UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

As delicate and fragile as one of the glass creatures that are collected, Tennesse Williams' beguiling story of memory, The Glass Menagerie combines themes of hope, rejection, disappointment and profound sadness....

“When are we old? How can experience and embodied knowledge be brought into creative play? And what is the role of dance in questioning the idealisation of youth in our culture?” ...

It's hard to imagine what more an audience could possibly want from a dance show than what Diversity provide in their current tour Supernova. There are stunning, tightly choreographed dance routines, impressive production values, up-to-the-minute technology, music loud enough to reverberate through ...

Much Ado About Nothing is a quintessential Shakespeare farce: mistaken identities, intertwining romances, betrayals and deception all wrapped up with a neat little bow by the end. The same can be said for the screwball comedies that dominated 1930’s and 40’s cinema, so it’s no surprise why Tom...

Last seen in London nearly a decade ago, Ushers, the show putting the front of house staff upon the stage is back. A musical with its tongue set firmly in its cheek, this is a fun and frothy production with some very strong and vibrant performances....

C.S. Lewis said that friendship is, like philosophy and art, unnecessary. “It has no survival value”, yet, “it is one of those things which give value to survival.” Lady loves Gemma. They’ve been best friends forever, but haven’t seen each other in six months. On Gemma’s birthday, Lady...

Producers Christopher D Clegg and James Drury have had a remarkable journey with Cool Rider, the much-lauded Grease 2 stage adaption. From a supposed ‘one night only show’ back in 2014 at the Lyric Theatre, to record-breaking ticket sales, a flurry of last-minute additional dates, then a return ...

Created by cabaret artist Jack Sears and Royal Ballet soloist Hannah Grennell, Giselle:Remix fuses dance and lip sync....

May Contain Food May Contain You, devised and performed by Sonya Cullingford and Simon Palmer, is Protein’s “scaled-down rural touring version” of May Contain Food, which was originally devised and performed by Cullingford, Carl Harrison, Matthew Winston and Rachele Rapisardi....

Welcome to a high school reunion with a difference: this one has an uninvited (but secret) guest. In Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ latest play, a group of friends collectively known as “MERGE” have gathered for a pre-reunion meet-up; Ursula, Emilio, Caitlin, Kristina and Paco haven’t all been in t...

Leslie Ash leads a very funny play by first time writer Aaron Thakar, lit up by a charming and hilarious turn by another debutante, Jake Mavis...

Sometimes reality and drama overlap so much that it can be hard to tell where one finishes and another starts. ...

His first publication went viral (once again, in a way) when Mr Jeremy Strong of Succession fame featured it in his GQ interview about his essentials, saying he swears by it. Declan Donnellan succeeds at describing the indescribable, putting the ephemeral art of acting on paper in another gem of a b...

Bringing together Shakespeare's two great history plays, Player Kings is now open at the Noël Coward Theatre. Ian McKellen plays Falstaff in a new version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke. A divided country, leadership crumbling, corruption i...

Ian McKellen is a mesmerizingly athletic Falstaff in Robert Icke's iconoclastic fusion of Henry IV parts 1 and 2...

The Elixir Festival returns to Sadler’s Wells with the same, integral mission: “rethinking perceptions around dance and age.”...

​​​​​​​Serving as a kind of Barber of Seville of theatre, Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most accessible of Shakespeare’s plays. Its blend of mystic romance, daffy dramatists and fairy-powered shenanigans is not short on rambunctious comedy turns but, in the hands of Flabber...

The evening includes ten works and the premise is an important, and pressing one: where is ballet (as we know it) going…? ...

'Walking into the Soho Theatre Upstairs, you are given a nametag before taking your seat. Interestingly enough, Playing Latinx has the same start as Derren Brown’s Unbelievable on the West End, with a chair on stage and a sign stating, “The show will start once someone sits on this chair.”'...

Liam Withnail: Chronic Boom begins with a video, in which Withnail is recording a podcast episode with a fellow comedian. Before they can get into a conversation, however, Withnail receives a call from the hospital, telling him that he needs to go in overnight. This meant dropping everything and goi...

When Phantom Peak, one of London's most innovative and ridiculously fun theatrical experiences, holds a Festival Of Innovation, how can one say no? It is not the only impressive immersive show in town but its near-peerless execution and boundless imagination puts it up there with the more well know...

New play The Promise, which has its world premiere at Birmingham Rep this week, looks at the intersectionality of dementia and deafness through the experiences of one family, and highlights the urgent need for more understanding and care options. ...

Sisterly bonds are tethered by fiery ambition in this exploration into the lives of the Brontë sisters....

If Your Lie in April follows the same patterns as Death Note, it won’t be the last time we hear of this iteration. It would be absolutely wonderful to see both of them completely realised as full production at last. The demand is there and the West End should take note....

One-off staged concerts are all the rage these days. A way for producers to attract established stars that will fill a room and the chance to test the waters for potential longer runs are only a few benefits. Realistically, they’re also cheaper, relatively risk-free, and easier to mount than a ful...