National Theatre, LondonWith its heavy mood and gnomic song lyrics, this updated reimaging of Our Mutual Friend is like a 19th-century noir Period drama is given some sharp edges in this ada…
A string of seven awards for Sunset Boulevard was hardly radical, and many more daring theatrical successes went unrewarded The triumph of Jamie Lloyd's reinvented Sunset Boulevard at this y…
Almeida, LondonFive American friends gather to catch up in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' new play. It's a portrait of midlife malaise, but also a subtle meditation on post-Covid life A group of f…
Noel Coward theatre, LondonMutating from head criminal in a gothic thriller to slippery music hall entertainer, showman McKellen has centripetal force in Robert Icke's slick, modern dress pr…
Birmingham RepExpressive performances and arresting effects heighten this mother-son tragedy, primarily told through British Sign Language This drama opens with a lilting evocation of summer…
Royal Court Upstairs, LondonLydia Higman, Julia Grogan and Rachel Lemon's play set around a 1604 witch trial is a vital and exciting piece of gig theatre full of improvisational spirit and c…
National Theatre, LondonA dislikable version of Charlotte, jockeying for prominence and yearning to be as immoral as Byron, is the surprising focus of this quick-witted drama As a drama abou…
Wyndham's theatre, LondonCox is thrilling as an overbearing patriarch but it's Clarkson who steals the show in Eugene O'Neill's agonising family drama The overbearing patriarch in Eugene O'N…
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonPaul Grellong's gripping dialogue makes a brisk plot and unlikable characters immensely watchable as a Harvard professor invites a white supremacist for a deb…
Hampstead theatre, LondonThere are shades of Blackadder in April De Angelis's play about the great tragedian of 18th-century British theatre There is a certain chutzpah to writing a comedy a…
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, BathBourgeois boredom is pervaded by fantasy and betrayal in these one-act plays with an astute cast including David Morrissey and Mathew Horne Truth, lies and…
Gielgud Theatre, LondonSmith plays a Broadway star in the midst of a mental crisis in Ivo van Hove and Rufus Wainwright's glittering and extravagantly original musical adaptation of the Cass…
Aviva Studios, ManchesterThis story involving an SS officer who fled to Syria after the war is simply staged but slippery, intriguing and full of nuance The flight of Nazis including Adolf E…
Bristol Old VicAdaptation of David Nicholls' novel about a student's class-inflected coming of age scores for its songs but its energy becomes unhinged Long before the post-university romanc…
Jermyn Street theatre, LondonA tremendous cast capture the hope and despair of life in the 'mother country' in this powerful adaptation of the 1956 novel Lyrical and loosely structured, Sam …
Olivier theatre, LondonSheen stars as Aneurin Bevan in Tim Price's drama, unfolding in flashbacks from a hospital bed This life story begins at the end, with Aneurin "Nye" Bevan in a hospita…
No one is banned from these shows " and for Slave Play's run on the West End, they take up only two nights out of almost 100 Downing Street made a surprise announcement last week. No, not th…
Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonMark Ravenhill's reimagining of the duo's work on Gloriana exposes imbalances in the partnership but ultimately is a tragedy of thwarted ambition In 1952, Be…
Birmingham RepSoaring ballads and spirited movement abound in a charming show about teenage self-discovery A team of bhangra dancers bound onto the stage in traditional sequined dress and fa…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonHawes and Jack Davenport radiate as postwar lovers in Lucy Kirkwood's cinephile postwar romantic drama set against the birth of the NHS As debate on the future of the…
Bush theatre, LondonBenedict Lombe questions ideas around abuse, grief and the Black body in this meet-again-cute starring Tosin Cole and Heather Agyepong Would you want to revisit your firs…
Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonThis feted battle of the sexes comedy follows defiantly upbeat Caribbean characters making a life in postwar Britain This irrepressible ska musical, trans…
Good plays have the power to shake us out of our complacency. This recurring debate is a pointless skirmish in a culture war CONTENT WARNING: This column may include opinions with which you …
Lyric theatre, LondonAnaïs Mitchell's musical melds two classical myths, folk and jazz with tremendous soul and offbeat spirit This odyssey through the underworld, told with deep-voiced …
Duke of York's theatre, LondonRock'n'roll reimagining of Ibsen's timeless corruption drama brings the audience into direct Question Time-style dialogue with Smith's idealist revolutionary Ma…