UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

The departing artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse is going out in a blaze of glory. A starry cast leads Lucy Kirkwood’s latest play, a period piece that, curiously, ties in perfectly with Rufus Norris’ current venture south of the river, Nye. The further end of the 40s has Shropshire shack...

To say Cable Street has been highly anticipated would be a gross understatement: it’s basically unheard of for a new, Off West End musical to completely sell out its run before a single review has been published. Nevertheless, this little show that could is absolutely deserving of its success, and...

In a world shadowed by the persistent threat of nuclear war, A Family Business presented by China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz, delivers a poignant and immersive exploration of the human narrative behind the struggle for nuclear disarmament. ...

James McDermott's two-hander hits hard, but needs a little more mystery and nuance to realise its potential...

'Walking into Lara Ricote: Little Tiny Wet Show (baptism), you are greeted by a collection of small cardboard gravestones, each having a nonsense name on it. Ricote enters the stage wearing a white dress, singing “Let It Be” with lyrics that make no sense before announcing that the song came to ...

Shifters is the kind of love story that audiences will fall head over heels for. Heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal measure....

The cruel world of drama schools is examined at close range in Spider, written and directed by Jude Benning and currently playing at Riverside Studios as part of their Bitesize Festival....

Nothing ever happens in Nina and Noa’s lives. At 17 years old, they’ve never been kissed, or been asked out. They’ve never gone to a party and their parents are still together. It’s a tragedy. Friendless and more interested in books than in boys, they figure out they can write their own nove...

The odd-couple set up is a well worn path, but there’s more than meets the eye to Neil D’Souza’s bittersweet comedy....

In an anonymous room in the City, a group of people is summoned to discuss the crimes of a man who swears his innocence. Jury Duty is as immersive as it gets. ...

Returning to Stratford East after two decades, the vibrant ska musical The Big Life mixes the plot of Love's Labour's Lost with the arrival of the Windrush generation to London. With a big heart and a sense of fun, it takes an original approach to highlighting the plight of the new migrants who see ...

Hadestown, the acclaimed Broadway musical phenomenon by singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin has made its long-awaited West End premiere at the Lyric Theatre....

Edward Lambert's Duchess of Padua is packed full with stunning music that brings Oscar Wilde's early melodramatic epic of love and revenge to life....

In its basic premise and form, Hir is a very traditional piece of theatre. It follows a typical two-act structure and the whole play takes place in one room with the same four characters. Within this familiar form, however, Mac wreaks havoc on the notion of the nuclear family, exploring what takes p...

Created with director Rachel Chavkin, it’s a story of tragic love and politics, defeat and defiance. An epic anthem for the lovers and the runaways. The actors mostly new to Hadestown, Hades’ underground factory, with only Gloria Onitiri returning as Persephone (rather than a Fate) and Beth Hint...

Making his West End debut, celebrated director Thomas Ostermeier‘s iconoclastic production of An Enemy of the People plays at the Duke of York’s Theatre is now playing for a strictly limited run....

The Pandemic and its consequences, especially on 20- and 30-somethings, are explored in the BBC's world premiere of U.Me: The Complete Musical....

Fool’s Moon is a self-described “anarchic, genre-bending cabaret night where the mischievous come out and play.” Walking into the Soho Theatre Downstairs, you are greeted by large red curtains covering the typical standup background of the brick wall. Jazz music plays throughout the preshow, m...

The glamour of Old Hollywood loses its shine in John Logan’s newest labour of love. Set in the 60s in an industry fuelled by power struggles, this is less epic than The Motive and the Cue, but decisively more nerdy. ...

From the man behind Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin's Deathtrap has scared and intrigued audiences since premiering in 1978. One of Broadway’s most successful plays and even spawning a film adaptation, The Mill at Sonning's latest production directed by Tam Williams proves why it...

Following the success of plays including Yellow Breck Road and Ellen and Rigby, writer Gerry Linford returns to Liverpool’s Royal Court with the heartwarming comedy-drama Haunted Scouse....

German auteur Thomas Ostermeier's production is not as radical as it thinks it is...

Appearing down in the Barbican’s Pit theatre as the final part of this year’s MimeLondon, This & That from Phil Soltanoff and Steven Wendt is an oblique and often frustrating hour of shadow puppetry and animation....

Flying in from the States for her eighth time at Soho Theatre, Seattle-based performer Dina Martin debuts her new show Sub-Standards. It takes some skill to straddle performance art, clowning, drag and stand-up with skill and wit but she never looks uncomfortable. And nor should she with her conside...

Colin Hurley gives us a Lear who has echoes of leaders today, but the pace and volume of the performance make drawing such parallels tricky....