UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

After successful runs at Edinburgh Fringe and Vault Festival, Naomi Sheldon brings Good Girl to Trafalgar Studios. Her one-woman-show picks apart and analyses what it's like to go through the discomfort and insecurity of growing into a woman. A liberating and honest comedy with a big heart, it shine...

Technical shortcomings and an incoherent book overpower a show with a fine pedigree and good tunes....

Setting a musical in 1960s Baltimore against a backdrop of increasing racial tension between white and black American's doesn't exactly scream feelgood musical. Yet Hairspray manages to achieve a rare thing- a musical with all the schmaltz you could want but with just enough of a message stop you fo...

Classic French farce gets a Bollywood makeover for the 21st century in Nigel Planer's enjoyable adaptation of Marivaux's comedy....

Gore Vidal's 1960 political play The Best Man documents the behind-the-scenes machinations of a fictional Presidential nomination. This new production, directed by Simon Evans, has been on a short tour prior to a run on London's West End - it takes the place of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Mar...

Fairy tales don't just have to be for children, and Max Webster's production proves it's still possible to get our imaginations sparked. There may be no fire-breathing dragons in this story, however there is certainly a wicked stepfather, a sleeping potion and some form of mystical powers at hand....

In the prologue of his new memoir, Unmasked, Andrew Lloyd Webber states, "Autobiographies are by definition self-serving and mine is no exception". It is true that the composer's nearly 500-page book can be seen as one long 'humble-brag', but it's also a fascinating glimpse into the business side of...

Jermyn Street Theatre continues their pursuit of strong women presenting Maureen Duffy's A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square and The Choice as a double bill directed by Natasha Rickman....

The Hope Theatre's own Artistic Director, Matthew Parker, presents the world premiere of Robin Hooper's Foul Pages in a frenzy of neck ruffs paired with leather all wrapped up in homosexual subtext. The Countess of Pembroke (Clare Bloomer) convinces Shakespeare (Ian Hallard) to debut his new play As...

Macbeth delivered by dancers in a unique space, beautifully lit, creating an electrifying theatrical experience....

It is Ida's 86th birthday, but it's a milestone she would rather have not reached. Her family wants to gather and celebrate, but she would rather be removed from her small world of pain and confusion. She sits in the midst of the manufactured joviality of family members who feel both guilt of their ...

Translated by Maja Zade, Falk Richter's text is an unbalancing assault on capitalism, and a scrutiny of the most basic human emotion - love. After 14 years together a couple find themselves at a turning point in their lives. Their trust has been shattered and now they need to decide on what route to...

There were more than a few raised eyebrows when the all new Factory Company from Tobacco Factory Theatres announced it's first play would be a Shakespeare. Having moved the acclaimed Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory company from their usual Spring slot to accommodate its inaugural season, it seeme...

A timely revival of Peter Morgan's play about David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon is beautifully staged and powerfully acted....

The Arcola Queer Collective present two new works as part of their Creative Disruption season....

Princess Margaret brought to life by Felicity Dean in a production that promises more than it delivers about a tragic figure born a generation too early to change the Royal Family....

You wouldn't expect that a play that opens with one of the leads dramatically faking his own suicide would be delightfully funny and yet Harold and Maude at the Charing Cross Theatre is just that. This quirky play is an adaption of the 1971 cult classic film of the same name and features some touchi...

In essence, there is not much to Conor McPherson's intimate play; four men drink in a remote Irish pub, entertain a female newcomer with ghost stories and then leave. However, The Weir is a taut and unexpectedly gripping insight into rural communities, isolation, loss and loneliness....

The 18th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, held at the Prince of Wales Theatre, was a fast-paced ceremony with great performances and an enthusiastic crowd. The WhatsOnStage awards are unique because they are voted for by theatregoers online. While a few shows took home several awards each, no one show do...

Alice has been dead for three days. She's committed suicide, but finds herself stuck in the position of not knowing where she's at. Having the ability to travel around her old surroundings, she views the aftermath of her fatal decision. Her family mourn, her friends question why and other acquaintan...

Ambition not quite matched by execution in an all-female production of The Tempest, one of fringe theatre's more challenging plays to get right....

Alice (Lucy Walker-Evans) is trying to buy the morning after pill in Boots when she meets Jo (Colette Eaton), who drags her into a world of feminist revenge. Written by Katie Caden and directed by Jess Daniels, Conquest explores feminism and consent in a humorously, full of darker undertones....

Sadler's Wells' annual season of flamenco is now in its 15th year. It offers a varied bill, from the traditional and vibrant to more contemporary interpretations. In the case of Isabel Bayon's new work, Dju-Dju, the slightly eccentric too....

No, it's not that Frozen - although the immortal words 'Let it go' do appear in the second half. Otherwise this is a far cry from the Disney juggernaut. Bryony Lavery's 1998 play deals with the abduction of a child, and asks whether evil can be easily defined - or forgiven....

Jubilee is an event that fucks with every theatrical convention; but it also provokes its audience in the most important way. Derek Jarman's iconic film has been adapted to the stage by Chris Goode; centring around a marauding girl gang on a killing spree and a time-travelling Queen Elizabeth 1 - te...