UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

It's plain to see why Jewels, Balanchine's work that marks it's half century this year, has an enduring appeal. It's a pure, glossy, glittering spectacle to be devoured and enjoyed by those viewing it. The advantage of a plotless ballet is that it allows one to sit back and absorb the beauty of the ...

Love and disguise are the order of the day as the Orange Tree's 2016-17 programme continues with a new John Fowles translation of Pierre Marivaux's The Lottery of Love. The 18th century play in this production has more than a whiff of Jane Austen about it, with characters in Regency dress and placin...

Condensing the political and military strife of ten years into a tightly concentrated 3 hours, Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra is a beguiling, overwhelming mixture of tragedy, history, comedy and romance. Although the political machinations, battles and titular romance are all historically accur...

Honk! is a musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling with an important message about bullying gently sugar-coated with musical numbers and light comedy....

Music is the centrepiece at Hadley Fraser and Will Butterworth's show at Zedel. During the evening, they revisit classics - ranging from Broadway's beloved Stephen Sondheim, and touching Paul Simon, Harry Connick Jr, Nat King Cole, and Stevie Wonder - as if Tony Bennett and Bill Evans were to produc...

The Mutant Man is a fractured, multi-layered telling of a true story of a man who was born as a woman and how his treatment at the hands of an exploitative, unenlightened society led to tragedy....

Exeter based Le Navet Bete have teamed up with the Exeter Northcott Theatre to present a unique play about the world's most famous vampire. Entitled Dracula: The Bloody Truth the company, which specialises in physical theatre, has stumbled upon a surefire hit with their adaptation, coupling some gho...

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's latest ambitious venture is a visually stunning production of Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice's hit 1980s pop musical....

Premiering in the United Kingdom at Southwark Playhouse, Glenn Waldron's Natives is a brilliant view onto what it means to grow up as a millennial, and it shows the perils precluded to anyone who isn't one....

Directed by Phil Willmott on the ever-changing Finborough Theatre's stage, Incident At Vichy is impactful and thought provoking....

In a contemporary re-imagining of the classic Lewis Carrol tale, Wonderland is Frank Wildhorn's new musical, currently touring venues around the UK until August. Originally produced in the US, then debuting at the Edinburgh Playhouse in January of this year, Wildhorn's new musical follows Alice, a s...

In a plot more than a little reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier, Gabriel sees Jeanne Becquet is trying to keep her young daughter and Jewish daughter-in-law safe under the ever-increasing threat of the Nazis in German-occupied Guernsey in 1943. When a young man washes up on the shore near the house,...

To call THE BODYGAURD - THE MUSICAL good would be kind. But, being completely honest, the theatrical confection is simply high-octane fun. The show's book is as flimsy and full of cheese as anyone could expect. Where the show excels is its score. So, it's no surprise that First Night Records/R.E.D.'...

The Life is the story of two women living in New York in the 70s, one keen to get out of the sex workers' life, the other keen to get on, told through wonderful songs, beautifully sung....

Adam & Eve... and Steve has a bit of panto, a bit of the Edinburgh Fringe and a whole lot of great songs, but not quite the musical chops to reach its full potential....

The Wipers Times tells the story of an underground magazine, written on the Western Front by soldiers for soldiers, the articles packed with good humour and a touch of irreverence....

The complexities of the mother and son relationship are not easy to depict. The unwavering unconditional love and a mother's need to defend her boy against all foes can become creepily like the ancient Greek story of Oedipus if not handled correctly and Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, which is curr...

Leon Fleming tackles mental issues, family, poverty, struggle, and hope in his new play Kicked in the Sh*tter. Her (Helen Budge) and Him (James Clay) - brother and sister with an unprivileged upbringing of poverty - show what it means to live in a constant state of instability caused by depression ...

Birmingham Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere production of One Love: The Bob Marley Musical. Written and directed by Kwame Kwei Armah, this brand new musical is so much more than a juke-box style tribute act. Set across a dramatic period in the music legend's life, we see Bob Marley caug...

The Edinburgh Gilbert & Sullivan Society's latest venture combines sparkling performances, modern references and excellent sound design in one of G&S's less well known comic operas....

Philip Ridley's dystopian nightmare has moments of poetry and humour but is ultimately just too relentlessly grim and must be endured rather than enjoyed....

Last seen in 1984 as BBC's Play for Today, Dog Ends establishes a scenario familiar to many; George is growing weary of looking after his frail elderly father and his beloved dog. Set in an ordinary home, the play looks at a social impact of an ageing population and the possible solutions that may b...

It's 1945, and Paris is shakily emerging from Nazi occupation - celebrating, yes, with soldiers returning and families reuniting, but also confronting collaborators in their midst and post-war deprivation. Amidst this turmoil, two future lovers meet: an encounter of seismic power....

Pop-up Opera are back with a new take on Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Shying away from an elitist view of one of the composer's most notable works, the company created an accessible, unpretentious, and smart production....

In 1944, Terence Rattigan substantially revised Less Than Kind at the behest of star theatrical couple the Lunts; the result was the less political, more overtly comic Love in Idleness. Now, Trevor Nunn – inspired by Dan Rebellato's introduction in a Nick Hern Books edition of the two versions –...