The week in theatre: Middle; Prima Facie; Much Ado About Nothing by Susannah Clapp

Dorfman; Harold Pinter; Shakespeare's Globe, LondonA couple struggle to connect " or touch " in David Eldridge's latest; Jodie Comer owns the courtroom; and Lucy Bailey directs a sparkling n…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:07am on May 8, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Jerusalem; The Corn Is Green; Marys Seacole by Susannah Clapp

Apollo; Lyttelton; Donmar Warehouse, LondonSpellbinding Mark Rylance returns as the anarchic Johnny 'Rooster' Byron; Nicola Walker hits the mark in Dominic Cooke's brilliant Emlyn Williams r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03pm on May 1, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Punchdrunk: The Burnt City; Scandaltown by Susannah Clapp

One Cartridge Place; Lyric Hammersmith, LondonThe immersive theatre trailblazers return with an all-consuming vision of the siege of Troy, while Mike Bartlett's neo-Restoration farce can't c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:36am on April 24, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Great Middlemarch Mystery; The 47th; For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide… by Susannah Clapp

Various venues, Coventry; Old Vic; Royal Court, LondonA site-specific quest gets to the heart of George Eliot's novel; Mike Bartlett makes a Shakespearean tragedy of Trump; and six young bla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:18am on April 17, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Daddy; Black Love; The Fever Syndrome by Susannah Clapp

Almeida; Kiln; Hampstead, LondonJeremy O Harris's trance-like study of power play sizzles; Chinonyerem Odimba tells a complex sibling story; and Robert Lindsay stars in a predictable family …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:42am on April 10, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: To Kill a Mockingbird; The Mozart Question; Clybourne Park " review by Susannah Clapp

Gielgud, London; Barn, Cirencester; Park, LondonRafe Spall is a fine Atticus in Aaron Sorkin's somewhat awkward spin on Harper Lee; Jessica Daniels steers a sublime adaptation of Michael Mor…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:33am on April 3, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Straight Line Crazy; The Human Voice " review by Susannah Clapp

Bridge; Harold Pinter theatre, LondonRalph Fiennes is firing on all cylinders in David Hare's new play about a New York highway builder; and Ruth Wilson is beguiling in an unsubtle staging o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:06am on March 27, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Henry V; Our Generation " review by Susannah Clapp

Donmar Warehouse; Dorfman, LondonKit Harington's a natural as Shakespeare's military monarch, while Alecky Blythe's long-awaited new verbatim play captures five years of teenage introspectio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:12am on March 6, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Collaboration; Good Fun by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic; King's Head, LondonWarhol and Basquiat prove fertile inspiration for writer Anthony McCarten, while a rare airing of an early play by Victoria Wood reveals more than a glimpse of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:13am on February 27, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Two Billion Beats; Running With Lions; The Forest; The Chairs " review by Susannah Clapp

Orange Tree, Richmond; Lyric Hammersmith; Hampstead; Almeida, LondonA Hindu schoolgirl challenges all around her; Toby Stephens and Gina McKee star in Florian Zeller's sketchy new play; and …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:54am on February 20, 2022[SHARE]

Hamlet review " a prince of wheeze by Susannah Clapp

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThough standup George Fouracres brings pugnacious energy to the role, Shakespeare's tragedy is rendered way too glib The best thing about Sean Holmes's chaotic…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:03am on February 13, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: A Number; The Glow " review by Susannah Clapp

Old Vic; Royal Court, LondonLennie James and Paapa Essiedu illuminate Caryl Churchill's great cloning play, while a fine cast lift Alistair McDowall's wordy new dystopia It is proving to be …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:24am on February 6, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Dr Semmelweis; Ava: The Secret Conversations " review by Susannah Clapp

Bristol Old Vic; Riverside Studios, LondonMark Rylance mines more drama from the 19th-century doctor driven mad by his work on hygiene than Elizabeth McGovern finds in the faded glamour of A…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:54am on January 30, 2022[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Moulin Rouge! The Musical; Conundrum " review by Susannah Clapp

Piccadilly theatre; Young Vic, LondonA razzle-dazzle take on Baz Luhrmann's Parisian pop jukebox triumphs through force of glitz, while a new play about race gets lost in abstraction There i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:42am on January 23, 2022[SHARE]

Susannah Clapp's best theatre of 2021 by Susannah Clapp

Little Amal stirred hearts, Chaucer hit Willesden, Cush Jumbo was a perfect prince, and once again James Graham said it all Read the Observer critics' review of 2021 in full here It was a ye…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:54am on December 25, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Cabaret, Best of Enemies, Trouble in Mind " review by Susannah Clapp

Playhouse; Young Vic; National Theatre, LondonRebecca Frecknall's Weimar glamfest with Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley goes big and nails it (nearly); James Graham brilliantly revives a ba…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42am on December 19, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage; Life of Pi; Measure for Measure by Susannah Clapp

Bridge; Wyndham's; Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThe familiar and the fantastic are as one in the Bridge's Philip Pullman spectacular; more puppet magic powers Life of Pi; and a coolly conv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:18am on December 12, 2021[SHARE]

Yes So I Said Yes review " an angry loyalist's dog's life by Susannah Clapp

Finborough, LondonThis crackling production of David Ireland's caustic portrait of a troubled former gunman is close up and in your face Hurrah for the first London staging of this play by D…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:36am on December 5, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Manor; The Drifters Girl; Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) by Susannah Clapp

Lyttelton; Garrick; Criterion, LondonRising tides and clunking dialogue overwhelm Moira Buffini's new play; Beverley Knight and co excel in the latest jukebox musical. Plus, the joys of kara…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:18am on November 28, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Wife of Willesden; Rare Earth Mettle " review by Susannah Clapp

Kiln; Royal Court, LondonThe Wife of Bath is wonderfully at home in 21st-century Brent in Zadie Smith's inspired reworking of Chaucer. Meanwhile, the troubles of the Royal Court's big new pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18pm on November 21, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Magician's Elephant, Mum, 'Night Mother by Susannah Clapp

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Soho theatre, Hampstead theatre, LondonThe RSC's Christmas spectacular lacks a little magic touch, while two maternally themed plays offer ver…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:06am on November 7, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: The Walk; Wuthering Heights " review by Susannah Clapp

Various venues, London; Bristol Old VicLittle Amal makes human hearts beat faster, while compassion fuels Emma Rice's great whirl of a Brontë adaptation In Arabic, Amal means "hope". And …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:24am on October 31, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Get Up, Stand Up!; Value Engineering: Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry; Love and Other Acts of Violence by Susannah Clapp

Lyric; Tabernacle; Donmar Warehouse LondonMagnetic Arinzé Kene as Bob Marley powers the West End's latest jukebox musical. And a verbatim play drawn from the Grenfell inquiry bears unstinti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:48am on October 24, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Maryland; The Tragedy of Macbeth; White Noise by Susannah Clapp

Royal Court Upstairs; Almeida; Bridge, LondonLucy Kirkwood's raw response to the murders of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard captures a moment of terrible rage. And Saoirse Ronan commands as L…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:36am on October 17, 2021[SHARE]

The week in theatre: Hamlet; The Mirror and the Light; What If If Only by Susannah Clapp

Young Vic; Gielgud; Royal Court, LondonCush Jumbo is a perfect prince, Ben Miles bows out as Hilary Mantel's Cromwell, while Caryl Churchill gets to the heart of love and loss in under 20 mi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:06am on October 10, 2021[SHARE]