1536 review - sparky tale with a dark underbelly, as three Essex girls take on the patriarchy Helen Hawkins Thu, 05/14/2026 - 23:59 Ava Pickett’s debut t…
Firewing, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs review - potentially touching debut doesn’t quite ignite Helen Hawkins Wed, 04/29/2026 - 09:15 David Pearson's firs…
A Doll's House, Almeida Theatre review - updated version of Ibsen proves a dispiriting watch Helen Hawkins Fri, 04/10/2026 - 14:12 ★★★ A DOLL'S …
Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Lyric Hammersmith review - perky Harlem-set comedy with a serious undertow Helen Hawkins Mon, 03/30/2026 - 12:31 ★★â…
The Old Ladies, Finborough Theatre review - sound, but not quite creepy enough Helen Hawkins Mon, 03/30/2026 - 08:00 ★★★ THE OLD LADIES, FINBORO…
The RSC adaptation is aimed at children, though all will thrill to its spectacle On paper, this RSC revival of Ella Hickson's 2013 adaptation sounds just the ticket: a feminist spin on the f…
Witty but poignant tribute to the strength of family ties as all around disintegrates There's a line in the late Richard Greenberg's 2013 play that refers to a recently elected showbiz type …
Kip Williams revises Genet, with little gained in the update except eye-popping visuals Jean Genet's 1947 play has been quite a clothes-horse over the years, at times a glamorous confection …
Will Lord's promising debut burdens a fine cast with too much dialogue What would it be like to be driven by OCD urges into idolising Elon Musk and aspiring to be one of his tribe of tech b…
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's version puts Mina Harkness centre-stage If a classic story is going to be told for the umpteenth time, there is a good bet it will come with a novel spin on it. So it…
Tracie Bennett is outstanding as a ribald, riotous Tallulah Bankhead Hot on the heels of Goodnight, Oscar comes another fictional meeting of real entertainment giants in Los Angeles, this t…
Robert Sean Leonard and Paten Hughes make worthy sparring partners The cult film that director Theo van Gogh left behind when he was killed in 2004, Interview, has already been remade twice;…
Lenny Henry is the ideal ringmaster for this exercise in audience participation The Fringe piece Duncan Macmillan devised with Jonny Donahoe in 2014 has since been round the world and back, …
Oscar Levant is an ideal subject to refresh the debate about media freedom Back in the day, when America's late-night chat show hosts and their guests sat happily smoking as they shot the br…
The writer did impressive research but shouldn't have fleshed out Josephine Tey's story Following confirmation that he was the owner of the bones found in a Leicester car park in 2012, Ri…
James Inverne enjoyably reconstructs the rivalry between Puccini and Leoncavallo Before Luigi Illica wrote the libretti for Puccini's Tosca and Madama Butterfly, he had joined the composer …
Beth Steel makes a stirring West End debut with her poignant play for today The 2024 play at the National Theatre that put writer Beth Steel squarely centre-stage has now received a West End…
An early Lynn Nottage work gets a superb cast and production The corset is an unlikely star of the latest Lynn Nottage play to arrive at the Donmar Warehouse, 2003's Intimate Apparel. After …
David Adjmi's clever and compelling hit play gets a crack London cast The tag "the most Tony-nominated play of all time" may mean less to London theatregoers than it does to New Yorkers, but…
This Dream is a great night out, especially for Shakespeare first-timers It's a sign of the inroads that the term "immersive" has made in theatreland that it now gets jokily namedropped at t…
Sarah Ruhl turns her bond with a student into a lesson in how to love In 2012, the award-winning American writer Sarah Ruhl met a Yale playwriting student who became a special part of her li…
David Ireland pits a sober AA sponsor against a livewire drinker, with engaging results The plays of David Ireland have a tendency to build to an explosion, after long stretches of caustic d…
Richard Bean has turned Mamet's steel trap into an amusing puzzle There is so much that is right about Jonathan Kent's new production of House of Games " the casting, the staging, the direct…
John Lithgow gives a masterclass in delivering a 'human booby trap' When Mark Rosenblatt was preparing his debut play, the miseries of the assault on Gaza were still over the horizon. Now th…
The Irish actor Stephen Rea is a silent-movie Krapp to treasure In the Stygian darkness of a bare room, a table on a low platform with a light hanging overhead starts to emerge. Then a door…