UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Director, Daniel Bailey, follows up his hit Red Pitch with a play that cannot locate the detail it needs to step out of a generic plot...

​​​​​​​Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. That’s the hypothesis of Harry Fehr’s new iteration of The Elixir Of Love, a self-reflexive swipe on 1970s sitcoms drunk on the saccharine sentimentalism of second world war triumphalism. Pip pip. Tally ho....

Natalie Palamides: WEER tells the story of Mark and Christina, a couple who meet in 1996 and fall in love. We see their love story starting from the end on New Year’s Eve in 1999, using flashbacks to show how the pair became a couple and what led to their tragic end. It’s your classic 90s rom-dr...

Whether on the news or on Netflix, dystopia seems the theme of the year. With a disturbing score from Max Richter, Wayne McGregor’s enthralling and infuriating interpretation of Margaret Atwood’s Maddaddam trilogy is a panoramic work that peers into a future which is all too plausible and none t...

Words run out, as The Voice is lost and recovered...

Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre are known for their twists on fairytale classics, including this year’s Christmas production of Scouse Red Riding Hood. ...

Confusing take on Macbeth packs too much innovation into its 90 minutes runtime...

Returning to the West End La Clique is back with a new cast. After two decades of presenting some of the finest vaudeville talent around, is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for this cabaret institution?...

Lisa Lintott's debut play sheds light on Britain in the 70s and leaves us with much to ponder as to whether we've progressed far enough...

Damiano Michieletto brings plenty of pizzazz to Offenbach's crowdpleaser, but wastes some of his on-stage talents...

Ballet Black return to the Royal Ballet and Opera's Linbury Theatre with their current double bill Heroes. It's a quick night with around one hour of dance, but an unsuccessful one choreographically. ...

Smashing together tap dance and film noir, Romain Rachline Borgeaud’s Stories is wrapped around an immersive form of storytelling. Is the world ready for tap noir?...

Selecting a Ghost, a site-specific show at the Stanely Arts Centre, is based on the Arthur Conan Doyle short story of the same name, in which Silas and Matilda D’Odds of Goresthorpe Grange decide that they want a ghost to find its resting place in their new home. Audience members have been welcome...

And finally, the wait is over. The foot-stomping and award-winning musical, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, has arrived in London’s West End after capturing hearts and selling out at Southwark Playhouse....

A failed engagement and extended repression are a deadly concoction in Ivo de Jager’s new play Sweetmeat. It’s sexy and repulsive, horrid and argumentative - a truly compelling project that just needs some tidying up and a stronger dramaturgical control....

Sadler’s Wells advertise The Rite of Spring / common ground[s] bill as “iconic” and I'm tempted to agree. It's rare that a programme can be so satisfying - two works so different yet complimentary, both steeped in power and intention. It's a night not to be missed that's for sure. ...

After its excellent recent revival at Stratford East, there is clearly still public and creative appetite for Mike Leigh's savage suburban comedy, Abigail's Party, now ending another national tour at the Rose Theatre in some style....

This is the story of a shirtless boy who lived underground in Spain. In Tom Lawrinson: Buried Alive and Loving It, the comedian is getting a bit more personal with his audiences, telling them about his childhood and how he believes it has had an effect on him as an adult....

Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz, written by Nathan Queeley-Dennis and directed by Dermot Daly, is described as “a love letter to Birmingham through Beyonce lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber.”...

I’m not sure F Scott Fitzgerald would recognise what Jethro Compton and Darren Clark have done with his intriguing short story about a man living his life, while aging in reverse....

I hope the team behind Smoke takes the opportunity to redevelop the piece—dive deeper, find more nuance, and hone in on the message they want to convey. With this, Smoke could evolve into a genuinely interesting, fresh take on the queer narrative....

L’Addition is a show of simple means with two charismatic performers, but it's a miss for me. ...

With cabaret, sometimes it isn't about the singer, or the song, but the singer singing the song while bouncing a drumstick off a trio of skulls. Perfectly timed for Halloween, Monica Salvi’s Spirits In My Closet is a witch’s brew containing personal stories and the supernatural musings intersper...

Sam Rees’s The Food Bank Show is very aware of all the limitations of his viewership. He marries political philosophy and underground mobilisation with extensive journalistic research and humanity to provide a collaborative production that defies the rules of the genre. It’s a sophisticated inve...

Intellectually stimulating, if somewhat bloodless, version of a tragedy born of racism, jealousy and naivety...