UK / West End Theater Reviews Page 15

Review: MANON, Royal Opera House
by Michael Higgs - January 18, 2024

Kenneth MacMillan's Manon is a haunting exploration of desire and sexuality, contrasting pompous extravagance with the poverty of the masses....

Review: COWBOIS, Royal Court Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - January 18, 2024

All in all, Cowbois isn’t a bad play. It’s a fun and gimmicky queer-affirming semi-comedy that makes for a good night out if you’re willing to close an eye here and there. It’s weird and long, but it means well....

Review: KIN, National Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - January 17, 2024

Breath and breathing and important motifs in Kin, Gecko Theatre Company’s new devised show about migration trauma. Performers inhale in unison as moments of respite and exhale in panting desperation. Sharing the humanity of their experience grants them, and us, hope that they are not alone....

Review: MARTIN URBANO: APOLOGY COMEBACK TOUR, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 18, 2024

“Make a noise if you’ve ever watched porn before!” From the start, you can tell that Martin Urbano: Apology Comeback Tour is going to be a weird one. Indeed, the concept of the show itself is a bit strange - Urbano is playing the role of a cancelled comedian, but he is also playing himself, reflecti...

Review: MAX & IVAN: LIFE, CHOICES, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 17, 2024

It’s the classic “opposites attract” story - Max considers himself to be “calm and collected,” while Ivan declares himself to be “warm and clingy,” quite literally the opposite. But, somehow, the two have been “fated to be together” and have been performing as a comedy duo since 2008, when they firs...

Review: GISELLE, London Coliseum
by Vikki Jane Vile - January 13, 2024

Fresh from no fewer than 40 performances of Wayne Eagling’s Nutcracker (a production which now seems to thankfully be going into retirement) English National Ballet, are back less than a week later to round off their Coliseum season, this time it’s Mary Skeaping’s Giselle which they last performed s...

Review: ELEKTRA, Royal Opera House
by Alexander Cohen - January 15, 2024

The Royal Opera House’s new production of Elektra could do with an extra pinch of Saltburn-esque depravity....

Review: THE DARK ROOM, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 15, 2024

'You awake to find yourself in a dark room . . .'...

Review: KIM'S CONVENIENCE, Park Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - January 13, 2024

What did our critic think of KIM'S CONVENIENCE at Park TheatreIn July 2018, a little series titled Kim’s Convenience was released internationally on Netflix. ...

Review: DAN TIERNAN: GOING UNDER, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 15, 2024

'Going from being a dinner lady to a full-time comedian? It may be more likely than you think. Dan Tiernan: Going Under, gives the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer-nominated comic a solid debut hour discussing how the past year of his life has gone. '...

Review: TATTY MACLEOD: FUGUE, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 12, 2024

'As soon as I saw the description of Tatty Macleod: Fugue, I knew that I wanted to see the show. Having lived in the United States, France and now England, I was interested in seeing how Macleod would take her online sketches discussing how English culture differs from French culture to the stage.'...

Review: UROOJ ASHFAQ: OH NO!, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - January 12, 2024

'Urooj Ashfaq, winner of Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, has brought her show, Oh No!, to the Soho Theatre. She was originally a part of Soho Theatre through Soho Theatre India, which has introduced over 30 Indian acts to the UK.'...

Review: THE DRIFTERS GIRL, Bristol Hippodrome
by Tim Wright - January 11, 2024

It’s hard to tell the entire story of The Drifters. Not least because the group became a revolving door of something like 60 different members over the decades. And therein lies the problem for The Drifters Girl – it tries to take on the whole story, mainly from the perspective of their trailblazing...

Review: THE UNFRIEND, Wyndham's Theatre
by Gary Naylor - January 11, 2024

Lee Mack and Frances Barber lead a fine cast in Steven Moffat's comedy, sailing back into the West End for a limited run...

Review: THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR, Jermyn Street Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - January 12, 2024

Betty Parris and Abigail Williams’ lives are ruled by suspicion and spiritual insulation, where even playing is considered a sin. Everything changes when the latter starts working on John Proctor’s farm. Part of Jermyn Street Theatre’s Footprints Festival, The Good John Proctor bookends The Crucible...

Review: THE LAST SHOW BEFORE WE DIE, The Yard Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - January 11, 2024

The Last Show Before We Die dives headfirst into exploring that ultimate inevitability. This result is a mishmash collage tied together by string, practically exploding off the stage....

Review: THE ENFIELD HAUNTING, Ambassadors Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - January 11, 2024

Now, we’re not here to tell you how to spend your money, so, by all means, if you want to see some people off the telly in real life, they’re discounting ticket prices left and right. However, be aware that there are better ways and better plays to invest cash on....

Review: ALAN TURING - A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY, Riverside Studios
by Cindy Marcolina - January 10, 2024

This self-identified “musical biography” doesn’t dig much further than the introduction paragraph of Turing’s Wikipedia entry. It’s contextually erratic and misses all the details that would make the audience fall in love with Alan rather than sit passively in front of him. The songs are unchallengi...

Review: THE SEX LIVES OF PUPPETS, Southwark Playhouse
by Franco Milazzo - January 08, 2024

A show about puppets and sex? There are some obvious gags here, not least are their relationships based on “no strings”? Thankfully, Blind Summit artistic director Mark Down and his co-director and co-writer Ben Keaton eschew the corny and porny in this series of emotive vignettes....

Review: EXHIBITIONISTS, King's Head Theatre
by Katie Kirkpatrick - January 09, 2024

Exhibitionists is, regrettably, not a good play. That’s not to say, however, that it isn’t occasionally a lot of fun. Teetering on the edge of pure camp and exaggerated satire, this bewildering new comedy puts a gay and non-monogamous spin on the classic farce, as fiery exes come face to face at an ...

Review: KAGAMI, The Roundhouse
by Franco Milazzo - January 05, 2024

Thanks to some nifty “mixed reality” technology from Tin Drum, Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto is brought back to some semblance of life in Kagami....

Review: 1979, Finborough Theatre
by Debbie Gilpin - January 05, 2024

1979 was quite a big year both politically and culturally, but Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark is perhaps one of the lesser known figures to emerge from that time – his Liberal opposite number Pierre Trudeau (or at the very least his son, Justin) is probably a more recognisable name....

Review: LA LA LAND IN CONCERT, Royal Albert Hall
by Cindy Marcolina - December 28, 2023

Featuring music by Justin Hurwitz and elegant lyrics by Broadway babies Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, it stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as its star-crossed lovers. The final chapter in the Royal Albert Hall’s Films in Concert series is a bona fide tear-jerker. Hurwitz conducts the Royal Philharmoni...

Book Review: RUNNING THE ROOM: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN THEATRE DIRECTORS
by Cindy Marcolina - December 27, 2023

Running the Room isn’t a bible nor a manifesto. It doesn’t want to write a set of rules for directing plays, nor it wants to impart a Weltanschauung on how to become a director. It’s a source of inspiration and, more practically, a generous look into the practice of a selected group of people, who j...

Review: DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT, New Wolsey Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - December 27, 2023

Join our brave hero, Dick Whittington, on his journey to London to seek his fame and fortune in this year’s ultimate Rock ‘n’ Roll pantomime!...