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Aliya Al-Hassan
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Caroline Cronin
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Cheryl Markosky
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Cindy Marcolina
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Franco Milazzo
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Gary Naylor
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Kat Mokrynski
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Vikki Jane Vile
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Review: MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Grange Park Opera
Grange Park Opera has opened its new season with a crowd-pleaser. Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly remains problematic, with its story of a Japanese teenage geisha, impregnated and cruelly abandoned by an American lieutenant. However, it is still wildly popular, mainly due to its ravishing score....
Review: OSCAR AT THE CROWN, The Crown
Walking down into The Crown for Oscar at The Crown makes one feel as though they are entering the bunker of a conspiracy theorist, with photos connected with thread and quotes written on the walls. Turning the corner, audience members are greeted by a quote in glowing yellow - “What a beginning. W...
Review: SOHO SONGS - THE TIGER LILLIES, Soho Theatre Walthamstow
Martyn Jacques brings his unique sound and sensibility to a wonderful addition to London's panoply of theatres...
Review: OUR COSMIC DUST, Park Theatre
Sometimes the Brechtian veers into the over-literal, but there is still clarity and catharsis to be found in a child's newfound understanding of life and loss....
Review: GIFFORDS CIRCUS: LAGUNA BAY, Chiswick House & Gardens
Giffords Circus: Laguna Bay takes audiences and transports them from a 600-seat tent in Chiswick House and Gardens to a beach resort in 1950s America, with sunglasses and leather jackets aplenty....
Review Roundup: Nicholas Hytner's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Bridge Theatre
Return to the forest this summer – a dream world of flying fairies, contagious fogs and moonlight revels. The seating is wrapped around the action while the immersive tickets allow the story to be followed on foot. Following its critically-acclaimed run in 2019, the Bridge Theatre’s five-star pr...
Review: MISS MYRTLE'S GARDEN, Bush Theatre
Miss Myrtle’s garden is an oasis caught in the jaws of gentrification. As her mind starts to go, her grandson Rudy moves in with his “friend” and prods her for answers about their shared past. The generational gap is an abyss of doubt, but is that what’s making it hard for her grandson to be...
Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Bridge Theatre
“I have had a most rare vision. I had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was…” Like Nick Bottom (and the lovers), stepping out of the Bridge Theatre auditorium after a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream does feel like you are waking up from some kind of reverie. Even if ...
Review: LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, Golden Goose Theatre
Some plays are untouchable... Long Day’s Journey Into Night is one of those plays. Too infamous to accept the challenge. Especially not by a group of actors in their 20’s. Until now....
Review: ITCH, Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park has never shied away from audacious programming, and with Jonathan Dove’s Itch, it plunges boldly into radioactive territory—literally. Originally seen here in 2023 and based on Simon Mayo’s YA novel about a teenage element hunter who stumbles upon a potentially world-alteri...
Review: PHANTOM PEAK: THE BURNING BLIMP FESTIVAL, Phantom Peak
The finest immersive experiences ask much of their audience. Titled “The Burning Blimp Festival”, Phantom Peak’s latest season makes demands on your detective skills, your physical stamina and - at one point - your immortal soul. Gulp....
Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Barbican
Jordan Fein understands that Fiddler on the Roof is more than just Jews and jazz hands. For him, it’s as much a Greek tragedy that cuts to the heart of the human condition as much as it is a piece of summer escapism. Philip Roth infamously derided it as 'shtetl kitsch’. He might have retracted h...
Review: IN PRAISE OF LOVE, Orange Tree Theatre
Terence Rattigan's work remains a stalwart of the British stage. Richmond's Orange Tree Theatre has a particular fondness for his lesser revived work; lighter, frothier plays such as French Without Tears and While the Sun Shines. In Praise of Love, Rattigan’s poignant penultimate play, is a di...
Review: LETTERS FROM MAX, Hampstead Theatre
Based on Sarah Ruhl’s eponymous 2018, the stage adaptation of Letters from Max is downright harrowing. It follows her correspondence with a brilliant former student of hers, Max Ritvo, whose sudden cancer recurrence in his early 20s echoes in Ruhl’s life. As the pair discuss illness and artistry...
Review: GRAVE MISTAKE, The Hope Theatre
Grave Mistake is an unmissable farce and dark comedy created by writers Matthew Ballantyne and Toby Hampton. The plot celebrates the hilarious and frequently fractious relationship between two dysfunctional sisters....
Review: ONEGIN, Royal Ballet And Opera
John Cranko's Onegin returns to the Royal Ballet and Opera stage for a second block of shows this season, and it's largely good news for all involved....
Review: CUL-DE-SAC, Omnibus Theatre
David Shopland's new dramedy is flawed by its lack of focus...
Review: TRANSPORT EXPLORERS: A LIVE SHOW, London Transport Museum
‘A Transported by Culture’ initiative by London Transport Museum, Director and CEO Elizabeth McKay has materialised into the premiere of a new family theatre show aimed at children aged 5+-11 on site in the Museum’s very own Cubic Theatre, in Covent Garden....
Review: ELEPHANT, Menier Chocolate Factory
After two highly successful runs at the Bush theatre, Anoushka Lucas's beautifully pitched and intensely captivating solo piece now arrives at the Menier Chocolate Factory in a slightly extended form....
Review: A BEAUTIFUL THREAD: THOMAS HARDY IN WORDS AND MUSIC, Starring Anton Lesser
An unmissable evening of beautiful words from Thomas Hardy (read by National Treasure Anton Lesser) and music from Orchestra of the Swan at Stonehenge....
Review: HOUSE OF LIFE, Soho Theatre
As Forrest Gump wisely said 'Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get.' House of Life takes that idea and runs away with it to flamboyant effect....
Review: THIS IS NOT A MURDER MYSTERY, Drayton Arms Theatre
The classic story of a murder mystery is one that has made its way through the generations of stage, screen, and literature throughout history. Although this ending may have you more confused than scared....
Review: IN PURSUIT OF REPETITIVE BEATS, Barbican Centre
Whether you want to relive the second summer of love and the late-Eighties acid house rave scene or just want to feel what it might be like to fly through the cosmos, the updated “Virtual Reality adventure” In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats is a compelling experience. ...
Review: THIS IS MY FAMILY, Southwark Playhouse Elephant
Like Tim Firth’s other works, This Is My Family makes the ordinary extraordinary while carrying a raw truthfulness. It may not one hundred percent work as a musical in my opinion, but it’s still a funny, relatable yet bittersweet show with a stellar cast....
Review: MARRIAGE MATERIAL, Lyric Hammersmith
Must-see new play based on Sathnam Sanghera's novel about a Sikh immigrant family and the tension between seeking success while trying to hold onto older traditional values....
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