UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

Mozart's beloved comedy The Marriage of Figaro opened Glyndebourne's very first Festival in 1934 and is the renowned opera house's most performed work. No sooner has the production closed in Sussex, it reappeared in London at the BBC Proms for a super semi-staged version....

Worlds clash once again in Mike Bartlett’s universe. Lip and Ruth’s pull to return to nature is disrupted when Ruth’s stepdaughter, Millie, and her academically inclined best friend, Femi, visit the couple’s earthy homestead. This rural idyll, where the sky is enormous and the trees tell a s...

Politics, queer love and identity combine in Josh Maughan's quietly charming play Our 1972.​​​​​​​ Cricket nut Ben and academic Andy meet on the train travelling to start new lives at the London School of Economics. Ben has broken up with his girlfriend, Andy is wary of new relationshi...

As the iconic philosopher Ferris Bueller famously opined, “life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Following on from 2023’s 24 (Day), this second instalment of the Almeida Theatre’s “Islington Trilogy” really and truly digs into the ...

This programme of music seems to thrive on themes of togetherness, resilience, and support that may have also influenced the Russian composer at the mid-point of his life, the Hungarian maestro nearing the end of his, and even the bright young man setting out to shake us the music scene in Europe to...

The natural big events of every Proms season are the First and Last Nights - but when a superstar conductor in the making is booked for two appearances, these concerts also become moments to which audiences will gravitate. Klaus Mäkelä has plenty of achievements under his belt already, making his ...

It's a special 'you had to be there' moment in the world of live music, with master pianist Sir Andras Schiff taking centre stage in a compelling late-morning concert at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall....

In the 35 years I've been going to Opera Holland Park, I've never been disappointed by the music, performances and sheer joy of being in the open air with accompanying local sound effects. The odd resident peacock squawking, planes soaring overhead, shouts from children kicking a football and dogs b...

Every Brilliant Thing is a masterful exploration of mental health struggles and the power of resilience ....

If it ain't broke, don't fix it - but by all means develop it into a one-show-does-all situation, which is very much the case for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe currently showing at Sadler’s Wells. The production is geared towards a younger audience, however anyone who goes won't be able to ...

What did our critic think of AS YOU LIKE IT, STARRING HARRIET WALTER, THEATRE ROYAL BATH at Theatre Royal Bath?...

We meet Jamie and Ruby as they’re planning their wedding playlist. What follows is a collection of vignettes that lead up to the big day. Playwright Will Jackson drafts a flawed piece for the 18-25 Bush Young Company. Directed by Katie Greenall, it could be the personal exploration of a society th...

What if, instead of being based in a castle in Denmark in the late Middle Ages, Hamlet was set at a backyard barbecue in the United States in modern times? That’s exactly what audiences witness in James Iijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham, which follows Juicy (Olisa Odele), a young, queer b...

As thousands of young people stock up on Ikea frying pans and instant noodles in preparation for their first step away from home, Nick Dawkins's A Manchester Anthem is a poignant, funny and touching portrait of one such young man's last night in his home city of Manchester before he leaves for univ...

How better to welcome the London Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor to this year’s Proms than with an opera-themed programme? Sir Antonio Pappano is a vibrant character in the world of classical music, and the Royal Albert Hall felt like a fitting venue for him to showcase his continued passio...

Roald Dahl’s beastly reptile slithers into Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in a dazzling musical version which proves as entertaining for adults as it is for the children it is written for. With a witty book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, infectious songs by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, and a playfu...

The Gathered Leaves has been away from the stage for a whole decade, but still intrigues. As each metaphorical leaf falls, we can’t help but keep watching thanks to the skill and commitment of the writer, director, cast and all involved. A theatrical treat. With topics such as autism, dementia, r...

‘This is Illyria,’ bellows the sea captain conveying the shipwrecked Viola to shore, in what is surely one of Shakespeare’s most straightforward opening lines. In Robin Belfield’s new production, that triumphant declaration serves as an introduction not just to Twelfth Night’s fictional Ba...

At The Proms over the weekend, conductor Nicholas Collon and his remarkable Aurora Orchestra collaborated with contemporary theatre company Frantic Assembly to explore the dual meanings and hypocrisies surrounding this seminal piece of music. The result is an inspired and genuinely innovative way of...

Sh!tfaced Shakespeare's 15th Anniversary show is as boozy and fun-filled as ever....

Anyone who thinks Lily Allen's simply an upstart pop star plonked onstage to pull in the punters and rake in the cash, well, you can think again. She's delightfully dangerous and destructive – so much so you can't take your eyes off her – in Matthew Dunster's new cheeky version of Ibsen's Hedda ...

Marisha Wallace, Broadway’s current Sally Bowles, has had a career in New York and London marked by starring roles in musicals about women surviving tough circumstances. As we find out in her debut live recording, Live in London, her own life hasn’t been much different....

Ever since I was first introduced to Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” in a course I took in university on Western Theatrical Dance, I have been in love with the piece. Two years ago, The Rite of Spring was performed at the BBC Proms in Prom 63: The Rite By Heart, which told the story of ...

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Joanna Bowman brings Shakespearean Italy to The Other Place at the RSC with her new production of his first play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. At a pacy 90 minutes (without an interval) and set in the round, the play is reimagined for the present day with a talented cast of actor-musicians - an idea...