UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Last night saw the world premiere of new musical The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole at the Curve in Leicester. Being a champion for original writing and aptly being author Sue Townsend's home town, it was only right that this show sees its debut here. Many people hold the books in high regard - myself ...

Gary Naylor is left awed by the performances, the spectacle and the sensory overload of the penultimate show in the New York Met's season of operas broadcast to cinemas around the world....

Gary Naylor sees a show that goes straight to the crowdpleasing mega-hits dispensing with any plot and lets the songs stand, magnificently, on their own two feet....

Gary Naylor sees a ballet version of Romeo and Juliet that builds the story through scenes drawing on a wide range of music and dance....

All the other reviews I've read of this play are prefaced with a little note that the critic isn't a professional wrestling fan, and they go on to use terms such as 'bonkers' or 'far-fetched' to describe it. Well, I am a professional wrestling fan (I've even written a book about it), and 'Lardo', wh...

Game is the latest production from Mike Bartlett, currently running at the Almeida Theatre. This immersive production splits the audience in to four different zones marked A-D, offering people the chance to gain different and unique experiences. Upon entering your designated zone, audience members a...

Gary Naylor enjoys an extraordinary evening of vignettes by ultra-talented dancers that underlines, again, that balance, grace and technique lie at the heart of what pleases the eye in any physical endeavour....

Gary Naylor sees a show that isn't quite stand-up, but isn't quite experimental theatre either, delivered by an 80s and 90s icon who is channeling his energies into a call to action....

Back Down is a collaboration between Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Roundhouse and is the debut play written by Steven Camden, who may be better known as the spoken word artist - Polarbear. The story centres around three friends who embark on a climb up Mount Snowdon as their final outing befo...

Bush Moukarzel and Dead Centre present 'Lippy,' based on the true story of a family of women who starved themselves to death in Ireland in 2000....

For me, Anthony Newley is Matthew Mugg. It wouldn't be until 2015 that I discovered that Anthony Newley is responsible for some of my favorite music, and that he wrote a ton of material with Leslie Bricusse. This piqued my curiosity in Stage Door Records' release of ANTHONY NEWLEY SINGS " THE GOOD O...

Gary Naylor sees a deluxe jukebox musical that delivers fantastic entertainment through great songs and a magnificent central performance....

Greg Wise returns to the stage after 17 years in Brad Fraser's 'Kill Me Now'....

Starring Mark Strong, one of the most critically acclaimed productions of 2014, 'A View From The Bridge' transfers from The Young Vic to a run at Wyndham's Theatre....

The life of Marie Curie - moving from Poland to France, her happy marriage and working partnership with Pierre, the Nobel Prizes, the death from radiation poisoning - seems ample material for a terrific drama....

Gary Naylor sees a magnificently staged adaptation of a film that charmed cinema audiences and critics in 1998 and is now repeating the trick for theatregoers in 2015....

Amelia Bullmore's rather sweet comedy opened this week at The Vaudeville Theatre, following its successful run in Hampstead....

Gary Naylor sees a show that tltillates, tickles and ultimately triumphs with a potent mix of superb songs and dubious jokes, as Rocky Horror meets the Carry-Ons....

The Ruling Class starring James McAvoy sees Peter Barnes' production being revived by Jamie Lloyd for the first time since it played the West End in 1969. Peter O'Toole starred in the 1972 film version, but Barnes' black-comedy from 1968 has once again been brought to the London theatre scene by Llo...

Last April I reviewed The Play That Goes Wrong for BroadwayWorldUK during its UK tour prior to its West End run. I enjoyed it immensely and the reaction to the production is clearly widespread as the production company recouped their investment within the first portion of their stint in London. Pete...

Kevin Elyot's classic tragi-comedy has transferred from the Donmar Warehouse to the cosy Apollo Theatre....

Contact.com at the Park Theatre follows fortysomething married couple Matthew (Jason Durr) and his wife Naomi (Tanya Franks) as they prepare to open their home to young couple Ryan (Ralph Aiken) and Kelly (Charlie Brooks) whom they met after replying to their online advertisement. Both couples are s...

The gloves are off in Mike Bartlett's biting satire about office politics and under versus top dog....

Gary Naylor is invited into the presence of Marlene Dietrich and finds much that is unique, and much that is universal, in this towering figure of 20th century culture....

Gary Naylor sees an adaptation of a children's classic that has depth and nuance to match the spectacle on stage - or is that on rail?...