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Aliya Al-Hassan
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Review: SHANGHAI DOLLS, Kiln Theatre
Looking at the rise and fall of two powerful Chinese women through the vague lens of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House probably sounded good on paper. It’s a shame then that Shanghai Dolls fails to deliver on almost every front....
Review: A BRIEF CASE OF CRAZY, Riverside Studios
Just three people and a briefcase. No fancy-pants CGI, no video wizardry, no Marvel-like special effects. Just three people and a briefcase is all it takes for Skedaddle Theatre (definitely a company to watch), in association with Shoddy Theatre, to transport you on a riotous and gratifying journey....
Review: SKATEPARK, Sadler's Wells East
Hypnotic show transports even Boomers like me to happier times...
Review: PLAYFIGHT, Soho Theatre
How will the Fringe hit land in London?...
Review: SPEED, Bush Theatre
With so much potential material to explore, it is incredible that until now, a play has not been written about speed awareness courses. Following the success of the Olivier-nominated Blue Mist, writer Mohamed-Zain Dada and director Milli Bhatia come to the Bush Theatre with their darkly amusing ne...
Review: THANKS FOR HAVING ME, Riverside Studios
A play that will truly help you. Every single person can relate to any of the characters in some way. It’ll leave you with a feeling of hope in relationships and a new desire to just simply let things play out how they wish to.
...
Review: TUTANKHAMUN: THE IMMERSIVE EXHIBITION, Immerse LDN
As someone who was fascinated by Ancient Egypt as a child and who wrote her dissertation on immersive experiences, Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition seemed like the perfect place for me. The exhibition, which opened 28 March at Immerse LDN at Excel, promising “extraordinary journey through Anc...
Review: STEVEN FRAYNE: UP CLOSE AND MAGICAL, Underbelly Boulevard
The magician formerly known as Dynamo and now more formally as Steven Frayne steps away from his ex-persona to embrace a new start....
Review: INTERNATIONAL DRAFT WORKS 2025, Royal Ballet And Opera
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.
...
Review: MANHUNT, Royal Court
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...
Book Review: DRAMA GAMES FOR CLOWNING AND PHYSICAL COMEDY, Nick Hern Books
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 �...
Review: CONTAINER, New Diorama Theatre
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...
Review: FAULTY TOWERS THE DINING EXPERIENCE, President Hotel
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. ...
Review: MINECRAFT EXPERIENCE: VILLAGER RESCUE, Corner Corner
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...
Review: PUPPY, King's Head Theatre
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...
Review: THE PLAY'S THE THING: A ONE-PERSON HAMLET, Wilton's Music Hall
More lost than gained in this abridged version of Shakespeare's longest play...
Review: LSO: MACMILLAN AND SHOSTAKOVICH 12, Barbican Theatre
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...
Review: JAB, Park Theatre
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...
Review: WAKE - THISISPOPBABY, Peacock Theatre
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.
...
Film Review: SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE!
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...
Review: RHINOCEROS, Almeida Theatre
Elerian's brand of maximalist metatheatre greedily hogs the limelight, a crusade to deconstruct Rhinoceros within an inch of its life....
Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR, Jermyn Street Theatre
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...
Review: APEX PREDATOR, Hampstead Theatre
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...
Review: STILETTO, Charing Cross Theatre
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...
Review: THE LEFTBEHINDS, National Theatre Secondary Schools Tour
The National Theatre's outreach work is as crucial as ever but, with its primary schools tour under threat, how long will it last?...
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