UK / West End Theater Reviews Page 2

Review: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE, Southwark Playhouse
by Franco Milazzo - April 23, 2024

A show dripping in pretension performed by a naked man? An impenetrable work obsessed with having a sex toy deep inside one’s backside? A meditation on “existential anxiety” that does little of note with an hour of precious life? There’s enough irony in You Are Going To Die to power an Alanis Moriss...

Review: SILENCE, Birmingham Rep
by Laura Lott - April 24, 2024

“Old friends in the morning, then wanting us dead in the afternoon”, says one of the men in Silence, repeating the line over and over. Decades after the event, he still can’t understand the speed at which hate and violence ignited in the wake of the 1947 Partition of India....

Review: 1884, Shoreditch Town Hall
by Franco Milazzo - April 22, 2024

What is the difference between a house and a home? And who gets to write history? Interactive experience 1884 provokes challenging answers to these questions in the context of an almost-forgotten historical event that had significant consequences for two continents....

Review: CALENDAR GIRLS, The Mill at Sonning
by Mica Blackwell - April 22, 2024

Unlike Firth’s decision to stretch out the film’s first half for the musical, confusingly ending it on the long-awaited calendar photoshoot, his play adaptation allows the audience to see the impact the calendar has on the outside world and the women’s personal lives....

Review: BEATS, King's Head Theatre
by Olivia Woods - April 22, 2024

Returning to the brand new King’s Head Theatre, Ned Campbell takes on award-winning Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley’s Beats in an adaptation that champions our imaginations and emphasises the power of collective gathering....

Review: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Royal Opera House
by Alexander Cohen - April 22, 2024

Nadine Sierra’s enthralling central performance helms this nerve-jangling revival....

Review: ANDREW DOHERTY: GAY WITCH SEX CULT, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - April 24, 2024

We begin with Kaelan Trough (Doherty) gleefully repeating the word “Love,' grinning as he wanders around the stage. Kaelan and his partner, Jeremy, are having a gender reveal party for their baby. There is a black balloon hanging from the ceiling. Once popped, if the baby is a boy, blue rose petals ...

Review: TAMSYN KELLY: CRYING IN TK MAXX, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - April 24, 2024

Tamsyn Kelly: Crying in TK Maxx is a show about the men in Kelly’s life, starting with her father growing up and ending with a man who works in her local chicken shop. Kelly grew up on a council state, the only one with a father, ironically wishing that he would leave as he was causing nothing but p...

Review: THE BALLAD OF HATTIE AND JAMES, Kiln Theatre
by Franco Milazzo - April 19, 2024

Somewhere in King’s Cross, a middle-aged woman sits at a piano and plays an original piece with surprising fluency. There begins Samuel Adamson’s tumultuous tale of two teenage musical prodigies whose lives become thoroughly entangled....

Review: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - April 21, 2024

Spring brings renewed energy into the year. There isn’t a better moment for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s recently appointed Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey to launch their vision for the organisation. Led by a big name that will attract new audiences who are probably younger ...

Review: ALGORITHMS, Park Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - April 20, 2024

Between the contradictions of her age group and the difficulties of navigating a life where everyone is too busy, yet your ex is already moving on, Brooke is crumbling. It’s unfortunately relatable for a large chunk of chronically online public. ...

Review: ROCKETMAN: LIVE IN CONCERT, Royal Festival Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - April 21, 2024

“People don’t pay to see Reginald Dwight, they pay to see Elton John!” In the sea of ubiquitous biopic-by-numbers that is modern cinema, one film really stood out from the crowd. Dexter Fletcher and Lee Hall’s Rocketman is the epitome of ‘What Would Elton Do?’, as it veers from one multicoloured mus...

Review: BOYS ON THE VERGE OF TEARS, Soho Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - April 19, 2024

A cathartic and powerful moment, a veinous fist unclenching....

Review: DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY, King's Head Theatre
by Alice Cope - April 19, 2024

This is a fantastical and entertaining production and a great way to honour the icon herself....

Review: MACHINAL, The Old Vic
by Gary Naylor - April 19, 2024

Given the emotional investment required on stage and in the stalls, one feels somewhat shortchanged by a production that invites sympathy for a character with few redeeming features...

Review: SOPHIE'S SURPRISE 29TH, Underbelly Boulevard
by Franco Milazzo - April 18, 2024

As any fan of this art form will tell you, the first rule of cabaret shows is: never sit in the front row. The second rule is: never tell cabaret virgins the first rule....

Review: FIVE NEW SHORT PLAYS, Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - April 18, 2024

A mixed bag of productions united by wonderful acting and committed writing...

Review: KISS MARRY KILL, Stone Nest
by Cindy Marcolina - April 19, 2024

Dante or Die are back with another site-specific venture. Burrowed underneath the cold dome of Stone Nest, Kiss Marry Kill feels right at home within the harsh and unholy environment of the venue. Set in a prison against the backdrop of violence, it reframes homophobia and imagines the first same-se...

Review: LONDON TIDE, National Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - April 18, 2024

Aesthetically malnourished, London Tide lacks the lustrous life blood that so warmly floods through the veins of Dickens’s literary world....

Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE, Rose Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - April 19, 2024

As delicate and fragile as one of the glass creatures that are collected, Tennesse Williams' beguiling story of memory, The Glass Menagerie combines themes of hope, rejection, disappointment and profound sadness....

Review: DANCE ON ENSEMBLE, Sadler's Wells
by Matthew Paluch - April 18, 2024

“When are we old? How can experience and embodied knowledge be brought into creative play? And what is the role of dance in questioning the idealisation of youth in our culture?” ...

Review: DIVERSITY: SUPERNOVA, De Montfort Hall, Leicester
by Laura Lott - April 17, 2024

It's hard to imagine what more an audience could possibly want from a dance show than what Diversity provide in their current tour Supernova. There are stunning, tightly choreographed dance routines, impressive production values, up-to-the-minute technology, music loud enough to reverberate through ...

Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Watermill Theatre
by Mica Blackwell - April 17, 2024

Much Ado About Nothing is a quintessential Shakespeare farce: mistaken identities, intertwining romances, betrayals and deception all wrapped up with a neat little bow by the end. The same can be said for the screwball comedies that dominated 1930’s and 40’s cinema, so it’s no surprise why Tom Wentw...

Review: USHERS, The Other Palace
by Aliya Al-Hassan - April 18, 2024

Last seen in London nearly a decade ago, Ushers, the show putting the front of house staff upon the stage is back. A musical with its tongue set firmly in its cheek, this is a fun and frothy production with some very strong and vibrant performances....

Review: CHEEKY LITTLE BROWN, Stratford East
by Cindy Marcolina - April 18, 2024

C.S. Lewis said that friendship is, like philosophy and art, unnecessary. “It has no survival value”, yet, “it is one of those things which give value to survival.” Lady loves Gemma. They’ve been best friends forever, but haven’t seen each other in six months. On Gemma’s birthday, Lady shows up at t...