UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

In Robert Louis Stevenson's original Victorian-era novel, women don't seem to exist. They are erased from the narrative, yet their stories are probably some of the most important. In this reimagining, Placey positions our focus on Dr Jekyll's widow, Harriet, showing how she deals with grief and oppr...

Saint George and the Dragon is a story you likely heard as a child. 'He's a picture in a storybook,' notes one of the characters, 'But that's not who we are anymore'. Neither is the audience at the National Theatre. Harking back to a golden age of storytelling, Saint George and the Dragon falls on d...

There's always a place for upbeat escapism in musical theatre. When times are tough, a few numbers that wriggle their way into your consciousness is a welcome thing....

Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein has officially burst into the West End. Based firmly on the movie, also by Brooks, it's brilliantly kitsch, wholly unsubtle and very, very funny....

Adam Spreadbury-Maher has a long history with the King's Head Theatre. As its Artistic Director and co-founder of OperaUpClose, he has overseen many successful opera productions, including The Coronation of Poppea and the multi award-winning La Boh me. Set in the tiny space behind the pub bar, every...

Two women play two women playing men. It sounds complicated, but it isn't really. RashDash return to the Soho Theatre to interrogate masculinity and gender in their award-winning show that defies conventional structure....

A man and a woman enter, having just returned from a holiday in Greece. They unpack, order a takeaway, wash clothes, drink wine, play video games and go to bed. Chris Thorpe returns to the Royal Court with his new play Victory Condition, a complicated exploration of society's complacency....

For the premiere work of new company Elliott & Harper Productions, director Marianne Elliott got the Curious Incident band back together, from playwright Simon Stephens to her acclaimed creative team. But it's in service of a much more intimate piece that while strikingly staged at times feels l...

Following their production of The Truth, also by Florian Zeller, the Menier Chocolate Factory, director Lindsay Posner and translator Christopher Hampton have teamed up again for the English language world premiere of The Lie....

It is said that Rossini wrote his most famous opera, The Barber of Seville, in three weeks, but few opere buffe remain as fresh and funny as this one. The well known plot of cunning barber Figaro's attempts to unite Count Almaviva with beautiful Rosina, as they try to outwit her elderly guardian Dr ...

Disjointed. Chaotic. Haunting. The Tin Drum is a chilling tale that resonates in so many eras of society. Based on the 1959 novel Die Blechtrommel by G nter Grass, Kneehigh's production tells the story of Oskar, a boy born into the world already weary with the state of humanity. We see everything th...

Fifty years ago, The Beatles changed the face of pop music when they released the iconic Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Billed by many as the first concept album, it marked a shift in focus to the recording studio from the live performance arena, as the frustrated band simply wanted the...

My Name is Rachel Corrie is revived at the Young Vic 12 years after its debut at the Royal Court. Edited by the late Alan Rickman and Guardian editor Katherine Viner and based on the writings of Corrie herself, the play is a thought-provoking story told with utmost humanity....

Flashdance The Musical may lack narrative drive, but it more than makes up for it with iconic songs and energetic performances full of star power....

A murder and a major movie star: the media are in frenzy. What happened and why? Sunset Boulevard is the tale of aspiring writer Joe Gillis, who falls into the life of former silver screen siren Norma Desmond. Once in her web, there is no surrender. The audience watches rapt as this twisted love sto...

Despite all the little people in the audience, the seating was a tight squeeze as the Unicorn had sold out, and then some, for the press night of their new show Laika. Following the story of the first dog in space, Bryony Hannah and Avye Leventis have teamed up to co-create a piece that not o...

With This House enjoying an acclaimed revival last year, and Almeida hit Ink now situated just metres away from new offering Labour of Love on St Martin's Lane, the West End currently belongs to the fantastically prolific playwright James Graham....

Madeline (Peyvand Sadeghian) wants the only thing her partner Toni (Harriet Green) can't give her: a baby. When Maddie offers a solution involving someone from their past, Toni starts to be concerned about her role in Maddie's life. Frankie Meredith's debut play is an inspiring piece that questions ...

Presented as part of the Genesis Foundation Project, B kicks off the Royal Court's international season....

Transferring to London after debuting (rather appropriately) in Birmingham last year, Chris Hannan's play is based around Enoch Powell's 1968 'Rivers of blood' speech. Powell's speech famously criticised widespread immigration from the Commonwealth, using an example of a street in Wolverhampton wher...

Gary Naylor sees a show packed with broad humour and commercial songs - and underpinned by a message that matters....

Playwright Gore Vidal was well placed to have in depth knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes in US politics. After all, his mother was the daughter of a Democratic senator and his father worked for Franklin Roosevelt. His interest and involvement in politics led to The Best Man, whi...

'We that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long...' 2017 has been dubbed a year of Hamlets (too many, even), with Andrew Scott and Tom Hiddleston both taking on the role. If one play has experienced a renaissance, however, it would surely be King Lear. Indeed, it seems the UK stage ...

A musical comedy adapted from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', this new UK tour of 'Spamalot' is more intimate than previous productions, but is no less entertaining....

This weekend, for the first time, a James Bond score was performed in its entirety, as the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra accompanied a screening of the 2006 film Casino Royale. This was Daniel Craig's first outing as the British secret agent; coincidentally he has recently confirmed he will b...