Theatre
Students of theatrical history will adore David Hare’s Grace Pervades
Grace Pervades by David Hare is a drama-documentary about the life and theatrical work of the great Victorian thesp, Sir…
Why actors love to play lunatics
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted from Ken Kesey’s book by Dale Wasserman, is exactly like the movie but…
Almeida’s new Doll’s House is all wrong
A Doll’s House has been reconstructed at the Almeida with a new script by Anya Reiss. Torvald Helmer is an…
The torture of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen
Copenhagen by Michael Frayn is a problem play. It debuted at the National in 1998 and ran for two years…
The National Theatre needs help
In The Print is a docudrama about the bitter war between Rupert Murdoch and the unions in the mid-1980s. Murdoch…
Self Esteem is the star of this David Hare musical
Teeth ’ n’ Smiles is not quite a musical. David Hare’s 1975 play about rock’n’roll includes a handful of tunes…
Don’t miss it: Summerfolk, at the Olivier, reviewed
Dachniki meaning ‘dacha people’ is the Russian title of the National Theatre’s new production of Gorky’s sprawling 1905 drama. Nina…
Lazy: America is Beautiful, Chapter 1 reviewed
Neil LaBute is one of America’s most provocative and interesting playwrights. His best-known work, The Shape of Things, was made…
Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula is tiresome
Interest in Dracula seems to go on for ever. Kip Williams has chosen Cynthia Erivo to star in his new…
Fans of George Eliot are in for a shock: Bird Grove at Hampstead Theatre reviewed
Bird Grove by Alexi Kaye Campbell is a comedy of manners set in 1841. A portly suitor, Horace, arrives at…
The blandness of Hugh Bonneville
Shadowlands, by William Nicholson, is a solid and unsurprising account of the brief marriage between C.S. Lewis (known as Clive),…
Dazzling: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister at the Apollo Theatre reviewed
Jim Hacker is back in the West End. I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, written by Jonathan Lynn (who co-wrote the original…
No chemistry between the performers: Arcadia at the Old Vic reviewed
The Old Vic’s production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard has a vital component missing. The house. Stoppard’s brilliant historical comedy…
Marvellously conservative: Cable Street reviewed
Cable Street is a musical that premièred last year at the Southwark Playhouse and has now migrated to the Marylebone…
If this play is correct, the Foreign Office is a joke
Safe Haven is a history play by Chris Bowers who worked for the Foreign Office and later for the UN…
Why is this low-grade Ayckbourn play in the West End?
Woman in Mind is a dyspeptic sitcom set in 1986 starring Sheridan Smith as Susan, a moaning Home Counties housewife…
Oh, Mary!’s climax is an inspirational bit of comedy
High Noon, directed by Thea Sharrock, is a perfectly decent version of a trusty western which celebrates its 74th birthday…
Why has the National got it in for Oirish peasants?
The Playboy of the Western World is like the state opening of parliament. Worth seeing once. Director Caitriona McLaughlin delivers…
One for hardcore Stoppard fans: Indian Ink reviewed
Unusual. After the press night of Indian Ink by Tom Stoppard, no one leapt up and cheered. The crowd applauded…
Paddington – The Musical is sensational
Who doesn’t love Paddington? The winsome marmalade junkie has arrived at the Savoy Theatre in a musical version of the…
Ivo van Hove tries and fails to destroy Arthur Miller
All My Sons, set in an American suburb in the summer of 1947, examines the downfall of Joe Keller, a…
The wit of Tom Stoppard
The playwright Peter Nichols created a character based on Tom Stoppard. Miles Whittier. On a car journey across London, I…
A sack of bilge: End, at the Dorfman Theatre, reviewed
End is the title chosen by David Eldridge for his new relationship drama. Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves star as…
The babyishness of Hunger Games on Stage
The Hunger Games is based on a 2008 novel about a despotic regime where brainwashed citizens are entertained with televised…
This Othello is almost flawless
Othello directed by Tom Morris opens with a stately display of scarlet costumes and gilded doorways arranged against a backdrop…
