Theatre

How is Arnold Wesker’s Roots, which resembles an Archers episode, considered a classic?

12 October 2024 9:00 am

The Almeida wants to examine the ‘Angry Young Man’ phenomenon of the 1950s but the term ‘man’ seems to create…

Faultless visuals – shame about the play: the National’s Coriolanus reviewed

5 October 2024 9:00 am

Weird play, Coriolanus. It’s like a playground fight that spills out into the street and has to be resolved by…

The show belongs to Jonathan Slinger and Ben Whishaw: Waiting for Godot reviewed

28 September 2024 9:00 am

Waiting for Godot is a church service for suicidal unbelievers. Those who attend the rite on a regular basis find…

A massive, joyous, sensational hit: Why Am I So Single? reviewed

21 September 2024 9:00 am

Why Am I So Single? opens with two actors on stage impersonating the play’s writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.…

The rise of soapy, dead-safe drama: The Band Back Together reviewed

14 September 2024 9:00 am

The Band Back Together is a newish play, written and directed by Barney Norris, which succeeds wildly on its own…

Dazzling: Stoppard’s The Real Thing, at the Old Vic, reviewed

7 September 2024 9:00 am

The Real Thing at the Old Vic is a puzzling beast. And well worth seeing. Director Max Webster sets the…

Artistically embarrassing but a hit: Shifters, at Duke of York’s Theatre, reviewed

31 August 2024 9:00 am

Shifters has transferred to the West End from the Bush Theatre. It opens at a granny’s funeral attended by the…

The cast mistake screaming for comedy: Cockfosters, at Turbine Theatre, reviewed

24 August 2024 9:00 am

The Turbine Theatre is a newish venue beneath the railway arches of Grosvenor Bridge in Battersea. The comfy auditorium is…

This Edinburgh Fringe comedian is headed for stardom

17 August 2024 9:00 am

Dr Phil Hammond is a hilarious and wildly successful comedian whose career is built on the ruins of the NHS.…

Reinforces the caricatures it sets out to diminish: Slave Play, at the Noël Coward Theatre, reviewed

3 August 2024 9:00 am

Slave Play is a series of hoaxes. The producers announced that ‘Black Out’ performances would be reserved for ‘black-identifying’ playgoers…

Shapeless and facile: The Hot Wing King, at the Dorfman Theatre, reviewed

27 July 2024 9:00 am

Our subsidised theatres often import shows from the US without asking whether our theatrical tastes align with America’s. The latest…

Vapid and pretentious: Visit From An Unknown Woman, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed

20 July 2024 9:00 am

Visit From An Unknown Woman, adapted by Christopher Hampton from a short story by Stefan Zweig, opens like an episode…

Unmissable – for professors of gender studies: Alma Mater, at the Almeida Theatre, reviewed

13 July 2024 9:00 am

Alma Mater is a topical melodrama set on a university campus. The new principal, Jo, (amusingly played by Justine Mitchell)…

Morally repugnant: Boys From the Blackstuff, at the Garrick Theatre, reviewed

6 July 2024 9:00 am

Yosser Hughes is regarded as a national treasure. He first appeared in 1982 in Alan Bleasdale’s TV drama, Boys from…

‘Punishingly dull – but the crowd loved it’: Next to Normal, at Wyndham’s Theatre, reviewed

29 June 2024 9:00 am

The Constituent is a larky show about violence against female politicians. A strange subject for a comedy. Anna Maxwell Martin…

Riveting and exhilarating: Miss Julie, at Park90, reviewed

22 June 2024 9:00 am

Some Demon by Laura Waldren is a gem of a play that examines the techniques of manipulation and bullying practised…

Hard to get to grips with: Marie Curie: The Musical reviewed

15 June 2024 9:00 am

Marie Curie: The Musical is a history lesson combined with a chemistry seminar and it’s aimed at indignant feminists who…

Eddie Izzard’s one-man Hamlet deserves top marks

8 June 2024 9:00 am

Every Hamlet is a failure. It always feels that way because playgoers tend to compare what they’re seeing with a…

Amazingly sloppy: Romeo & Juliet, at Duke of York’s Theatre, reviewed

1 June 2024 9:00 am

Romeo & Juliet is Shakespeare with power cuts. The lighting in Jamie Lloyd’s cheerless production keeps shutting down, perhaps deliberately.…

Headed for the canon: Withnail and I, at the Birmingham Rep, reviewed

25 May 2024 9:00 am

After nearly 40 years, Withnail has arrived on stage. Sean Foley directs Bruce Robinson’s adaptation, which starts with a live…

Fawlty Towers – The Play is the best museum piece you’ll ever see

18 May 2024 9:00 am

Fawlty Towers at the Apollo may be the best museum piece you’ll ever see. A full-length play has been carved…

Minority Report is superficial pap – why on earth stage it?

11 May 2024 9:00 am

Minority Report is a plodding bit of sci-fi based on a Steven Spielberg movie made more than two decades ago.…

An exquisitely funny sitcom that should be on the BBC

4 May 2024 9:00 am

Agathe by Angela J. Davis follows the early phases of the Rwanda genocide 30 years ago. The subject, Agathe Uwilingiyimana,…

Cheesy remake of Our Mutual Friend: London Tide, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed

27 April 2024 9:00 am

Our Mutual Friend has been turned into a musical with a new title, London Tide, which sounds duller and more…

Player Kings proves that Shakespeare can be funny

20 April 2024 9:00 am

Play-goers, beware. Director Robert Icke is back in town, and that means a turgid four-hour revival of a heavyweight classic…