UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Well, we got there in the end and thankfully, it was worth the wait. Initially due to open back in 2020, Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Hello, Dolly! has finally arrived in the West End....

The struggle to establish women's football in the UK told through the eyes of those who defied the establishment to play in a world cup in Mexico...

Before I Go, first seen during the Brixton House's Housemates Festival in summer 2023, is a one hour work written by Tobi King Bakare that centres on Ajani, a young, black man who has issues with communication when it really matters....

Created and performed by Zach Zucker of Stamptown fame, Jack Tucker: Comedy Stand Up Hour is a longer-than-an-hour stand up show in which Zucker takes on his character of Jack Tucker. For those unfamiliar with the character, Jack Tucker is the self-described “ultimate comedian’s comedian” who ...

There’s a singular simplicity in Madama Butterfly that draws in audiences year after year, decade by decade like moths to a flame: a man loves and leaves a woman; she gives up everything for him. With a staging that mirrors that bare but powerful concept, Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s 2002 ...

Written by Alexander S. Bermange, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical is a “comedic musical revue” that brings audiences into the world of musical theatre both onstage and off. Audience members experience the life of a performer, from the first nerve-wracking audition to the moment in which they ...

Following the success of A Thong for Europe at Liverpool’s Royal Court in 2023, writer Jonathan Harvey and director Stephen Fletcher are back with another five star comedy hit - Sisters of Mersey....

National Youth Dance Company has been running since 2013, and acts as “England’s Flagship youth dance company”, the brainchild of, and run by Sadler’s Wells. The (Guest) Artistic Directors read like a who’s who of present day contemporary dance royalty, and 23/24 sees Oona Doherty take up ...

Feeling like the wildest circus party in town, Fuerza Bruta (Spanish for “brute force”) return to the Roundhouse with their new show Aven....

The lights flash on, a writer stumbles into his scantly decorated flat. A woman follows, champagne on her breath, flirtatious glances smuggled between them. It’s late at night and the inevitability of retiring to the bedroom looms. But it is not what it seems....

Entering Riverside Studios, you are greeted by two performers dressed in grey bodysuits and bright blue bob wigs, speaking to you in monotonous tones. Going into the theatre itself, the set is nothing but wigs. Wigs worn by the performers, wigs hanging from the ceiling, wigs on mannequin heads on th...

It would be difficult to describe Adam Perchard as some shy, self-effacing wallflower. They follow up Bunburying (The Importance of Being Dr Adam Perchard) with another autobiographical show, this time with composer Richard Thomas, co-creator of Jerry Springer: The Opera....

Two for the price of one isn’t always a good deal, but Deux Grandes Dames with Melissa Errico & Isabelle Georges at Crazy Coqs - Brasserie Zedel is a dynamic vehicle for the two “tall” & “leading” ladies. ...

For a play that wears controversy as a badge of honour the last thing I expected to feel was slightly bored...

However, penned by Joe Evans (score and lyrics) and Linnie Reedman (book and direction), Dorian is an awkward production that’s supposedly adapting the mores and morals of the time for a social media-obsessed audience. They reimagine the protagonist as a lonely rocker who gains overnight popularit...

The Watermill’s dazzling production fully immerses the audience into the showman’s wondrous world in spite of its inherent script issues. With an all-round talented cast led by the ever charismatic Matt Rawle, you’d be justified if you wanted to run away and join the circus after watching this...

Sarah Power’s Grud is a show about space – in more ways than one. When Bo joins an after school club mission to send a model robot into the stars, it causes the space between her home life and the rest of the world to narrow until it disappears completely. Grud follows sixth form student Bo (Cat...

Luke Fields and Emyr Strudwick take honours with plays set in Northern Ireland and South Wales...

And here we go again: the London Clown Festival returns for another run of bizarre, brilliant and occasionally bonkers shows until 26 July....

The Improvised Shakespeare Show is a show that has a self-describing title - a group of actors improvises a show based on the style of Shakespeare. The cast rotates between members of the ShakeItUp Improv troupe, making multiple visits even more appealing as there may be an entirely different cast t...

Has opera found its own Ivo van Hove? Jan Philipp Gloger’s radical production of Così fan tutte continues until 10 July....

After a record-breaking sell-out concert launch at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Your Lie in April is now open at the Harold Pinter Theatre for 12 weeks only....

A show that could go very wrong gets everything right...

Written and directed by the Hairy Godmothers Collective, Dizney in Drag: Once Upon A Parody is “a gender-bending pantomime romp through beloved fairytales told with drag performers giving (and receiving) positive lessons on respect, healthy masculinity, periods, and sex positivity.”...

Emma Riches and Lisa Minichiello give committed performances, but the play is short on the narrative drive required to carry its issues...