Our UK / West End Critics
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Aliya Al-Hassan
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Amber-Rae Stobbs
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Caroline Cronin
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Cheryl Markosky
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Cindy Marcolina
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Debbie Gilpin
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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: NEVER LET ME GO, Rose Theatre
In two unsettling and sensationally conceptualised acts, the play starkly reminds us of what we stand to lose when progress overshadows our most vital connections....
Review: SUOR ANGELICA, London Coliseum
Annilese Miskimmon reimagines the tragic tale against the backdrop of a convent in 1960s Ireland in an unsettling production with some outstanding performers that combine with Puccini's haunting score in a compelling production....
Review: THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY, Barbican Theatre
Charles Mingus originally intended for his iconic 1963 jazz album The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady to be accompanied by dancers and, thanks to performance company Clod Ensemble and the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, it becomes the inspiration for a vibrant and inclusive show....
Review: HOUSE, Barbican
A single house in the Middle East is the focal point in this stage adaption of the Israeli-French filmmaker’s documentary trilogy from La Colline - Théâtre National. Borders, identities, geographies, cultures and people change, and yet its four walls remain the same....
Review: GIANT, Royal Court
John Lithgow impresses as Roald Dahl in an unconvincing drama that is unlikely to change many minds...
Review: THE CABINET MINISTER, Menier Chocolate Factory
Sir Julian Twombley is in hot water when it’s discovered that his family has been living way beyond his House of Commons’ wages. This isn’t the latest front page of a Daily Mail-made political attack, it’s the premise of one of Arthur Wing Pinero’s later comedies. Though Victorian farce is...
Review: GINGER JOHNSON BLOWS OFF!, Soho Theatre
Have you ever been sitting on a stool on a stage, being asked to load a confetti cannon with five containers, one of which containing push pins, that will be shot into the unguarded face of a drag queen? Not many will be able to say they have, but those who attend Ginger Johnson Blows Off! may have ...
Review: BLUE MAN GROUP: BLUEVOLUTION, London Palladium
Describing a Blue Man Group show after just leaving one to a person who has never seen them may feel like sticking jelly to a wall: messy, futile and you might be feeling a bit sticky.
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Review: PINS AND NEEDLES, Kiln Theatre
New play packs plenty of ethical questions into an engaging and fascinating production that offers much to think about on the way home...
Review: THE KING'S SPEECH, Watermill Theatre
The King's Speech achieves something other screen to stage adaptations struggle with: staying true to the spirit while feeling like its own entity. Anchored by a still compelling script and captivating lead duo, the Watermill's production is a beautiful tribute to David Seidler's magnum opus....
Review: BIANCA DEL RIO: DEAD INSIDE, Eventim Apollo
Eighty dates into Bianca Del Rio’s Dead Inside tour, the sweary New Orleans-born comedian is still very much alive and kicking. The artist formally known as Roy R. Haylock is an insult comic whose outsized personality and foghorn voice easily fills the capacious Eventim – but does her latest sho...
Review: BUYER & CELLAR, King's Head Theatre
The wonderfully silly story tells of an out of work actor who is employed to work within the basement of Barbra Streisand’s Malibu property, where they form an unlikely relationship....
Review: 1984, Theatre Royal Bath
What did our critic think of 1984 at Theatre Royal Bath?...
Review: CORIOLANUS, National Theatre
Confluences of history weave together in Lyndsey Turner’s pulsating new production...
Review: EUGENE ONEGIN, Royal Ballet And Opera
Deservedly still Tchaikovsky’s most celebrated opera, Eugene Onegin astounds with angelic music that never ceases to amaze. This production by Ted Huffman, in his main stage Royal Opera debut, features a stellar cast with Kristina Mkhitaryan as Tatyana, Gordon Bintner as Onegin, and several choice...
Review: WAR HORSE, The Lowry
More than 17 years since its onstage premiere, The National Theatre’s acclaimed production of War Horse is providing yet another unforgettable theatrical experience for audiences on its current UK and Ireland tour....
Review: ASI WIND: INCREDIBLY HUMAN, Underbelly Boulevard
Asi Wind brings his latest show Incredibly Human to Underbelly Soho this week and raises eyebrows, though not always in appreciation....
Review: HERE IN AMERICA, Orange Tree Theatre
David Edgar's new stage play about Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller places us mainly in Connecticut, 1952, but struggles to tease out the personal and political complexities within a creative friendship. There is a strong play within Here In America, but it would benefit from being stripped back to the ...
Review: THE MAGICIANS TABLE, London
You wait all your life for someone to come up with an immersive show which blends magical and cocktails and suddenly London has two. What to do?...
Review: AKRAM KHAN'S GISELLE, Sadler's Wells
Whatever you do, don’t ignore the signs. The posters outside the auditorium alerting audiences to the “very loud music” are not being overly cautious. Quite the opposite. With its ear-splitting drums and a rumbling bass that rolls across the room juddering through our bodies, this Giselle’s ...
Review: A FACE IN THE CROWD, Young Vic
“I love you like Mary Shelley loved her monster.” Being in the right place at the right time can change your life. So, when young producer Marcia Jeffries stumbles upon a drunken Larry Rhodes while she’s recording a radio segment somewhere in the southern States, it seems like it’s fate. A g...
Review: SZYMANOWSKI, CHOPIN & MAHLER, Barbican Centre
Pappano is top of his game as he once again proves he is a pristine fit as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. His leadership ties the entire evening together so seamlessly that it’s hardly surprising he earns a standing ovation....
Review: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN, Soho Theatre
On the press night for My English Persian Kitchen, the smell of chopped onion, mint, and garlic wafts down the stairs of Soho Theatre. Hannah Khalil’s atmospheric play, combining true storytelling and live cooking, turns these scents into stories rooted in real life. Fresh from the Traverse progra...
Review: PRINCESS ESSEX, Shakespeare's Globe
“Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside…” Anne Odeke’s play about the first woman of colour to enter a beauty pageant in the UK is a celebration of a bit of Essex’s history that has previously flown under the radar, as well as an interrogation of the effect of empire and patriarchy on the ...
Review: THE TRUTH ABOUT HARRY BECK, The Cubic Theatre, London Transport Museum
Obsessive behaviour takes many forms, from philatelists hunting down rare stamps, ambitious chefs refining gastronomic dishes and online gamers playing through the night to reach the next level. Check out what we thought of the new play here....
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