UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

A new immersive production based on George Orwell’s 1984 shows why it still has such a grip on the modern psyche....

All aboard for a new rendering of The Girl on the Train at Salisbury Playhouse, with clever background projection to lift a journey that doesn’t quite make its connection....

It’s incredible to think that is now 30 years since Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was released. What better way to revisit the iconic film than with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra performing John Williams’ iconic score live-to-picture at the majestic Royal Albert Hall?...

A play about the limits of language ought to easily translate into a ballet. Words naturally count for less and speech is no longer the primary means of communicating emotions. But does Sam Steiner’s indie darling Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons make the leap into dance?...

Ghosts of the Near Future is a show about the end of the world, about death, about Las Vegas, about pet cats, and about disappearing. It’s a show about magic acts, and it is one in itself. Performance duo emma + pj turn the Barbican’s Pit Theatre into a post-nuclear Nevada desert, a faded postc...

From the beginning of Sam Morrison: Sugar Daddy, Morrison does not hide who he is - he is an “anxious, asthmatic, gay, diabetic Jew” who has a love for big-bellied men (or, as he calls it, the Bridgerton Belly™....

From the beginning, Olga Koch: Prawn Cocktail gives audiences the chance to see Koch at her wittiest and dirtiest, usually both at once. The theme of the show? Reframe, reframe, reframe. Reframing as a form of comedy, reframing as a form of coping, this show has got it all. ...

Lyonesse is now open. Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James star in Penelope Skinner’s new play, directed by Ian Rickson. What did the critics think?...

Despite it's effervescent cast, this a sparky update of Frisch's classic fails to ignite....

Bad Teacher is a show that struggles to decide whether it is going to be a serious reflection on mental health in the current education system or a funny tale from the perspective of an exhausted young teacher....

While this version of the bestseller isn’t as consistently shocking as its original material, it’s sharp, entertaining, vicious, thrilling, morbid, uncomfortable, and alarmingly irresistible. It's one for the feminists who want to be challenged and the gender-studies-TikTok-girlies who love to...

Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas were last seen together on screen in Ben Wheatley’s 2020 Daphne du Maurier adaptation of Rebecca. They now reunite in Penelope Skinner’s brand new play Lyonesse about a reclusive actress who is planning a movie comeback. With the brilliant Ian Rickson directin...

A renowned London cabaret venue re-opens with a spectacular display of hair-hanging, fire swords and pole dancing....

In amongst a crowded genre Lynn Nottage’s 2021 Clyde’s, making its European premiere at the cosy Donmar Theatre, stands out by doing what theatre does best. Stirring the soul with heart wrenching intimacy....

“There are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.” Peter Shaffer’s irreverent, yet at times poignant and thought-provoking, take on the relationship between Mozart and Salieri began life as a National Theatre production – its big screen adaptation garnered ...

Much shorter than Richard Eyre’s three-hour plus version for the ROH, Peter Konwitschny’s La Traviata perhaps should be renamed La Trav or L’ Abbreviata. Its breathless sprint over 105 uninterrupted minutes takes more than it gives but there’s an admirable boldness to it all....

A unique production from a unique playwright / director has its faults, but far outweighs them with its warm truths and redemptive conclusion...

I, Daniel Blake was the film on everybody’s lips in 2016. Written by Paul Laverty and directed by Ken Loach, it saw a man from Newcastle having to fight the system tooth and nail to receive Employment and Support Allowance after a heart attack. It’s a political, heartbreaking, life-affirming mov...

Relocating James Graham’s exhilarating Dear England after a successful run at its home at the National Theatre to the West End’s Prince Edward Theatre was a wise decision....

Following an acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe, Box Tail Soup’s puppet-based adaptation of James’ horror is now terrifying audience-goers across the UK, stopping at London’s The Pleasance Theatre....

Samuel Collings, from Hammersmith in West London, is one of the UK’s most versatile actors and can be found on stage, screen, radio and voicing audiobooks. He spoke with BroadwayWorld about his journey into acting, being part of a 'perfect couple' and the relvance of the story today....

The Royal Ballet presents revivals of two contrasting yet sublime one act ballets. The abstract nature of Anemoi is ethereal and makes for an enthralling ballet. The Cellist is a commission by the Royal Ballet, Choreographed by Cathy Marston. Marston’s skills are a masterclass in clear balletic st...

Joakim Daun’s new play, made with extensive migrant input, is an often funny, sometimes heartrending tale of adjusting to changing circumstances born of tragedy and fear...

Few venue openings have been as much-anticipated as that of Aviva Studios. With around £100m of public funding and £35m just from the naming rights, its opening production from Factory International was announced over a year ago: Free Your Mind would be “a large-scale immersive performance based...

If the multi award-winning TV drama Succession taught us anything, it’s that no one can take Brian Cox’s place. Fans of the Scottish actor will be pleased to know that he commands centre stage – with Logan Roy-esque verve – in Trevor Nunn’s The Score, a new play by actor-playwright OIiver ...