Live performance, film and digital play combine in this misfired interactive experience There is a promising production struggling to get out of this muddled concept. Creation Theatre (here …
Simon Godwin's debut film is part dressed-down rehearsal, part cinematic flourish Shakespeare's enduring tale of star-crossed lovers is especially pertinent in a pandemic. The fatal plot twi…
Innovative technology places actors virtually in the Palace Theatre, Manchester The story of Romeo and Juliet is well known, worth revisiting endlessly and always relevant. But there is anot…
Free reading for charity of Wycherley's first Restoration comedy Swaggering rakes, posturing fops, sexual intrigue, illicit encounters, wit, artifice, wigs, fans and beauty spots - these ar…
Michelle Terry, John Light and Pearce Quigley lead an inventive cast relishing the comic potential of the Elizabethan stage What could be better for a lockdown summer night "out" than a virt…
Stef Smith brings exhilarating spirit to a familiar classic Ibsen's Nora slammed the door on her infantilising marriage in 1879 but the sound of it has continued to reverberate down the year…
Rebecca Frecknall directs a production which ultimately finds its heart This play can be a challenge for modern audiences: a woman who is ostensibly in a position of power, "a prince" in Ren…
A vigorous Paterson Joseph meets the Christmas spirits "Dickensian" commonly means both sentimental Victorian, apple-cheeked family perfection (especially at Christmas) and abject poverty. …
Welsh parable of the second coming makes unusual seasonal fare This is the third Emlyn Williams piece to be presented here in a decade: The Druid's Rest in 2009 was followed by the enormous …
Gender changes provide a new perspective on the balance of power This is one play by Shakespeare ripe for tinkering. It's well nigh impossible now to take it at face value and still find rom…
Communicator par excellence on a journey from Gandalf to Macbeth via panto, Coronation Street and gender politics Reviewing Ian McKellen's show is, in one sense, like appraising the Taj Maha…
The Spanish classic with an Irish accent Earthiness, lyricism, fatalism, the undeniable force of passion, of ecstatic attraction, known as "duende": these are the familiar ingredients of Lor…
Tanika Gupta's layered version launches a new era Newly arrived from a much-lauded stint at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Rachel O'Riordan has undertaken to make "work of scale by women" du…
Samantha Womack lurches valiantly through this scarcely credible crime drama It may help if you love the book. It was a runaway bestseller, so fans must be legion, but a suspenseful story wh…
As The Night of the Iguana opens, the actor renowned for playing dual roles talks Tennessee Williams, Pinter - and Wallis Simpson Lia Williams is not an actor who looks for easy options. Twi…
Doubling, humour and an outstanding female Henry V Henry IV Part One (***)
Arthur Miller's tragedy from an African-American viewpoint The Young Vic, a welcoming theatre with a culturally diverse audience, has been home to memorable Miller revivals before, notably I…
The Shadowlands playwright talks about C S Lewis, love, pain and being a writer It is 30 years since Shadowlands, William Nicholson's much-loved play about C S Lewis's unexpected love affair…
Two-hander provides multifarious acting opportunities but insufficient focus Obstetrician Dr Mary Barton had the best of intentions. As a missionary in India she had observed the poor treatm…
★★ TARTUFFE, NATIONAL THEATRE Morality-heavy version of the comedy classic Brexit provides an unwelcome motor for John Donnelly's Molière-with-a-twist Here's a recipe for a succ…
A rediscovered early work by one of the giants of Twentieth Century theatre focuses on a woman's struggle for independenceRemembering meeting Harley Granville Barker when casting him as…
Jacobean and contemporary justice collide in audience-involving dramaForget the cloak in the puddle. Never mind potatoes and tobacco. The children's book cliché of Sir Walter Raleigh (or Ra…
The director talks about Macbeth in the candle-lit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, cross-gender casting and the director's roleRobert Hastie is a little late for our meeting. Directing Shakesp…
RSC transfer presents a crowd-pleasing mix of metatheatrical comedy and music with, ultimately, a touch of melancholy Don Quixote and his paunchy sidekick long ago escaped the pages of Migue…
Horror flick echoes fail to meet all the play's challengesIt has been said before: Macbeth's reputation for bad luck has more to do with the difficulty of bringing off a successful prod…