UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

For those unfamiliar with Phil Ellis and his style of comedy, they might be more than just a bit confused by the start of Bath Mat. Instead of Ellis himself taking the stage, it’s fellow comedian Tom Short dressed up as a DJ, getting the audience warmed up. Finally, the man of the hour arrives, cr...

Alison Spittle: BIG begins with Spittle entering the stage wearing a costume made out of colourful loofahs, before pulling it off to reveal a sequined outfit underneath. But this isn’t just a costume reveal - Spittle confesses to the audience that, while she is still fat (and has been since she wa...

Considered the first Irish “state of the nation” play, it’s now turned into a historical vignette imbued with hoarse black comedy. Its long placid rests are interrupted regularly by blazes of humorous energy: it entertains, but the pacing is slightly too slow for it to be full-on engaging. It�...

Having brought their extraordinary theatrical concepts to the all-conquering Fiddler on The Roof, director Jordan Fein and designer Tom Scutt reunite to bring lucky London audiences a gorgeously dark and heartfelt version of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods. ...

I couldn't help but get swept away by The Red Shoes. A rich blend of romantic storytelling and cinema, this production showcases the best Matthew Bourne has to offer as a love letter to ballet in its purest (and most haunting) form. If you're unable to find a production of The Nutcracker this holida...

An ominous small town tension, the lingering fear that something rotten lies beneath the wholesome community spirit, pervades KENREX, which transfers to London after an acclaimed Sheffield Theatres run....

Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo, arriving now at the Young Vic for its long-overdue European premiere, is ostensibly about the American occupation of Iraq. Really, though, Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer-nominated work is about two things: a gold-plated toilet seat stolen from Uday Hussein (son of Saddam ...

Musically impressive with real high points, the drama does not quite hold together...

We’re in a room straight out of the pages of Architectural Digest, two couples sipping Scotch on mid-century chaise longues. Like most plays set entirely in someone’s living room, though, fault lines amidst the middle-class domestic bliss soon emerge....

Punchdrunk Enrichment has created a thoughtful world designed to captivate young audiences and invite their grown ups to rediscover the shared joy of storytelling. Fireside Tales offers a rich and atmospheric experience for children aged seven to eleven, that blends imagination and collective reflec...

Bram Stoker’s Dracula can actually be quite funny. There’s the cowboy who’s inexplicably present in 19th-century Yorkshire, and how Jonathan Harker sees nothing wrong with doing routine real estate transactions at a remote Transylvanian castle. Unfortunately, Dracapella has channelled precisel...

Potted Panto returns to Wilton’s Music Hall for a triumphant third season and once again confirms why it remains a beloved fixture of the festive calendar. Presented by James Seabright in association with Wilton’s Music Hall, this Olivier Award nominated whirlwind offers seven pantomimes in a br...

We still don’t know what Kurt Cobain did in the days before his suicide in 1994. Gus Van Sant offered one hallucinatory guess in Last Days, refashioned into opera by Oliver Leith and now revived at the Royal Ballet And Opera....

A biscuit-scented, warm-hearted Dickens – Beth Flintoff's adaptation relocates the classic to Reading's Huntley & Palmers factory, and the result is festive theatre with real local soul. Until 3 Jan...

The last year or so have often been described online as London’s ‘lesbian renaissance’. Now adding to the sapphic canon is Jess Edwards’ Private View, a rom-com turned dark that explores codependency and opposition....

A free exhibition at the National Theatre proves an eye-opener for those of us who, too often, take stage design for granted...

Richhard Linklater's film is set of the opening night of Oklahoma! in 1943, the beginning of the end for Richard Rodgers' first lyricist...

In an age of transphobic fearmongering about any drag queen daring to perform in front of children, acknowledging the fact that British family entertainment has always been queer feels more important than ever. He’s Behind You takes this one step further, extending the concept of queer adult panto...

'True', 'Gold' and plenty of easy listening classics gives his adoring public exactly what they want...

The Rose Theatre's Cinderella is definitely not a pantomime, but nor is it a straightforward re-telling of the story. Updates to classic fairy tales are not new, but co-writers Chris Bush and Roni Neale give us a recognisable story with several twists along the way; where blended families and frien...

The Christmas Thing is a variety show with a little too much variety, and sometimes feels like a showcase for its talented performers (and perhaps a few game audience members) rather than a standalone show....

At Theatre Royal Winchester this holiday season, Play to the Crowd is bringing one of the classic pantomimes, Puss in Boots, to life in a pawsome new production, written and directed by Robin Belfield. Audiences join Puss (Bekah Selina), who must not only battle the evil Fluella Frostbite (Emma Fenn...

The 2025 revival of Noel Coward's Fallen Angels at the Menier Chocolate Factory, directed by Christopher Luscombe, offers a polished, refined evening of comedy, one that reminds us why Coward's wit, even after a century, can still sparkle with mischief. This is the first London production in 25 ye...

Hundreds flood the stage to reaffirm the magic of theatre and the value of all...

At this time of year, theatregoers are tripping over versions of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The story of redemption and hope over greed and despair is one that never ages, but one that creatives often want to reinvent. However, sometimes the old ways are the best. Immersive storytellers T...