UK / West End Theater Reviews

Review: GO! THE MUSICAL, Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre
by Gary Naylor - July 25, 2024

New musical runs into familiar structural issues but has strong singing and pleasing songs...

Review: OLIVER!, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - July 25, 2024

Matthew Bourne brings sensational dance routines to the stage, adding a cherry to the cake of one of the greatest scores in musical theatre history...

Review: BANGERS, Arcola Theatre
by Matthew Paluch - July 24, 2024

Bangers, written by Danusia Samal was first performed at the Soho Theatre in 2022, and in Edinburgh in 2023. It returns for a third stint at the Arcola Theatre and one can understand why. ...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 6 – VERDI'S REQUIEM, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - July 24, 2024

“I believe in nothing.” Listening to Verdi’s Requiem would certainly suggest otherwise, its 85-minute journey from “Introit and Kyrie” and “Dies irae” - via “Offertory”, “Sanctus”, “Agnus Dei” and “Lux aeterna” - to “Libera me” explores a wealth of emotions, and is rooted in spirituality....

Review: FANGIRLS, Lyric Hammersmith
by Katie Kirkpatrick - July 24, 2024

Australian smash hit Fangirls encapsulates everything it is to be a mega fan of something. A sequin-embellished crusade of obsession and desperation, Yve Blake’s musical stretches from euphoric highs to gutting lows, without ever losing its sense of fun....

Review: RED SPEEDO, Orange Tree Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - July 22, 2024

The world of professional swimming has been dogged by stories of doping and Hnath's play seeks to explore the ethical aspects of this issue and how far someone will go to be a winner. So far, so intriguing, but Red Speedo feels unfinished and Hnath fails to either dig deep enough or offer any intere...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 2, EVERYBODY DANCE! THE SOUNDS OF DISCO, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - July 21, 2024

Never to shy away from embracing new genres, BBC Proms introduced its first ever Disco Prom at a glitter ball-bedecked Royal Albert Hall. Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco was a heady mix of infectious grooves, slick vocals and dynamic floor-fillers that shook the venue to its very foundations....

Review: THE WITCHING HOUR, Bridewell Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - July 20, 2024

It’s haunted by a script that’s as creaky as the house investigated by the characters, but it’s captivating enough here and there. After a fascinating lecture held by Professor Dubois, Erin sets off to find out why people keep disappearing at Torhill Wood. ...

Review: SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT, Riverside Studios
by Josh Maughan - July 21, 2024

Queer friendships and the end of the world. It’s an unusual, but exciting, premise that underscores Love Song Productions’ new show Seconds to Midnight. Both concepts hold challenging, complex, and interesting pathways for exploration. However, in only 50 minutes and despite the effort of its cast, ...

Review: ACIS AND GALATEA, Opera Holland Park
by Michael Higgs - July 21, 2024

Opera Holland Park’s staging of Handel’s beloved Acis and Galatea is a smashing success that finds just the right balance between musical finesse and tongue-in-cheek comedy....

Review: BBC PROMS: FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS 2024, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - July 20, 2024

Unlike the Last Night of the Proms, which has developed its own mythology and status (thanks to the traditions that surround it), the First Night of the Proms is not bound by any particular structure or the need to play any specific pieces; there’s a freedom to it that spills out into the audience, ...

Review: THE HOT WING KING, National Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - July 19, 2024

When food takes centre stage, it is usually as a conduit for humanity. Somewhere in the pseudo religiosity of ritual and the flurry of flavours we summon stories of cultures, families, histories across time and geography....

Review Roundup: Did Imelda Staunton Delight in HELLO, DOLLY! at The London Palladium?
by Aliya Al-Hassan - July 19, 2024

What did the critics think of Dominic Cooke's long-delayed production?...

Review: ECHO, Royal Court Theatre
by Katie Kirkpatrick - July 18, 2024

Intricately weaving together a tapestry of different times and places, Nassim Soleimanpour’s ECHO is a feat of creative technology. Performed by a different celebrated actor each night, the performance offers a sharply intelligent take on immigration and national identity. ...

Review: IL SEGRETO DI SUSANNA / PAGLIACCI, Opera Holland Park
by Gary Naylor - July 18, 2024

Opera Holland Park delivers two short pieces - an ideal introduction to the form's unique capacity to bring emotional weight to any story...

Review: AFTER SEX, Arcola Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - July 18, 2024

Friends with benefits. Casual lovers. Non-romantic sexual partners. They’re all terms that Google feeds you if you’re trying to define a relationship where one will undoubtedly end up catching feelings. Him and Her are attempting to circumnavigate the exact same situation(ship). She likes that he’s ...

Review: THE BAKER'S WIFE, Menier Chocolate Factory
by Mica Blackwell - July 18, 2024

A gentler offering from Stephen Schwartz’s catalogue, this immersive show whisks you away to a time long past with a phenomenal ensemble who find the heart and soul in their characters. Perhaps the mistake made 50 years ago was attempting to bring The Baker’s Wife to a larger space. In the Menier’s ...

Review: HELLO, DOLLY!, The London Palladium
by Aliya Al-Hassan - July 19, 2024

Well, we got there in the end and thankfully, it was worth the wait. Initially due to open back in 2020, Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Hello, Dolly! has finally arrived in the West End....

Review: THE LOST LIONESSES, The Space Arts Centre
by Gary Naylor - July 18, 2024

The struggle to establish women's football in the UK told through the eyes of those who defied the establishment to play in a world cup in Mexico...

Review: BEFORE I GO, Brixton House
by Matthew Paluch - July 18, 2024

Before I Go, first seen during the Brixton House's Housemates Festival in summer 2023, is a one hour work written by Tobi King Bakare that centres on Ajani, a young, black man who has issues with communication when it really matters....

Review: JACK TUCKER: COMEDY STAND UP HOUR, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - July 18, 2024

Created and performed by Zach Zucker of Stamptown fame, Jack Tucker: Comedy Stand Up Hour is a longer-than-an-hour stand up show in which Zucker takes on his character of Jack Tucker. For those unfamiliar with the character, Jack Tucker is the self-described “ultimate comedian’s comedian” who “will ...

Review: MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Royal Opera House
by Franco Milazzo - July 15, 2024

There’s a singular simplicity in Madama Butterfly that draws in audiences year after year, decade by decade like moths to a flame: a man loves and leaves a woman; she gives up everything for him. With a staging that mirrors that bare but powerful concept, Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s 2002 prod...

Review: I WISH MY LIFE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL, King's Head Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - July 16, 2024

Written by Alexander S. Bermange, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical is a “comedic musical revue” that brings audiences into the world of musical theatre both onstage and off. Audience members experience the life of a performer, from the first nerve-wracking audition to the moment in which they can ...

Review: SISTERS OF MERSEY, Liverpool's Royal Court
by Sarah OHara - July 15, 2024

Following the success of A Thong for Europe at Liverpool’s Royal Court in 2023, writer Jonathan Harvey and director Stephen Fletcher are back with another five star comedy hit - Sisters of Mersey....

Review: NATIONAL YOUTH DANCE COMPANY: WALL - OONA DOHERTY, Sadler's Wells
by Matthew Paluch - July 15, 2024

National Youth Dance Company has been running since 2013, and acts as “England’s Flagship youth dance company”, the brainchild of, and run by Sadler’s Wells. The (Guest) Artistic Directors read like a who’s who of present day contemporary dance royalty, and 23/24 sees Oona Doherty take up the presti...