden fame as a meme (played by BAFTA winner Kimberley ...

The titular character in Batavia Productions' In Conversation with Graham Norton is a small framed photograph from Norton's BBC Radio 2 show, which has been signed. He doesn't say much. The photograph is placed on top of an eighties style wireless by the lead and only character, Mark, played by Jay ...

I confess to entering the theatre with a sense of foreboding. The legend of Orson Wells' The War of the Worlds has been done to death - the radio broadcast that created panic across the USA, as people were convinced that Martians had landed in New Jersey. So what? It was over 80 years ago and we'd ...

Written between The Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love belongs to the pool of Andrew Lloyd Webber's neglected musical. Back in 1989 it launched the career of none other than Michael Ball, who wowed the audiences with 'Love Changes Everything', his character Alex's big song wh...

As a performer, Robinson excels in her vocal talent and is sure to deliver a glorious homage to many of the great voices that are sadly no longer with us....

London's newest West End Cabaret venue, The Space @ Studio 88, welcomes Giovanni Spano to sing to an intimate audience of devoted fans, one of whom has seen him at least 600 times. The compact venue and his family's presence around the front table, chipping in whenever they could, made it feel like ...