UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Playwright Kevin Elyot is best known for his brilliant AIDS-era play My Night With Reg, but after being revived at Islington's King's Head Theatre, his debut play Coming Clean has now transferred to the Trafalgar Studios, exploring male gay culture, fidelity and love set in London in the early eigh...

Phil Willmott's updating of An Enemy of the People could hardly be more timely, but falls a little flat for want of some attention to detail....

Fresh off the Bat Out of Hell rollercoaster, Christina Bennington plays her first solo concerts to a full house at The Crazy Coqs. This 'deep dive into all parts of [her] voice,' as Bennington described it, treats fans to 16 songs of varied styles and characters which beautifully showcase her range...

Dusty Hughes' new play sees Hampstead Theatre putting together veterans of the venue. From Alice Hamilton at the direction (previously at the helm of Every Day I Make Greatness Happen earlier in the season) to Sara Kestelman (Filthy Business among others), the team is almost fully comprised of artis...

Jamie Lloyd's star-studded season of short Pinter plays continues with two more intriguing productions: one directed by Patrick Marber, the other by Lloyd himself. Among the subjects this time around are family, miscommunication, class, politics – plus an early bid for the most memorable wigs of 2...

The Purple Room, Palm Springs, 1971. The Crazy Coqs is transformed as Sinatra: Raw takes up residency, following its success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Presented by James Seabright, and starring Richard Shelton, the show simulates Sinatra's final intimate performance in the room where the Rat...

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After a rather pedestrian version of Tchiakovsky's iconic Swan Lake by the St Petersburg Ballet at London's Coliseum in the summer, ballet fans are eager for a more immersive and emotionally charged version from the English National Ballet to kick-start 2019. They will not be disappointed with thi...

London is already blessed with two outstanding productions of the Christmas ballet The Nutcracker. Birmingham Royal Ballet now also presents Peter Wright's beautiful version in the challenging space of the Royal Albert Hall for the second year. And what a treat it is....

The Royal Albert Hall rang in the festive season with a screening of one of the most-beloved Christmas classics from the 90s. The venue, appropriately decked in fairy lights and Christmas trees, welcomed all ages to appreciate Home Alone accompanied by the Cinematic Sinfonia and the Crouch End Festi...

Willy Hudson walks onto the stage in nothing but a towel, asking a member of the audience to help him put his underwear on. The action is repeated for a t-shirt and some shorts. He continually asks, "Has he text me?" referencing a mystery dude that Hudson went on a date with the previous evening. Th...

With extraordinary feats of bravery, strength and skill, the appeal of old-fashioned circus is not hard to understand. Performing a show that is the essence of traditional circus entertainment, Circus 1903 comes to London's Southbank Centre for its European premiere: a celebration of the Golden Age...

A society is in ruins, and in this tale of depression, dependency and deluge, the human experience is voyeuristically examined, to reveal what happens when you leave folks behind. Focusing in on one singular place, the play goes through the motions to show how the odds can be unfairly stacked agains...

This Australian production of Rumpelstiltskin wanders as far from the original tale as Germany is from Down Under (and some might say the same with regard to its distance traditional theatre) - but that's all good....

Richard O'Brien's cult rock and roll musical Rocky Horror Show launches its 2019 World Tour with a festive stint at Brighton's Theatre Royal....

'Forget, forgive, conclude and be agreed...' Sure, the Almeida's The Tragedy of King Richard the Second is one you won't soon forget, thanks to stand out performances from Simon Russell Beale and Leo Bill. Even staunch devotees of the original text will be able to forgive Jeff James' edit, which lif...

Caroline, Or Change tells the story of a maid in Louisiana in 1963. Racial and class tensions form the backdrop, but the show also contains a great deal of joy, humour and sass thanks to a frankly glorious cast led by the inimitable Sharon D. Clarke....

​​​​​​​Throughout this 75-minute cabaret spectacular, stars of the London queer scene come together to provide a variety show like no other. Featuring an eclectic mix of song, music and comedy, it's remarkably different to what you usually see on the London Coliseum stage....

The performance itself is as a live concert rather than a fully costumed and set production, allowing actors to focus on the delivery of the score, bringing the music to life in a way that other productions cannot....

When I first saw The Sun Line, at The Meyerhold Centre, in Moscow, I was so jolted by its aggressively inventive technique that I started recommenidng it to all my friends....

To the beautifully appointed Laban Theatre on the banks of Deptford Creek (now a much sought after locale doncha know) for Trinity Laban's Christmas show, Thea Musgrave's A Christmas Carol....

Every so often, a show comes along that completely redefines how theatre should be done. In this year's panto adventure, Beauty and the Beast at Edinburgh's King's Theatre not only shows that pantomime is still very much alive and well, but also sets the new standard for truly exceptional variety th...

The movie Black Panther was one of the most talked about films of 2018, becoming the highest-grossing solo superhero film and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time. Now two of the stars of the film are working together again in The Convert at the Young Vic....

Caning may be something from long in the past, but in Mark Ravenhill's new drama it's all anybody ever seems to talk about. Under Vicky Featherstone's direction, the narrative follows a teacher under siege from the kids he used to teach. The drama unfolds as their estranged daughter visits this wo...

Sometimes the smallest of spaces can tell the biggest of stories and that's the case with this perfectly judged adaptation of the much-loved fairytale....