UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

In this contemporary dance version of the Rudyard Kipling classic, a grim future is played out against the backdrop of a climate crisis and mass human migration....

The stage production of the million-copy bestseller by Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life, has now opened at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Starring James Norton, Luke Thompson, Omari Douglas , Zach Wyatt, Elliot Cowan , Zubin Varla, Nathalie Armin and Emilio Doorgasingh, Ivo van Hove's production runs u...

This much loved musical from George Stiles and Anthony Drewe returns to London for the first time since it was produced by Cameron Mackintosh at the Novello Theatre in 2011....

The play it's certain to divide audiences and critics alike: its effect ultimately depends on what one looks for. It's only a shadow of the book, but, realistically, this is probably the best stage adaptation fans and sceptics will get....

Barney Norris wrote his debut play Visitors when he was only twenty years-old. Following its 2014 premiere at the Arcola, it garnered critical acclaim and earned Norris a Critic’s Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. Following a national tour and Off-West End run at the Bush, Norris returns...

Rafaella Marcus pinpoints the eternal bisexual struggle in Sap, which has come to London after a starry sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe last year. She explores prejudice and stereotype, fetishisation and biphobia through a precise commentary wrapped into a viscerally poetic tale. When Daphne lies b...

Cordelia Lynn’s atmospheric new play treads familiar waters...

Laura Wade's biting satire on the cult of the domestic goddess lacks teeth in this revival....

Can the best get better? In my 2022 year-end roundup, I ranked Phantom Peak as my favourite immersive show of 2022, ahead of bigger shows like Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City and TV show-based drama Peaky Blinders: The Rise. The latest iteration has a new platypus theme and even more mysteries to sol...

Doran’s latest book gives a revelatory and revolutionary breakdown of the canon in a way that works for both the professional and uninitiated....

In this special and one-off event led by the BBC Proms, author of Atonement and one of the finest writers of his generation, Ian McEwan collaborates with the BBC symphony Orchestra and reads extracts from his own works with music curated around his readings and a special guest appearance from jazz ...

After having her run at VAULT Festival rudely interrupted by the pandemic three years ago, Alexandra Donnachie is currently touring her self-penned one-woman-show When We Died. It’s the touching confessional of a woman who normalises death and finally finds the solace she needs to move on. Directe...

John Haidar’s production of Hamlet ... is a briskly modern piece which fizzes with primal urges, adding a new lens to a a familiar text. Very accessible to those new to the play, and a thoughtful treatment for those who know the plot well, this Hamlet is a 'palpable hit'....

A necessary play that is as entertaining as it is moving...

Sugar Coat is a piece of gig theatre, telling a story of growing up, trauma, and sex through pop punk music. A kind of rock concert meets musical, it’s performed by an all female and non-binary band, playing and singing live for the duration of the show. From the very beginning, this doesn’t fee...

A jagged knife of a play that could cut deeper. Chronicling Russia's first annexation of Crimea, Pussycat in Memory of Darkness is wielded like a jagged blade goring its victim in a furious trance of savagery. Its prophetic vision of violence as relentless as it is terrifying to watch....

Tony Britten's play is funny and moving if, at times, tricky to follow...

Whatever happened to the Arab Spring? Back in 2011, there seemed so much hope at a new future for some of the Arab world. As with so many optimistic uprisings, it was followed by crushed dreams and often despair. Egypt suffered from this and now lives under a military regime more oppressive than eve...

Silvio Berlusconi. Il Cavaliere, the knight. Entrepreneur, television mogul, right-wing leader. Famous for his scandals, fraudulent deals, chummy attitudes with despots and other questionable figures. Cruise ship singer. Laughing stock and controversial political powerhouse. ...

Set on a housing estate in South London, the piece sees two brothers being sent out to the shops by their mother. Yemi was born and raised in England while Ikudayisi has just moved from Nigeria. ...

For all the gleeful whimsey and creative flare, this stage adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s critically acclaimed eco-thriller lacks bite...

Opening nights tend to be special. So what’s ‘A Gala Celebration’ opening night at the Royal Opera House going to feel like? Spontaneous combustion?! Perhaps from the ticket prices…...

For the first time, Nick Mohammed’s beloved alter ego Mr. Swallow is setting off across the UK on tour with The Very Best & Worst of Mr. Swallow. And what better way to kick off your very first tour than with a sold-out London show?...

A staple of the British stage, Noël Coward’s Hay Fever was inspired by the playwright’s travels in New York meeting an eccentric family. Supposedly, the matriarch wasn’t kind to Coward’s perceptions of their lifestyle, but this comedy of manners still paid off and has become one of his best...

The hotly anticipated UK production of the new musical adaptation of Disney's Winnie the Pooh has arrived in London at Riverside Studios. This charming new stage show takes us on a series of whimsical adventures with the well loved characters created by A.A. Milne including Christopher Robin, Winnie...