The latest reviews and critic recommendations from UK / West End.
Aliya Al-Hassan
Amber-Rae Stobbs
Caroline Cronin
Cheryl Markosky
Cindy Marcolina
Debbie Gilpin
Donald Hutera
Franco Milazzo
Gary Naylor
Guest Author
Kat Mokrynski
Kerrie Nicholson
Matthew Paluch
Mica Blackwell
Michael Higgs
Vikki Jane Vile
What better stocking filler could there be than the newest release from SimG Records? In September this year, Robert J Sherman's new musical comedy Bumblescratch received a charity concert at the Adelphi Theatre in London, starring West End performers Darren Day, Jessica Martin, Michael Xavier and I
Originally commissioned by the National Theatre two years ago, Bryony Lavery's adaptation of Treasure Island swings into the Birmingham Rep for a lengthy Christmas run.
Two Bit Classics, Joannah Tincey and Nick Underwood have brought their successful touring two-actor production of Pride & Prejudice to London.
Jukebox musicals seem to be as popular as ever in the West End, using familiar songs to tell stories on stage.
The annual spectacular pantomime at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh has built a reputation for being one of the best in the country, and this year's production of Jack and the Beanstalk does not disappoint.
Making the European premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher the not-panto Christmas show in Northampton's Royal Theatre may well have been an inspired move by the powers-that-be at Royal and Derngate.
This revival of Sam Shepard's apocalyptic 1978 play has gained resonance since 2016's most apocalyptic political development - namely, Donald Trump cynically harnessing Midwestern anger and disillusionment.
The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry has teamed up again with Imagine Theatre and panto veteran Iain Lauchlan this year to create a brand new production of Dick Whittington - a very popular title choice in the Midlands this year it seems! Remarkably busy for a school night, there was a very good mixture
James Graham's political masterpiece makes its long-awaited West End transfer after runs at the National Theatre in 2012-13 and Chichester Festival this September.
Hosted in the ambiguously small The Hope Theatre, decked in ruby velvet and rather decadent furniture for the occasion, this 25th Anniversary production of Bryony Lavery and directed by Matthew Parker, Her Aching Heart is funny, energetic, and deliciously overdramatic.
Gary Naylor sees a show soar, like Peter, beyond expectations - a delight for all the family.
Gary Naylor sees a long-running West End haunted house mystery and revels in its unabashed theatricality
Gary Naylor sees a magical Christmas show that sets up the festive season even for an old Bah Humbug! man like him.
Gary Naylor sees a show that he should like more than he does, possibly because it owes more to performance art than it does to theatre.
Gary Naylor sees a diverting, if not wholly convincing, revival of a dark comedy-thriller set in a 1920 GP practice in Glasgow.
It couldn't have been better timed.
Theatre503 sees the world premiere of Sleeping Trees' new pantomime, Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves.
After the Harold Pinter Theatre had its final Sunny Afternoon in October, it is now home to Nice Fish for a limited run.
Gary Naylor sees a pantomime that pushes all the traditional panto buttons without distracting gimmicks.
Three sixty-something retired scientists talk to one another in a remote seaside cottage for two hours.
Gary Naylor sees a serious but rewarding take on one of Shakespeare's late plays that raises questions about power and control.
'Inmates, coming through.
In the sparkling new-staging revisitation of Baddies: The Musical, the antagonists are simply too bad to exist, so in order to keep doing their jobs in our beloved stories, they need some good ol' rebranding.
Whilst Simon Russell Beale's return to the Royal Shakespeare Company after a twenty year long absence has been met with justified excitement, the most hotly anticipated aspect of Gregory Doran's new production of The Tempest is the innovative use of digital technology.
Gary Naylor sees a piece of new theatre that has its roots in farce but gives it a contemporary twist with a young cast and first time creatives.
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