UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

The National Theatre and Neal Street Productions’ The Lehman Trilogy makes a triumphant return to London following an acclaimed season in Los Angeles and a highly lauded run on Broadway, winning 5 Tony Awards® including Best Play. Directed by Academy Award®, Tony Award® and Golden Globe winner ...

Part TED Talk, part memorial to the lives lost due to racially motivated brutality, and part plea for change, Tajah’s piece is as educational as historically relevant. While it might not be perfect, it should be mandatory viewing, especially in schools. Like his character says: “Education is our...

Danishman highlights the complex relationship between identity and the necessity of a certain political affiliation. It's not a cheerful show, but it's a rewarding one. ...

Sam Mendes' The Lehman Trilogy has criss-crossed the Atlantic since 2008, picking up numerous nominations and awards along the way. An epic history of Western capitalism and a masterclass in theatrical storytelling, it now makes a dazzling return to the West End’s Gillian Lynne Theatre....

Quadruple (at a minimum) threat Sam Hooper and composer Robert Tripolino write a scrumptiously macabre play that defies genres and styles. It’s a bleak and uniquely intoxicating cocktail of provocation and allure topped with a cheeky splash of sacrilege. A playful, sophisticated sadism permeates t...

Dian Cathal details the standardised reactionary clichés people fall into when faced with death. He is honest about his guilt and perfectly presents the numb resignation of someone whose exhaustion has taken over. After his mum passes of cancer three years after the ten predicted months, his dad di...

A confident revival of a production unsure of its footing...

Belgian dance company Peeping Tom verily put the 'trip' into Triptych, a brilliantly bizarre neo-noir dance trilogy full of deliciously dark delights....

Whether you see this because of the scintillating score or because a night at the opera is now cheaper than heating your home, The Barber Of Seville is sure to warm the cockles of your heart....

A powerful, hour-long work that uses repetition, poetry and disorientation to take us inside the minds of those who risk everything to escape their homeland....

Familie Flöz are back in London for the first time in over a decade, with their fifth visit the London International Mime Festival, and their mask storytelling keeps its noted style and substance.  Feste is a fairy tale for adults which is both amusing and poignant, with Familie Flöz’s special...

There is beauty in the simplicity of this concept. My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do?) is a tale about growing up. More specifically, the 'ups and downs of raising a queer child.' It is also clearly a production made for and by generations of theatre kids, the kind who prefer to stay in the dres...

The production's grim emphasis on male violence towards women gives it an eerie resonance....

Jude Christian's visually stunning take on this goriest of stories from Shakespeare is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows. In a gender reversal of what likely took place on its first outing, this production has an all-female cast committing the heinous murders. The many, many deaths are portray...

Delightful new musical (based on the much loved novel and film) that deserves a wider audience than its short run affords...

A snapshot of class divide that doubles as a melancholic love letter to the city....

It becomes more and more evident that we don’t need the traditional conventions displayed at the beginning. While these are probably meant as a visual juxtaposition against the minimalist, more blunt and hands-on approach of the climax, the start is unnecessary. It nearly drives the show to the gr...

What did the critics have to say about Sam Steiner's 2015 play?...

First performed in 2015, Sam Steiner’s Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons is an intriguing idea; a love story played out under a new law that restricts every person to 140 words a day. There is a lot of potential, but it remains an idea, not a fully-formed conclusion....

A party where no guests turns up. A punch bowl spiked with enough booze to get a mountain gorilla drunk. And a dancing carrot stick. Welcome to Bill's 44th birthday....

Willy Hudson’s Welcome Home is described on the theatre website as a 'queer sci-fi epic' - and epic it truly is, in every sense of the word. In a neon green fever dream of a one man show, Hudson tackles gay coming of age and religious shame, all while creating a rock concert meets gay club atmosph...

Hummingbird is a funny yet serious work that sometimes attempts to move into the world of surrealism but works better as a realistic piece. Christopher Neels writes a powerful story of grief while also including a biting sense of humour that lets the audience laugh instead of simply simmering in the...

David Esbornson's touring production is clever, deftly staged and quietly moving....

Well intentioned but overstuffed melodrama...

Billed as a romantic comedy, the eye-catching poster artwork courtesy of Oink Creative seems to promise a sort of European '9 to 5', but upon closer inspection the play scarcely lives up to this colourful concept. What's the French for beige?...