Theatre
Trevor Nunn’s Volpone reviewed: Henry Goodman bewitches the audience by doing nothing wittily
Easy playwright to get on with, Ben Jonson. His world is simple, his tastes endearing. He likes golden-hearted swindlers and…
A handy liberal guide on how to save mankind, courtesy of Soho Theatre
Refugee crisis in the Mediterranean! Fear not. Anders Lustgarten and his trusty rescue ship are here to save mankind. Lampedusa…
The Seagull needs a roof to stop Chekhov's subtleties flying off
A new Seagull lands in Regent’s Park. Director Matthew Dunster has lured Chekhov’s classic into a leafy corner of north…
We’ve forgotten just how attractive Jimmy Savile once was
Ho hum. Bit icky. Not bad. Hardly dazzling. The lukewarm response to An Audience With Jimmy Savile has astonished me.…
Patrick Marber’s Red Lion at the Dorfman reviewed: ‘the woman next to me yawned a lot’
For nine years Patrick Marber has grappled with writer’s block (which by some miracle doesn’t affect his screenplay work), but…
There's a reason why the past four centuries have ignored Shakespeare's King John
King John arrives at the Globe bent double under the weight of garlands from the London critics. Their jaunt up…
The Anglican elite laid bare: Temple at the Donmar Warehouse reviewed
In October 2011 anti-capitalist vagrants built an open-air squat outside St Paul’s within shrieking distance of London’s financial heart. The…
Amazing. Thatcherite propaganda at the Young Vic
St James Theatre hosts a new play about Alexander McQueen (real name Lee), whose star flashed briefly across the fashion…
Fine production of a painful play: Death of a Salesman at the Noel Coward reviewed
Here come the Yanks. As the summer jumbos disgorge their cargoes of wealthy, courteous, culture-hungry Americans, the West End prepares…
Merchant of Venice at the Globe reviewed: a tip-top production - and a high quality script too
If Julian, Dick, George and Anne had become terrorists they’d have called themselves The Angry Brigade. It’s such a Wendy…
American Buffalo at Wyndham’s reviewed: ‘magnificent, multicoloured, vast and tragic’
David Mamet is Pinter without the Pinteresque indulgences, the absurdities and obscurities, the pauses, the Number 38 bus routes. American…
Why Caryl Churchill is massively overrated - and how the National Theatre befriends terror
Enter Rufus Norris. The new National Theatre boss is perfectly on-message with this debut effort by Caryl Churchill. Her 1976…
Measure for Measure at the Barbican reviewed: a charity show for homesick non-doms
The smash hit Matilda, based on a Roald Dahl story, has spawned a copycat effort, The Twits. Charm, sweetness and…
Even those who reviled Thatcher will be moved, appalled and astonished: Dead Sheep at the Park reviewed
Dead Sheep is a curious dramatic half-breed that examines Geoffrey Howe’s troubled relationship with Margaret Thatcher. Structurally it’s a Mexican…
Nicholas Hytner’s sod-you farewell: Rules for Living at the Dorfman reviewed
Experts are concerned that Alan Ayckbourn’s plays may soon face extinction. Fewer than 80 of these precious beasts still exist…
Blunt and bloody: ENO's Sweeney Todd reviewed
A wicked deception is sprung in the opening moments of this New York-originated concert staging of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh…
Bad Jews at the Arts Theatre reviewed: strange, raw, obsessive and brilliant
Bad Jews has completed its long trek from a smallish out-of-town venue to a full-scale West End berth. Billed as…
Shrapnel at the Arcola works for the slayers, not the slain
Quite a hit factory these days, the Hampstead Theatre. The latest candidate for West End glory is Hugh Whitemore’s bio-drama…
Radiant Vermin at the Soho Theatre reviewed: a barmy little sketch posing as a revolutionary satire
Philip Ridley is best known as the screenwriter of The Krays, in which Gary and Martin Kemp played Ronnie and…
The Armour at Langham Hotel reviewed: three new playlets that never get going
One of last year’s unexpected treasures was a novelty show by Defibrillator that took three neglected Tennessee Williams plays, all…
Why George Bernard Shaw was an overrated babbler
When I was a kid, I was taught by a kindly old Jesuit whose youth had been beguiled by George…
Muswell Hill reviewed: a guide on how to sock it to London trendies
Torben Betts is much admired by his near-namesake Quentin Letts for socking it to London trendies. Letts is one of…
How to Hold Your Breath, Royal Court, review: yet more state-funded misanthropy
‘We hate the system and we want the system to pay us to say we hate the system.’ The oratorio…
A tatty new theatre offers up a comic gem that’s sure to be snapped up by the BBC
New venue. New enticement. In the undercroft of a vast but disregarded Bloomsbury church nestles the Museum of Comedy. The…
Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem review: too clever by half
Big event. A new play from Sir Tom. And he tackles one of philosophy’s oldest and crunchiest issues, which varsity…
