UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Based on the memoir of the same name, The Little Big Things recounts the story of Henry Fraser's life-changing accident on holiday in Portugal, and how he subsequently came to embrace the person he became. The book has been adapted for the stage by Joe White, with music by Nick Butcher and lyrics by...

At its core, Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea is a tad too simplistic to make a proper splash. It has a Beckettian aura to it, but this is, sadly, left unexploited. Absurdist black humour shape-shifts continuously into smart thriller and back in engaging flourishes that explode in often magnetic moments...

It is hard to believe that Polly Stenham was not even 20 when she wrote this This Face; a dark and unnerving examination of parent-child relationships where teenagers try to parent immature and utterly self-indulgent parents. After debuting at the Royal Court in 2007, the play went on to win three m...

A still very debonair Nigel Havers as dashing Elyot, and Patricia Hodge, very much at the top of her game as sensational Amanda – aged 72 and 75 respectively – command the stage of the newly refurbished Ambassadors Theatre....

Tyrell Williams’ tale of football, friendship, and societal shift has smashed records and garnered outstanding feedback across the board. More than a couple awards and the surprising surge in sports-themed plays we’ve had have put it back on the map for another limited run. Could this playwritin...

Ambiguous present the UK premiere of Rhythm of Human, choreographed by Kim at The Coronet Theatre. The work looks at the present day Korean man wrestling with societal expectations, and the Ambiguous blurb proposes “undefinable” content in order to communicate the narrative agenda through Kim's ...

Given his political radicalism and fervent romanticism, it is more than fair to wonder if Richard Wagner would be partial to Just Stop Oil. Sporting his iconic beret, would he, if he were around today, brandish banners and block cars on the M1? Barrie Kosky may think so. He thrusts Wagner’s ecolog...

The main problem is that the characters tend to dwindle down to two-dimensional figurines. We’re met by a garish personality and extravagant attitude, but we’re never offered enough reason and rationale to support them. There’s a bountiful of themes buried inside - from the more evident dysfun...

The Amazing Banana Brothers begins with a promise to its audience - if there aren’t 1,000 slips on banana peels in one hour, everyone will get their money back. There’s a blank chalkboard for the slips to be recorded and an hourglass to keep track of the time left to slip....

Kieran Hodgson: Big in Scotland begins with a Scottish-themed bang as Hodgson takes to the stage, expressing his love for Scotland with jokes and references that only those from Scotland would understand. Hodgson is wearing a tartan blazer and proclaims that he himself is Scottish, but this quickly ...

The description of Palatable Gay Robot states, “Stephen Brower begs the question, how gay is too gay?” Not something that you would expect from a show about a comedian robot, but, Brower is determined to answer this question through a show introducing us to Billie Bowtie, a palatable gay robot w...

The moment when you're presented with a whole new script can feel a little overwhelming for an actor, but Breaking Down Your Script: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Actor is here to help. It's written by Laura Wayth, who has worked as an acting teacher in Italy, Morocco, China and the UK....

The Revenge of Popperface by Gareth Chambers invites the audience to muse over 'an experimental exploration of masculinity' through the occult and opera no less....

Walking into Kate felt like entering a modern art exhibition. Going up the stairs of the Soho Theatre, you are faced with black and white photos of Kate Berlant, the star of the show. Berlant herself is sitting in a chair, on her phone, with a sign around her neck stating, “Ignore me.”...

The concept of Salty Brine: Bigmouth Strikes Again – The Smiths Show is quite a fascinating one. The show, created and performed by Salty Brine, merges Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein novel, The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, and some personal stories. How can something like this possibly work?...

Will the Fringe hit land on its feet as it transfers to London's Soho Theatre?...

Macbeth has been brought to the stage once more in a phenomenal production of the drama at the Shakespeare North Playhouse....

It’s good fun, but the last half hour of the 90 interval-less minutes drags. The dissection of their personalities and attitudes towards society doesn’t really go anywhere, but it’s an amusing, hyperbolic, melodramatic cut-out of a pretentious dispute between well-off fantoccini made to detona...

2:22 A Ghost Story runs at Theatre Royal Bath until September 9, and then tours the UK until summer 2024....

Mozart received the commission for this requiem under mysterious circumstances, a “messenger in black” brought the request and then refused to divulge who had sent him. The identity of the person commissioning the work was eventually revealed to be that of Count Franz von Walsegg, as he had rece...

The Britten Sinfonia is unusual in the world of professional orchestras, in that they don’t have the now-traditional principal conductor as their figurehead, instead choosing to collaborate with leading exponents of the field. For this Prom, violinist Thomas Gould both played and acted as director...

As the most widely seen modern dance work in the world, Alvin Ailey's Revelations has become part of the DNA of contemporary and popular dance, and it is a privilege to finally experience it on a live stage, alongside its more modern yet complementary 21st century cousins from Kyle Abraham and Rob...

Founded in 2015, the Chineke! Orchestra made its Proms debut in the 2017 season and has been a regular feature of various festivals and concert series ever since; it is currently a resident orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Chineke!’s motto (“Championing change and celebrating diversity in clas...

The English language premiere of Farewell Mister Haffman at Theatre Royal Bath’s intimate Ustinov studio is the most gripping, funny and startling play you’re likely to see this year. ...

From the second she steps on stage, Courtney Pauroso becomes Vanessa 5000, a sex robot here to display her abilities to us at a tech expo. Pauroso is a brilliant physical comedian who has the audience in the palm of her hand to the point she can fall into the audience and they will catch her without...