UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Ellie Kendrick's writing debut is a one-hour attack on the senses. Visceral and to the point, the Royal Court Upstairs stage is alive with the anarchic cry for unity and retribution. The play is co-directed by RashDash's Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen, and alongside a company of six they take us on...

True to their exciting form of challenging expectations with inventive adaptions, Bristol Old Vic's A Christmas Carol is a clever, witty and refreshing take on the beloved festive classic. At the heart of this production is the importance of rediscovering one's imagination and connecting with those...

Some spectacular special effects and a wonderful set are let down by a stodgy and confusing script....

In Trevor Nunn's extraordinary new production of Fiddler on the Roof, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, a dimension of intimacy and immediacy recasts a familar show, dragging it, sometimes tearfully, always beautifully, closer to the audience than it has ever been....

Lucky Londoners have the opportunity to catch three different productions of The Nutcracker over the festive period this year. But having viewed Sir Peter Wright's 1984 production for the Royal Ballet multiple times, and once again now, it unmistakably offers the most gloriously opulent and satisfyi...

This Christmas, instead of merely treading the boards at Tobacco Factory Theatres, the actors are treading in between the boards in a delightful adaptation of Mary Norton's The Borrowers, a story about a family of tiny people, no bigger than a crayon....

If you are struggling to get into the festive spirit this year, a visit to London's Old Vic theatre is highly recommended. After the roaring success of Jack Thorne's charming adaptation of Charles Dickens' yuletide classic last year, the decision to stage A Christmas Carol again is as warm and welco...

When Sam Shepard's play True West made its New York debut back in 1980 it was something of a flop - since then, however, it has been recognised as an insightful piece of theatre, with the likes of John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly taking on the roles of Lee and Au...

The festive season isn't everyone's favourite annual event, and this year in particular is not working out for Brendan: his fiancee has left him, he's failing at work, and his friends can't take the hint that he's not a New Year's Eve kind of person. All he wants to do is sit in his flat with a beer...

It's been a decade since the Lyric Hammersmith theatre first brought a panto to their local faithful. Following plucky young hero Dick Whittington, Londoners can expect a heartwarming story that is as funny as it is clever....

The best versions of La boheme are simple enough to let the genius of Puccini's opera shine, rather than distracting the audience with quirky updates and subliminal messages. The ENO's decision to return to Jonathan Miller's luscious production for the fourth time in a decade, is a beautifully pitch...

Snow isn't yet falling all around us. And I haven't seen the Coca Cola truck stopping by. But John Lewis has released their advert, so I suppose it's beginning to look a little like Christmas. Full of it's own individual kind of holiday cheer, Anthony Neilson's winter tale is revived at Southwark Pl...

Lucy Pearman is a comedienne that's unfamiliar to me, but after watching their stellar show Fruit Loop the other evening, they are now cemented in my brain as someone very special. The reason I like her so much is because her show feels totally unique to anything that I've seen before....

It's 1828 in Edinburgh and medical advances are running as fast as the number of cadavers are low. Spurred by their stack of debts and with a penchant for enterprise, William Burke (Hayden Wood) and William Hare (Alex Parry) decide to take advantage of the influenza outbreak to supply surgeons with ...

Barrie Kosky's unmusical revival loses more steam on its second outing....

It's been six years since the release of Magic Mike, produced by and starring Channing Tatum as the lead stripper of a Florida strip club. Since then, Magic Mike has spawned a sequel, a live show in Las Vegas in 2017 and now a live show at the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square, created and direc...

Something wicked has arrived in the West End. It comes in the form of the National Youth Theatre REP Company's production of Macbeth, which has been abridged beautifully by Moira Buffini. Shakespeare's epic tale has been condensed down to 100 minutes, and is jam-packed with lots of things that enter...

It's December 1991 and in a 'special hospital' Ruth (Emily Tucker), Claudia (Evlyne Oyedokun), and Dee (Amy McAllister) are gearing up to celebrate the holidays by demonstrating how well-adjusted they've become. They know that bonding with the rapists and other male convicts at the Christmas disco c...

Guys and Dolls has come to the Mill at Sonning, and brought with it all the sleazy music, flashy dancing, and good, clean fun you could want in an evening....

Plaid Tidings is a show full of grand old Christmas songs delivered beautifully by four gifted vocalists....

From folk tales to fairy tales to festive (nut)crackers, Tchaikovsky's trio of 19th-century compositions, originally choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov for the Imperial Russian company, are the crowning glory of the classical canon....

John Savournin and the Charles Court Opera gang are back with another panto packed with innovatory storytelling and great songs, wonderfully sung @KingsHeadThtr #ButtonsPanto @charlescourt....

Immersion Theatre's Seussical is a joyous celebration of all things Dr Seuss. It hinges on the story of Horton Hears a Who!, but also features favourites such as The Cat in the Hat in an Emcee-esque role and cameos from The Grinch and the classic Green Eggs and Ham....

This fascinating tome offers an insider's history of the National Theatre, via some 800 letters exchanged between Artistic Directors, actors, directors, playwrights, politicians, agents, critics and more. From arcane trivia through to vigorous words on the very nature and purpose of drama, it's a th...

After a sold-out run at Oxford University, composer Maria Shepard took her musical based on Lev Tolstoy's Anna Karenina for a one-night engagement at The Actors' Church in London as part of Iris Theatre's Workin Process. Considered one of the greatest literary accomplishment of all time, it's certai...