UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Choreography isn't easy, so choreographic platforms like International Draft Works (2025) are of the utmost importance. The movement lab returns to the Royal Ballet and Opera's Linbury Theatre for another insight into where present day choreography, of ballet companies, is going. ...

Raoul Moat is as unknowable at the end of his spree as he was at the beginning in this squandered opportunity to examine a hot button topic...

Drama Games for Clowning and Physical Comedy, written by Joe Dieffenbacher, is one of a series, Drama Games, which, as one might guess from the title, has a range of different games for one to try in workshops, classes and/or rehearsals rooms, with topics like Shakespeare, young children and even �...

Unlike the object it is named after, Container studiously avoids fripperies like classical forms and categorisation. With nods to immigration, social media, California fires and the ongoing deluge of news from every angle, this is a work that merrily crosses thematic boundaries like a jaywalker afte...

Nostalgia might not be what it used to be but it hasn’t stopped the Faulty Towers Dining Experience rolling on and on for over 13 years in the UK and even longer in its native Australia. ...

Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue is a “real-world, Minecraft immersive adventure” designed for families, both players and non-players alike. The show is in a new venue that has been built in Canada Water, Corner Corner, which has replaced part of the Surrey Quays shopping venue. The experie...

Following The Audiovisual Media Services Regulation 2014, several acts were banned from explicit content filmed in the United Kingdom. This was done under the radar in a legislative change that resulted in a face-sitting protest in Westminster. The “face-sitters” protested that this bill was, in...

More lost than gained in this abridged version of Shakespeare's longest play...

Dominated by a new James MacMillan work, and a lively couple of pieces by Shostakovich reflecting on the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, this concert from the LSO, with their Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and violinist Nicola Benedetti, offered a lively evening of music. Full-blo...

Sometimes you’re unlucky enough to sit in a room and wonder why plays exist. Jab is an unfortunate example of this. Anne and Don have been married for nearly three decades and they despise each other. She would normally brush his sexist remarks and complacency under the rug, mostly ignoring him du...

Forgive the urban legend - but they say no one does a funeral like the Irish…and WAKE by THISISPOPBABY, a UK debut now showing at the Peacock Theatre, would suggest this statement is indeed fact rather than hearsay. ...

SIX the Musical Live! is the filmed version of the hit musical about the six wives of Henry VIII that has taken the world by storm. The show has been seen by over 3.5 million audience members around the world since it first debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. The original West End cast...

Elerian's brand of maximalist metatheatre greedily hogs the limelight, a crusade to deconstruct Rhinoceros within an inch of its life....

In a captivating one-man performance at the intimate Jermyn Street Theatre, Alastair Whatley breathes new life into Oscar Wilde's complex character through Michael Mac Liammóir's enduring play, The Importance of Being Oscar. First performed in 1960, this production shifts focus to Whatley's interpr...

It finally feels like the world is waking up to the epidemic of violence perpetrated by men towards women and girls, but John Donnelly’s new play has come up with a new way of countering this: vampirism! Clearly this is a supernatural ‘what if?’, but it raises some interesting questions and la...

A musical set in the 1730s heyday of Venetian opera ought to be a glamorous glimpse into a different, dangerous era. Stiletto, from the composer behind the classic Disney hero’s journey Mulan, has all the ingredients for that to be the case – simmering rivalries, power struggles, romance and mur...

The National Theatre's outreach work is as crucial as ever but, with its primary schools tour under threat, how long will it last?...

Alfred Hitchcock Presents - The Musical has its moments that inject the Hitchcockian spirit it needs, but its lack of frights and baffling structure leave it as dull as its grey sets....

Walking into Metroland LIVE: The Box, audience members are greeted by a gym instructor in bright pink gym shorts, who is encouraging everyone to remove their jackets as things are going to get hot in Soho Theatre Upstairs. The man (Caden Elliott) introduces himself as Cum McGroin and has the audienc...

The Royal Ballet continue The Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival with Balanchine: Three Signature Works. And the triple bill is also an excuse to celebrate Patricia Neary. Neary has been setting Balanchine works for 57 years, and been a member of the RB family for a long time. This pro...

Australian masters of variety extravaganzas Strut & Fret return to the UK with their unashamedly adult and savagely sexy new show Sabrage. Just don’t forget the first rule of cabaret....

F**king Men often feels like it’s bitten off more than it can chew. Buried within it are several stronger plays, each of which could thrive on London’s vibrant off-West End scene if given the space to breathe. ...

The Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival continues at Sadler’s Wells with Outsider by Rachid Ouramdane & Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. It's an experience which goes something like: Yes, no. And no. ...

Jonathan Maitland’s portrayal starts when Wilko Johnson at the height of his fame has the bad luck to be marked for death both on screen and off. As Game of Thrones’ mute executioner who lops off Eddard Stark's head, he ends up on Arya Stark's infamous list; months later, he’s given the worst ...

With fifteen years experience as a Michael Jackson impersonator and spending two hours in the make-up chair every night getting ready, you can’t fault CJ (Craig Harrison) for commitment....