UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Harold Pinter's No Man's Land returns to the Wyndham's theatre no more than forty-six years after it last hit the same stage. Redefined by the powerhouse duo of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, this production is a rare autumnal treat that's bound to intrigue....

Gary Naylor sees a fine tribute to the men of Clapton Orient who went into battle for King and Country 100 years ago....

The first thing to say about Good Canary is it is not always an easy play to watch. Zach Helm's expletive-ridden play is a darkly comic portrayal of mental disintegration, drug addiction and literary brilliance that is mesmerising and ultimately exhausting to sit through...

Based on real life events back in the roaring 1920s, nightclub singer Roxie Hart shoots her lover and along with cell block rival, double-murderess Velma Kelly, fights to keep from death row with the help of smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn....

Gary Naylor sees a play with plenty of emotional torment on display but a dubious political message that sits ill with its venue....

Gary Naylor enjoys a Tennessee Williams play full of sharp dialogue, tenderness and the poignant loss of missed opportunities....

Gary Naylor sees a frenetic, physical production of the Ben Jonson classic that fizzes with fibbing and foolishness....

Gary Naylor sees plenty of relevant stuff and controversial material in a new version of Marlowe's influential classic....

Following a critically acclaimed run earlier this year, Hershey Felder's The Pianist of Willesden Lane is playing again at the St. James Theatre for six weeks. To mark its return, a gala performance in aid of World Jewish Relief has taken place....

Jamie Wilson and the Leicester Curve's new production of Sister Act contains all of the ingredients for a smash-hit musical: a star director, a celebrity lead, a well-known, beloved story based on a popular film, and a plethora of sequins and catchy tunes.  Based on the 1992 film starring Whoopi...

Gary Naylor sees a show that has plenty of rock but lacks strong characters and is overly predictable....

Zoe Cooper's new play, Jess and Joe Forever, taps into an experience that so many of us have had; the intensity and importance of a friendship made on a childhood holiday....

Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) is perhaps the most famous 'opera buffa'- an informal style of comic opera developed to appeal to the lower classes in the early 18th Century....

The genius of Roald Dahl created some wonderfully villainous characters and two of the most vile must be the disgustingly horrible Mr and Mrs Twit. Bringing their story to life, with details such as the house turned upside down, worm spaghetti and bird pie, is a challenge few could tackle....

One of the world's most famous cars has flown into the Birmingham Hippodrome this week, in the form of Ian Fleming's spectacular musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Based on the beloved film of the same name, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sees struggling inventor Caractacus Potts swept away on an extraordina...

In 1974, renowned Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia to chart the downfall of Emperor Haile Selassie, 'King of Kings, elect of God', through interviews with his loyal servants and associates. Kapuscinski's 1978 book has been adapted by Colin Teevan into an extraordinary show...

Gary Naylor sees a play that examines suburban alienation in 80's America and the salvation Punk offered - on rollerskates!...

Gary Naylor sees a production that proves that if a script is poor, the play has no chance of success....

Gary Naylor sees an award-winning play from DL Productions that makes its demands on the audience, but provides its rewards too....

Gary Nayloe sees a curate's egg of a play, at times exhilarating, at times too pleased with itself, at one of London's great venues....

Writer Bob Eaton had previous success with 2-Tone Musical Three Minute Heroes at the Belgrade Theatre in 2014. This time, he has put pen to paper to create a musical loosely based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Roll Over Beethoven boasts an original rock 'n' roll score against a backdrop of post-w...

Adapted from Jack Heifner's 1970s stage play, Vanities the Musical makes its London debut at the intimate Trafalgar Studios. Joanne, Kathy and Mary, the musical play's only characters, tell an all-American story audiences world-over will be familiar with, though in a bold new way, as three high scho...

Gary Naylor sees another triumphant boutique opera at the genre's spiritual home with all the thrills of operatic voices at close quarters and plenty of laughter and tears too....

I hope there's a time when we don't feel like Alice Birch's bold, blackly funny, uncompromising battle cry of a play is a necessary intervention. A time when we're not reeling from sexist Olympics commentary, relentless online attacks on women who dare to enter political debate, or the news that Ame...

The show must go on. And on. Even for the understudies trapped in theatrical purgatory, forever waiting for their chance to perform. So far so Beckett? That's the premise of American playwright Dave Hanson's affectionate absurdist parody, offering a lighter take on the master's existential philosoph...