Theatre

Comedy of the blackest kind: Boy Parts, at Soho Theatre, reviewed

4 November 2023 9:00 am

There’s something mesmerising about watching a good mimic. And Aimée Kelly, who plays fetish photographer Irina Sturges in Soho Theatre’s…

If only Caryl Churchill’s plays were as thrillingly macabre as her debut

28 October 2023 9:00 am

The first play by the pioneering feminist Caryl Churchill has been revived at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Owners, originally staged…

Scherzinger is superb but why’s the set so dark and ugly? Sunset Boulevard, at the Savoy Theatre, reviewed

21 October 2023 9:00 am

Sunset Boulevard is a re-telling of the Oedipus story set in the cut-throat world of Hollywood. Pick a side in…

As gripping as an Agatha Christie thriller: Shooting Hedda Gabler, at the Rose Theatre, reviewed

14 October 2023 9:00 am

The unlovely Rose Theatre in Kingston is a modest three-storey eyesore. The concrete foyer looks like an exercise area on…

Diary

30 September 2023 9:00 am

Cheesy skit: A Mirror, at the Almeida Theatre, reviewed

23 September 2023 9:00 am

The playwright Sam Holcroft likes to toy with dramatic conventions and to tease her audiences by withholding key information about…

Watch three irascible women screaming at each other: Anthropology, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed

16 September 2023 9:00 am

Anthropology is a drama about artificial intelligence that starts as an ultra-gloomy soap opera. A suicidal lesbian, Merril, speaks on…

Lacks any air of mystery, foreboding or darkness: Macbeth, at the Globe, reviewed

9 September 2023 9:00 am

Macbeth at the Globe wants to put us at our ease and make us feel comfortable with the play’s arcane…

Like an episode of Play School: Dr Semmelweis, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed

2 September 2023 9:00 am

Bleach and germs are the central themes of Dr Semmelweis, written by Mark Rylance and Stephen Brown. The opening scene,…

Two very long hours: The Effect, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed

26 August 2023 9:00 am

Lucy Prebble belongs to the posse of scribblers responsible for the HBO hit, Succession. Perhaps in honour of this distinction,…

London theatre needs Kevin Spacey

19 August 2023 9:00 am

Lee Anderson, deputy chairman of the Conservative party, popped a few monocles by saying asylum seekers reluctant to stay on…

Rizal Van Geyzel races through his 60-minute set peppering the material with snatches of Chinese, Tamil and Malay

Trump, Diogenes, the Mitfords and Malaysian comedy: Edinburgh Fringe round-up

19 August 2023 9:00 am

The Mitfords is a superb one-woman show by Emma Wilkinson Wright who focuses her attention on Unity, Diana and Jessica.…

A tragicomic lecture about Gold at Edinburgh Festival

12 August 2023 9:00 am

A chilly August in Edinburgh. Colder than it’s been for 20 years and the city looks scruffier than ever. Locked…

Finally an entertaining play at the Royal Court: Cuckoo reviewed

29 July 2023 9:00 am

The boss of the Royal Court, Vicky Featherstone, will soon step down and she’s using her final spell in charge…

Forgettable stuff: The Crown Jewels, at the Garrick, reviewed

22 July 2023 9:00 am

In the 1990s, the BBC had a popular flat-share comedy, Men Behaving Badly, about a pair of giggling bachelors who…

Why the Chester Mystery Plays are more popular than ever

1 July 2023 9:00 am

The Chester Mystery Plays date back to the 13th century – but are more popular now than ever, finds Richard Bratby

Hamlet fans will love this: Re-Member Me, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed

10 June 2023 9:00 am

A puzzle at Hampstead Theatre. Literally, a brain teaser. Its new production, Re-member Me, is a one-man show written and…

Diary

3 June 2023 9:00 am

Much better than the film: Mrs Doubtfire, at Shaftesbury Theatre, reviewed

3 June 2023 9:00 am

Mrs Doubtfire is a social comedy about divorce. We meet Miranda, a talentless, bitter mother, who tires of her caring…