Old Vic
‘Punishingly dull – but the crowd loved it’: Next to Normal, at Wyndham’s Theatre, reviewed
The Constituent is a larky show about violence against female politicians. A strange subject for a comedy. Anna Maxwell Martin…
Fawlty Towers – The Play is the best museum piece you’ll ever see
Fawlty Towers at the Apollo may be the best museum piece you’ll ever see. A full-length play has been carved…
How politics killed theatre
Zoe Strimpel on how identity politics is killing theatre
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…
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…
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…
A tangle of nonsense from the sloppy Caryl Churchill: A Number, at the Old Vic, reviewed
A Number, by Caryl Churchill, is a sci-fi drama of impenetrable complexity. It’s set in a future society where cloning…
Un-cancel Terry Gilliam!
I am starting to wonder if the world of arts and culture is staffed, in large part if not exclusively,…
Gripping slice of old-fashioned entertainment: Old Vic's Camp Siegfried reviewed
Boy meets girl. Girl gets pregnant. Then the entire world collapses. That’s the story of Camp Siegfried, which is set…
Theatre's final taboo: fun
The stage has become a pleasure-free zone in which snarling dramatists fight over their pet political causes, says Lloyd Evans
Brilliantly performed twaddle: Old Vic’s Faith Healer reviewed
The Old Vic refuses to reopen. Director Matthew Warchus says the social distancing rules make it impossible for him to…
James Graham's small new drama is exquisite: BBC Four's Unprecedented reviewed
Let’s face it. Theatre via the internet is barely theatre. It takes a huge amount of creativity and inventiveness to…
War and plague have menaced theatres before, but rarely on this scale
War and plague have menaced theatres before, but rarely on this scale, says Lloyd Evans
A surefire international hit: Lungs reviewed
No power on earth can stop Lungs from becoming an international hit. Duncan Macmillan’s slick two-handed comedy reunites Matt Smith…
Funny, short and cheap to stage, Hansard is an excellent bet for a transfer
Hansard is the debut play by actor Simon Woods, who enjoys a deep knowledge of his subject. The characters are…
A crowd-pleasing pantomime: Present Laughter at the Old Vic reviewed
Present Laughter introduces us to a chic, louche and highly successful theatrical globetrotter, Garry Essendine, whose riotous social life is…
One of the great whodunnits: Old Vic’s All My Sons reviewed
It starts on a beautiful summer’s morning in the suburbs of America. A prosperous middle-aged dad is chatting with his…
The worst Arthur Miller play I’ve ever seen
All About Eve is Cinderella steeped in acid rather than sugar. Eve, or Cinders, is a wannabe star who uses…
The Old Vic’s Sylvia may be the new Les Mis
Sylvia, the Old Vic’s musical about the Pankhurst clan, has had a troubled nativity. Illness struck the cast during rehearsals.…
One of Alan Bennett’s finest efforts: Allelujah! reviewed
Alan Bennett’s new play, Allelujah!, is an NHS drama set in a friendly hospital in rural Yorkshire. Colin, an ambitious…
Flawed but often hilarious new play: Nine Night at the Dorfman Theatre reviewed
Nine Night refers to a Jamaican custom that obliges bereaved families to party non-stop for more than a week following…
There’s much to adore about the Old Vic’s Fanny and Alexander
Fanny & Alexander opens like a Chekhov comedy and turns into an Ibsen tragedy. Ingmar Bergman’s movie script, adapted by…
Verbal diarrhoea
In Beckett’s Happy Days a prattling Irish granny is buried waist-deep, and later neck-deep, in a refuse tip whose detritus…
Starting block
Conor McPherson’s new play is set in dust-bowl Minnesota in 1934. We’re in a fly-blown boarding house owned by skint,…
A great, weird play to rival Shakespeare: Old Vic's The Master Builder reviewed
The Master Builder, if done properly, can be one of those theatrical experiences that make you wonder if the Greeks…
