Theatre
How has it escaped being cancelled? The Lehman Trilogy, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, reviewed
Standing at the Sky’s Edge is an ode to a monstrous carbuncle. The atrocity in question is a concrete gulag,…
A sex farce reminiscent of Alan Clark’s diaries: Phaedra, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Simon Stone claims that his new comedy, Phaedra, draws on the work of Euripides, Seneca and Racine. In fact, the…
Chatterbox crackdown
A romcom with an irritating title, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, has opened at the HP Theatre starring Jenna Coleman…
These drag queens haven’t a clue how banal their problems are: Sound of the Underground, at the Royal Court, reviewed
Sound of the Underground is a drag show involving a handful of cross-dressers who spend the opening 15 minutes telling…
Pure, heavenly escapism: The Unfriend, at the Criterion Theatre, reviewed
The Unfriend is a smart new family comedy which opens on the sunlit deck of a cruise ship. Peter and…
Comes close to perfection: Watch on the Rhine, at the Donmar Warehouse, reviewed
Watch on the Rhine is the curiously misleading title chosen by Lillian Hellman for a wartime family drama that became…
Clever and witty state-of-the-nation play: Kerry Jackson, at the Dorfman Theatre, reviewed
The National’s new comedy by April De Angelis is a clever and amusing attempt to deliver that most elusive artefact,…
Eccentric triviality aimed at 1970s feminists: Orlando, at the Garrick Theatre, reviewed
Orlando opens with a pack of Virginia Woolfs on stage. All wear the same costume of horn-rimmed spectacles, long tweed…
A short history of applause – and booing
A dank Tuesday evening in a West End theatre. The auditorium is barely two thirds full. The play is nothing…
Cruel but shamefully enjoyable: Vardy v Rooney – the Wagatha Christie Trial reviewed
The Wagatha Christie affair began in 2019 when Coleen Rooney accused Rebekah Vardy of selling stories from her private Instagram…
The art of the panto dame
There is nothing more panto than a dame. The grandmother of today’s dames is Dan Leno (1860–1904), a champion clog…
The acting rescues it: National Theatre’s Othello reviewed
Crude eccentricities damage the potential brilliance of Othello at the National. Some of the visual gestures seem to have been…
An unexpected heartbreaker: Elf the Musical, at the Dominion Theatre, reviewed
Elf opens with an unbelievable premise. Buddy was abandoned as a baby and adopted by Santa’s elves and he spent…
Wordy, overwritten flop – perfect for the BBC: Noor, at Southwark Playhouse, reviewed
A heroic Asian woman parachutes into occupied France to work for the resistance and help overthrow the Nazis. This sounds…
Rebecca Humphries is dynamite – pity about the play: Blackout Songs, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Viewers watching a good romcom need to fall in love with three things. The boy, the girl and the affair…
The UK Drill Project, at The Pit, reviewed
The UK Drill Project is a cabaret show that celebrates greed, criminality and drug-taking among black males in London. It…
The dialogue ripples with energy: King Hamlin, at the Park Theatre, reviewed
King Hamlin is a shock-horror drama about gang crime in London. Hamlin, aged 17, has left school without learning any…
Kids will enjoy this new show at the West End's newest theatre more than adults: Marvellous, @sohoplace, reviewed
London has a brand-new theatre – yet again. Last summer, a cabaret venue opened in the Haymarket for the first…
This production needs more dosh: Good, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Good, starring David Tennant, needs more dosh spent on it. The former Doctor Who plays John, a literary academic living…
Mirthless, artless farrago of jabber: The Doctor, at Duke of York's, reviewed
The Doctor is an acclaimed drama from the pen of writer-director Robert Icke. We’re in a hospital run by a…
A show for politicians: John Gabriel Borkman, at the Bridge Theatre, reviewed
Clunk, clunk, clunk. John Gabriel Borkman opens with the obsessive footfalls of a disgraced banker as he prowls the attic…
Worthy of Wilde: Eureka Day, at the Old Vic, reviewed
Eureka Day is a topical satire set in a woke school in America. An outbreak of mumps has led to…
A masterpiece: P Word, at Park Theatre, reviewed
Look at this line. ‘I’m 80 years old. I find that unforgivable.’ Could an actor get a laugh on ‘unforgivable’?…
A tremendous show that will attract serious attention from the West End: Rehab – The Musical reviewed
Rehab: The Musical opens with a boyband star, Kid Pop, getting busted for possession of cocaine. The judge sentences him…
Rhapsodic banalities: I, Joan, at the Globe, reviewed
‘Trans people are sacred. We are divine.’ The first line of I, Joan at the Globe establishes the tone of…
