Theatre Reviews
Unchain Me, Brighton Festival review - Dostoevsky-inspired theatre through the streets of BrightonThursday, 12 May 2022
To take to the streets in Brighton in pursuit of a superior political ideology isn't unusual. What is unusual is that some of the young folk currently lurking about the Brighton Museum are part of dreamthinkspeak, an immersive theatre company taking part in this year's Brighton Festival. Read more... |
Age of Rage, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Barbican review - shattering assault on all the sensesMonday, 09 May 2022
Hunger for the gruesome horrors and euphoric highs of Greek tragedy seems to be stronger than ever. Yet when it comes to epic sequences, nothing in recent decades has quite had the impact of Peter Hall’s Aeschylus Oresteia at the National Theatre or John Barton’s three-night RSC journey from Aulis to Tauris The Greeks. Now Age of Rage from Ivo van Hove and his Internationaal Theater/Toneelgroep Amsterdam joins them in the pantheon of great theatre. Read more... |
House of Ife, Bush Theatre review - an Ethiopian-British family struggle to decide where 'home' isMonday, 09 May 2022
We are in a room in a simply decorated house in northwest London, where an Ethiopian-British family is gathering for a funeral “tea” for 28-year-old Ife, their first-born son and beloved twin brother of aspiring artist Aida. He has died of his crack addiction. But this is not exactly the house of the title. Read more... |
Oklahoma!, Young Vic review - a stunning, stripped-down version of the classic musicalSaturday, 07 May 2022
No surreys, fringes or corny chap-slapping: the Rodgers and Hammerstein revival that has arrived at the Young Vic from New York, trailing a Tony award, is no ordinary makeover. Daniel Fish, its director, has spent the best part of 15 years stripping down and remodelling the 1943 original. Read more... |
The Misfortune of the English, Orange Tree Theatre review - don't fret, boys, it's only deathFriday, 06 May 2022
“We all make history, one way or another.” But some of us make more history than others, and a group of 27 English schoolboys who got lost in Southern Germany in 1936 haven’t made much, unfortunately. Read more... |
Middle, National Theatre review - a bit of a muddleThursday, 05 May 2022
The traditional, and much derided, well-made play is meant to have a beginning, middle and end. Read more... |
Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's Globe review – a perfect piece of escapism for our uncertain summerTuesday, 03 May 2022
Lucy Bailey’s joyous, visually ravishing Much Ado About Nothing opens on a sombre note. On stage there is laughter and merriment as people prepare for a party in the sprawling grounds of an Italian estate, but then a lone soldier enters the auditorium, his head wrapped in a bandage, and the tension becomes palpable. Read more... |
Jerusalem, Apollo Theatre review - Mark Rylance blazes in this astonishing revivalSaturday, 30 April 2022
At long last, the giant has come back. Over a decade after its critical apotheosis on both sides of the Atlantic, Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem returns to London in an astonishing revival starring Mark Rylance as the high priest of its proceedings. With the renewed intensity of its vision of an England in crisis, Butterworth’s infinitely rich play is proof that legends age well. Read more... |
Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre review - Jodie Comer sears the stageThursday, 28 April 2022
National statistics tell us that, in the year ending September 2021, 41% of rape victims in England and Wales eventually withdrew their support for prosecution. That justice is not always blind may have something to do with this. Read more... |
Punchdrunk's The Burnt City, One Cartridge Place review - thrilling, discombobulating vision of an ancient worldWednesday, 27 April 2022
Punchdrunk’s latest epic undertaking may be inspired by the legend of Troy, but this is nothing less than a dark journey into a mythological underworld. The company has brought its thrilling discombobulating vision to a venue that sprawls across 100,000 sq ft of two former ammunition factories in Woolwich; the result, appropriately, is theatrical dynamite. Read more... |
Pages
Advertising feature
★★★★★
‘A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.’
The Observer, Kate Kellaway
Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.
★★★★★
‘This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.’
The Times, Ann Treneman
Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.
Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.
latest in today
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages...
