Theatre
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…
Our prison culture is more barbaric than it was in 1823: Elizabeth Fry ‘The Angel of Prisons’ reviewed
The Angel of Prisons dramatises the life of the penal reformer Elizabeth Fry, who lived near Canning Town. She married…
The show works a treat: Globe's The Tempest reviewed
Southwark Playhouse has a reputation for small musicals with big ambitions. Tasting Notes is set in a wine bar run…
The Dane gets an interpretive dance makeover: Ian McKellan's Hamlet reviewed
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet is the highlight of Edinburgh’s opening week. In this experimental ballet, Sir Ian speaks roughly 5 per…
I can't recommend this Cole Porter musical highly enough: Anything Goes, at the Barbican, reviewed
The Barbican’s big summer show is billed on the website as ‘the sold-out musical sensation, Anything Goes’. The term ‘sold-out’…
Stupendously good: Much Ado About Nothing, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Simon Godwin’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in a steamy Italian holiday resort, the Hotel Messina, in the 1920s.…
An entertaining display, clearly destined for Netflix: Patriots, at Almeida Theatre, reviewed
Patriots, by Peter Morgan, is a drama documentary about recent Russian history. And though it’s a topical show it’s not…
Hytner hits the bull's eye: The Southbury Child, at the Bridge Theatre, reviewed
The Southbury Child is a comedy drama set in east Devon featuring a distressed vicar, Fr David, with a complex…
Right play, wrong place: The Fellowship, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Roy Williams’s new play is a wonky beast. It has two dense and cumbersome storylines that aren’t properly developed. Dawn…
If you see this show you’ll want to see it again – directed properly: The Glass Menagerie, at the Duke of York's Theatre, reviewed
The Glass Menagerie directed by Jeremy Herrin is a bit of an eyeball-scrambler. The action takes place on a huge…
Bloated waffle: Jitney at the Old Vic reviewed
The Old Vic’s new show, Jitney, has a mystifying YouTube advert which gives no information about the play or the…
Joyously liberating: Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] reviewed
Harry Hill’s latest musical traces Tony Blair’s bizarre career from student pacifist to war-mongering plaything of the United States. With…
Gandhi’s killer is more loveable than his victim: The Father and the Assassin reviewed
Dictating to the Estate is a piece of community theatre that explains why Grenfell Tower went up in flames on…
Newcomers will need to read the play in advance: Julius Caesar, at the Globe, reviewed
Some things are done well in the Globe’s new Julius Caesar. The assassination is a thrilling spectacle. Ketchup pouches concealed…
Hard to believe this rambling apprentice-piece ever made it to the stage: Almeida's The House of Shades reviewed
The House of Shades is a state-of-the nation play that covers the past six decades of grinding poverty in Nottingham.…
The playwright seems curiously detached about rape: The Breach, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Hampstead’s latest play is a knotty rape drama by Naomi Wallace set in Kentucky. Four teenagers with weird names meet…
Two hours of bickering from a couple of doughnut-shaped crybabies: Middle, at the Dorfman Theatre, reviewed
‘I fink I doan luv yew any maw.’ A marital bust-up drama at the National Theatre opens with a whining…
Angry diatribes and amusing pranks: Donmar Warehouse's Marys Seacole reviewed
The title of the Donmar’s new effort, Marys Seacole, appears to be a misprint and that makes the reader look…
Muddled, tricksy and cheap: The Corn is Green at the Lyttelton Theatre reviewed
The Corn is Green by Emlyn Williams is a sociology essay written in 1938 about a prickly tyrant, Miss Moffat,…
This Trump satire is too soft on Sleepy Joe and Cackling Kamala: The 47th at the Old Vic reviewed
Trump is said to be a gift for bad satirists and a problem for good ones. He dominates Mike Bartlett’s…
