Our UK / West End Critics
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Aliya Al-Hassan
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Review: DEATH OF ENGLAND: CLOSING TIME, National Theatre
The latest part of the the Death of England tetralogy is theatre at its most courageous...
Review: CAN THIS PLACE BE A TEMPLE? AKSHAY SHARMA, The Place
Everyone loves a thinker, and Akshay Sharma definitely seems to be one. He presented his rigorous, 2023 solo Can This Place be a Temple? at The Place 3 October for one night only....
Review: WOODHILL, Shoreditch Town Hall
The verbatim script is thoroughly chilling. Rough poetry and arresting repetition guide the audience in a world of state-mandated violence, carried out not by the criminals but by the officers and staff who are meant to keep them safe. The fear, desperation, and frustration of those involved in the ...
Review: OCTOPOLIS, Hampstead Theatre
Octopolis is an intimate two-hander that initially feels small-scale but reveals itself to be about vastly expansive ideas - essentially about the very concept of humanity. Marek Horn’s writing is probing and incisive, shifting from extended paragraphs of anthropological theory to funny innuendo a...
Review: UNBELIEVABLE, Criterion Theatre
Derren Brown calls his new production, Unbelievable, 'the magic show I've always wanted to see'. It's not only a show without Brown himself, but crucially (with the exception of Simon Lipkin) it is a magic show not performed by professional magicians. In fact, many members of their cast are making...
Review: RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE REMATCH, Dock X, London
There is a lot that works here; an obvious and careful attention to detail being one. The meticulous recreation of James Brown's stage catsuit, event posters and haircuts feels thoughtful. The three-day music festival that featured James Brown, Miriam Makeba and Celia Cruz showcases some brillia...
Review: BEAUTIFUL THING, Stratford East
The show is generally delightful, but one can’t shake the feeling that there’s so much more to explore. Simpson-Pike crafts a beautiful revival that ends with an adorable moment that ties the community together, but the script seems to forget the main reason the two boys connected in the first p...
Review: L'ELISIR D'AMORE, Royal Opera House
Liparit Avetsiyan lends emotional weight to an opera that veers a little too close to pantomime on occasion...
Review: LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS IN CONCERT, Royal Albert Hall
What JRR Tolkien would have thought of Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers is anyone’s guess but one suspects that the Oxford don would rather have enjoyed the live concert treatment at the Royal Albert Hall....
Review: MLIMA'S TALE, Kiln Theatre
Loosely based on the article The Ivory Highway, Lynn Nottage’s (MJ The Musical) eye-opening drama first made its Off-Broadway premiere in 2018. Now setting its sights in London’s Kiln Theatre, her powerful message on the impact of corruption and greed still remains as urgent as it did five years...
Review: UNTITLED F*CK M*SS S**GON PLAY, Young Vic
Directed by Roy Alexander Weise, the project is structurally disruptive but ultimately too meandering and overlong. A narrator (Rochelle Rose) lays the tropes bare with bitter observations. She amplifies the intentional faux pas, but the framework gets a bit stodgy by the second round of narrative r...
Review: PETER GRIMES, London Coliseum
Deftly balances psychological thrill with morality as murky as the North Sea...
Review: EUN-ME AHN COMPANY: DRAGONS, Barbican Centre
If burying the lede was an Olympic sport, Eun Me-Ahn’s Dragons would be in serious medal contention....
Review: VANYA, Duke Of York's Theatre
There are vanity projects, and then there are Vanity Projects. This is a Vanyaty Project of exquisite substance that reconfirms Andrew Scott is one of the finest performers of his generation. A production years in the making, Simon Stephens’s one-man adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s human tragedy U...
Review: BOURGEOIS & MAURICE: PLEASURE SEEKERS, Wilton's Music Hall
Probably one of the finest bands most people have never heard of, quite why Bourgeois & Maurice aren't widely recognised as national treasures is something of a mystery....
Review: THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, The Coronet Theatre
Stephanie Mohr’s new production of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s feminist novella The Yellow Wallpaper is described as a “genre-defying production blending theatre, dance, live video and sound” - no pressure then!
...
Review: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, Royal Opera House
Sondra Radvanovsky, Brian Jagde and Etienne Dupuis lead a wonderful cast and orchestra in a near-overwhelming production that fully justifies its four hours running time...
Review: BATTERSEA BARDOT, New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
Anne Rabbitt plays the British movie star who burned out too soon in the cauldron of Hollywood's casting couch environment of the 60s....
Review: OPERATION EPSILON, Southwark Playhouse
Second World War stories seem to be in vogue at the moment (though did they ever really go away?), with Christopher Nolan’s juggernaut Oppenheimer emotionally draining cinema audiences across the globe, and Operation Mincemeat continuing to entertain audiences at the Fortune Theatre. Alan Brody’...
Review: PYGMALION, The Old Vic
A tale of transformation, coersive control and eventual female empowerment performed by two of our best stage actors should be a guaranteed hit. However, Richard Jones' revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion fails to pack the expected punch....
Review: THE MIKADO, Grimeborn, Arcola Theatre
It maintains the opera’s timeless charm, strong wit, and with a cast that never takes itself seriously, leads to an evening that has the audience roaring with laughter....
Review: IT'S HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS US, Park Theatre
It’s tough humour, not always politically correct nor consistently hilarious. All aspects of their personal lives and careers are ammunition. On-set misdemeanours, past scuffles, sexual escapades - everything. It’s somewhat of a potboiler for the easily pleased punters and industry professionals...
Review: ANTHROPOLOGY, Hampstead Theatre
A cerebral thriller that puts its humanity front and centre, anthropology is a strong start to Hampstead's new season...
Review: REBECCA, Charing Cross Theatre
The project has been a top hit in its native Austria since it opened in 2006, garnering a steady following across the world and subsequent runs in Asia and Europe. The original is fabled to feature incredible sets and a sumptuous staging - it’s a shame those elements haven’t transferred. ...
Review: POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL, Southwark Playhouse
The US police force perhaps isn’t the most obvious subject for a comedy musical, but Police Cops: The Musical turns an unlikely premise into a undeniable hit. Fresh from a hit run at the Edinburgh Fringe, this slick satire of the US eighties is enjoying yet more success in London. From the minds o...
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