UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

We use them every day. Sometimes we mean them, other times we don't. We whisper, sing, or scream them. Words permeate our lives from the very start, and theatre director Peter Brook accompanies us on an intimate journey through language and meaning in his new book Tip of the Tongue....

Do you have a secret? Can you keep that secret? If you answered yes and are going to Derren Brown: Underground, think again. Derren Brown probably knows it already. The tricks may stay the same in this 'Best of' show, but with new audiences and new secrets, anything can happen. Although with Brown, ...

A timely revival for one of Jack Rosenthal's celebrated TV plays of the 70s with much to say about the age of the Uber....

When Sister Aloysius (Stella Gonet), St. Nicholas Church School's conservative and distrusting principal, learns from Sister James (Clare Latham) that Father Flynn (Jonathan Chambers) had a one-on-one meeting with Donald Muller - the first and only African-American pupil of the school - she is immed...

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot returns to the Arts Theatre, 62 years after making its English-language debut at the same venue. This production focuses on the play's essence, with director Peter Reid stripping off all frills....

Britney Spears The Cabaret entertains and provokes with the story of the pop princess's life told through Christie Whelan Browne's comic cuts and wonderful singing....

Theatre has a long memory. Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's 1971 musical has been through myriad incarnations, donning and shedding numbers, an interval, an ill-conceived upbeat ending, and yet the original vision has lingered. It comes to extraordinary life in a blockbuster National Theatre rev...

Deadline Day has echoes of The Likely Lads in its humour, drawn from the clashing of cultures as a boy wonder footballer and his go-getting agent travel to London to sign for Chelsea....

Mick and Sylv's (Patrick Driver and Charlie Hardwick) home is a safe haven for some of the teenagers living in a small town in Northumberland. Dummey (Ryan Nolan), Laura (Aimee Kelly), and Shelley (Sarah Balfour) are all there for different reasons, united in the love the two adults give them. Howev...

Wait Until Dark first opened on Broadway in 1966, but many know it from the 1967 Hollywood film, where the lead role of Susy went to Audrey Hepburn, who was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for the role....

An evening dedicated to the highs and lows of gay history, Outlaws to In-Laws takes a look at how men have interacted with one another over the past seven decades. Spanning from the Fifties to the present day, these seven short plays by seven different writers explore the choices that were made duri...

Sick to death of reading shows aimed at 16-25 year olds written by writers 40+, Conor Hunt has created this story of the millennial child, giving his own personal reflection on what it's like to grow up as a product of the Nineties....

After losing his battle to cancer, Dylan has left in his will a video to be given to his best friends Polly and Eve. The recording contains instructions for the pair to go on a road trip, which will be difficult seeing as they haven't spoken to each other in two years....

Annie Siddons is a London-based playwright and performer. But more importantly, she is a survivor. Having suffered from extreme loneliness after a 'shitstorm' of life events this autobiographical show takes us on a journey explaining the reasons why. How (Not) To Live In Suburbia is a joyful and poi...

Chortle Award nominee Kiri thinks the world revolves around her, but she didn't let that stop her wishing to mentor vulnerable kids. Consequently, she's going to be extremely careful what she wishes for in future. An immoral comedian's morality tale about other people's lack of morals....

The Railway Children holds a special place in Britain's heart; E Nesbit's well-loved tale was first published in 1905, but most of us know it from Lionel Jeffries' iconic 1970 film, which also made a star of the teenage Jenny Agutter. This new production, faithfully adapted by Dave Simpson, has give...

With Robert Icke's Andrew Scott-led Hamlet successfully transferring to the West End from the Almeida, and Tom Hiddleston about to get in on the action for Kenneth Branagh at RADA, it is potentially a very risky moment to stage a rather unique and stripped back version of the same Shakespeare play. ...

[title of show] is a clever musical which documents its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival....

Girls follows the story of three young women who are hostages, being put to work and forced to marry. Commissioned by Talawa Theatre Company, HighTide and Soho Theatre, Girls provides a deep insight into those that are forgotten....

Who can you trust? Make the wrong choices and you will end up dead! While Werewolves is in the theatre section of the Fringe brochure, it is better described as an interactive role-playing experience, with the audience involved as participants throughout, striving to survive....

After their highly acclaimed productions in London, Dublin, New York and Sydney, 5 Guys Chillin' returns to the Edinburgh Fringe for the second year....

Nearly 30 years old, Assassins manages to remain fiercely relevant in 2017.  Stephen Sondheim's interpretation of disillusionment with the American dream is explored through those who have tried to kill Presidents of the United States.  As we see how historical figures chose deadly violence to rea...

Musical comedy duo of brothers Ed (the thoughtful, if slightly filthy-minded, guitarist) and Tommy (the shirtless rocker brandishing a balloon cutlass) make up Jollyboat, a vaguely pirate themed double-act who are a definite Fringe cult hit.  They have two shows this year, a "Best of" show celebrat...

This show is a comedy/theatre/spoken word show about hair and hairs. This show is suitable for people who have, or have had hair and hairs....

The show is performed by six dancers: The TUTU men, polymorphous artists who struggle with many different interpretations, faces and styles. They want to entirely feel the freedom and universality of dance. With them, laughter becomes poetic, theatre emerges on stage and things come to life. Success...