UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

It can be a rarity, but every so often, perhaps once a year if you're lucky, you stumble across a work so sublime it leaves you a little stumped as to how to describe it. Unfortunate when you need to review it, however. English National Ballet's Lest We Forget first opened in 2014, marking the 10...

Are you a virus or a blood cell? What does that even mean? In his opening moments, Arinze Kene tells us the difference: blood cells are the good members of society - the viruses are not. A virus would sneak on at the back of the bus, causing a nuisance to the rest of the passengers. Viruses are thos...

Lorca's masterpiece transported and updated to present day London, but retaining its power to shock as it lays bare the souls of men and women....

Shotgun Carousel transform The Vaults into the ultimate 21st Century Bacchanalia, complete with nipple tassels and rock songs sung on tables overflowing with riches. Hosted by Dionysus themselves (they refuse any label or spectrum) with the help of the Maenads and featuring a bunch of special guests...

It's been a long minute - over two decades, in fact - since acclaimed director Peter Brook, who is now 93 years old and has been called "our greatest living theatre director", helmed a play at the National Theatre. So this new production of The Prisoner which he has co-directed with his long-time co...

Chris Bush's new play about women in the Labour party is a must-see....

First staged at Sheffield Theatres for a short run in 2016, Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff's Flowers for Mrs Harris is brought to life again by Daniel Evans at Chichester Festival Theatre. With Clare Burt returning to the title role, it becomes a tear-jerking, runaway success that will not fail...

Continuing their thrilling Year Of Change, Bristol Old Vic brings an epic tale of survival to the stage for the first time as Tom Morris directs a breathtakingly inventive adaptation of Touching the Void....

Dementia is a difficult topic to tackle on stage, mainly due to the intensely internal struggle that the disease inflicts. Florian Zeller handled it beautifully in The Father and now Lisa Genova's novel Still Alice has been adapted into a sensitive yet hard-hitting play that confronts the brutal a...

Like the English at Agincourt, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory aren't unshaken, but they are victorious. Elizabeth Freestone's direction is austere, with the action playing out in a darkly industrial dystopia characterised by Lily Arnold's greyed costumes and frayed edges, steely drama and gravel...

There's something simply magical happening on the Barbican's main stage at the moment. Upon entering the auditorium I didn't know what to expect, however I had been told beforehand that Boy Blue contained within it some of the most talented dancers in the country. After seeing the production, I can ...

The boundary razing two-hander created and performed by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R Sheppard Underground Railroad Game doesn't give too much of its own game away in the pre-show literature. From the first two words of the title, we can surmise that it has something to do with slavery but what does ...

April de Angelis has transposed Lope de Vega's Fuenteovejuna into contemporary day India, setting it in an environment of political turmoil. The Inspector uses his state-given power to abuse the local villagers, who just want to live off the land in peace. His tyrannical reign pushes everyone to the...

A spectacular re-imaging of Shakespeare's tale of mistaken identities, cross-dressing and cruelty time-traveled to a speakeasy populated by extraordinary actor-musicians....

Opening with its world premiere at Nuffield Southampton Theatres' City venue, Women in Power gives life to a classic Greek comedy, bringing it into the twenty-first century with music, mayhem and mischevious humour....

Following a workshop in 2017 and a work-in-progress run over the summer, The Other Palace's production of cult hit Heathers The Musical makes its West End debut at Theatre Royal Haymarket; starring Carrie Hope Fletcher as Veronica Sawyer, it has a strictly limited engagement prior to incoming Take T...

Entering the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court, you're suddenly in a dark, damp forest. Trees are all are around and there's wood chipping, leaves and sticks all over the floor as you make your way to your seats, thanks to Naomi Dawson's innovative and atmospheric design....

Documenting his grandparent's experiences of moving overseas, Vinay Patel has written a three-hour epic, which puts ethical choice and identity at the forefront of the narrative. Spanning 60 years and a couple of generations, Madani Younis' production is a beautiful reminder of the importance of fam...

After Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit Hamilton and the newly opened Six, Christopher Ash and Carl Miller's rockumentary Wasted takes a good look at the achievements and heartbreaks of the Bronte siblings. The lives of Charlotte (Natasha Barnes), Emily (Siobhan Athwal), Anne (Molly Lynch), and Branwel...

The English countryside in crisis, a couple grieving the death of their son and the fox as the deadly enemy of man. First seen to critical acclaim in 2011 at the Finborough Theatre, Dawn King's darkly compelling, dystopian play Foxhunter comes to the West End in a rather disappointing revival, lacki...

It's all change at the Kiln (was Tricycle) Theatre, with a £5.5 million redevelopment resulting in a bright, light, spacious and welcoming new building – complete with a more obvious street presence, comfortable café/bar area, plentiful ladies' loos, and a flexible auditorium with plush seats an...

In choosing Jo Clifford's comic satire Losing Venice, Artistic Director Paul Miller has served up another unique offering at Richmond's Orange Tree Theatre. Delightfully bonkers, idiosyncratic and totally eccentric; it is an entertaining, if not slightly confusing evening....

US comic Andy Kindler is currently mid-way through a short residency at the Soho Theatre. How well does his overtly self-deprecating shtick translate to a London stage?...

The ridiculousness and hypocrisy of the Victorian ruling class is presented by Finborough Theatre in the form of three commediettas under the umbrella A Winning Hazard. The show consists of J.P. Wooler's rediscovered classics A Winning Hazard, Allow Me To Apologise, and Orange Blossoms. Directed by ...

With suicide being the most prolific killer amongst men under 40, Alex McSweeney and Simon Pittman have teamed up to uncover the reasons why. Following on from their successful run of Out of the Cage, the pair, alongside Fine Line return to the Park Theatre to present the world premiere of Distance....