★★★★★ HAMLET, ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE Rupert Goold's staging lends a gnawing, troubling, transatlantic relevance The iceberg cometh The date, projected be…
★★★★★ THREE SISTERS, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Souls dissected in brilliantly conceived and executed production Russia - but also here, there and everywhere Russi…
★ MRS PRESIDENT, CHARING CROSS THEATRE A widow, a photographer but no soul Curious play that fails to mobilise theatre's unique ability to tell a story The phenomenal global success o…
★★★ SECOND BEST, RIVERSIDE STUDIOS First-class performance in a second-class play Martin is not Harry Potter in the movies, then might be in real life, but proves to be the…
★★★★★ PLAY ON!, LYRIC HAMMERSMITH The Bard and The Duke in perfect harmony! Super performances deliver magnificent entertainment If you saw Upstart Crow on tele…
★★★ AN INTERROGATION, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Detective gets her man, but at what cost? Rosie Sheehy and Jamie Ballard shine in Edinburgh Festival import In a dingy room with …
★★★ CYMBELINE, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Patriarchy defeated! A new, if not as radical as once it were, take on Shakespeare's cross-dressing call to arms There's not much…
★★★★ THE LONELY LONDONERS, KILN THEATRE A beautifully realised stage adaptation Memories, frustrations and hopes in a city emerging from post-war austerity As som…
★★★★ THE MAIDS, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Master and Servant, poison & procrastination Class, in its 21st century manifestation, colours much performed play There ar…
★ TITANIQUE, CRITERION THEATRE Celine! Tina! Jack and Rose! But no wit at all Affectionate piss-take set for cult status at best This Celine Dion jukebox musical has been a big hit in …
★★★ TWELFTH NIGHT The winter comedy provides more chills than chuckles despite a funny fool Too much thinking; not enough laughing It is not just Twelfth Night, it's Twe…
★★★★ NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812, DONMAR WAREHOUSE Broadway show takes eight years to traverse the Atlantic, but proves worth the wait War and Pe…
★★★ HANSEL AND GRETEL, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE More wicked witch, less sunny siblings please Songs and sweeties, but insufficient sourness and sadism for fans of fairytales …
★★ THE LIGHTNING THIEF, THE OTHER PALACE One for fans of the franchise Myths and monsters make for a curiously bland and bloodless musical Percy Jackson is neither the missing…
★★★ ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Despite its compansations, the play is hard to watch New production lands on shaky ground in 2024 "All's well that…
★★★★ KING JAMES, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Two Cleveland lads bond, break and bond again in perceptive dramedy Beautifully crafted play tracks two men's relationship, as LeBr…
★★★★ [TITLE OF SHOW], SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Two decades on, this meta-musical retains its charm Revival of New York show lifts the spirits Not just a backstage musica…
★★★★ BURNT-UP LOVE, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Ferocious three-hander finds love too hot to handle Super writing and acting jolts us out of complacency Mac is in prison for …
★★★ HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR MOTHER, KING'S HEAD THEATRE Jonathan Maitland writes of his mother, but should we laugh or cry? Lots of heartache, but a strange void where the hear…
★★★★ THE FORSYTE SAGA PARTS 1 AND 2, PARK THEATRE Epic adaptation falls away a little, but still packs a punch Joseph Millson leads a super cast in a classy produ…
★★★ AUTUMN, PARK THEATRE Adaptation of Ali Smith's acclaimed novel drifts when it should bite Promising production, beautifully acted, slides into side plots and confusi…
★★ LAND OF THE FREE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Good timing, but clunky structure and plodding pace limits appeal A president shot, as a divided country seeks political solutions Str…
★★★ KNIFE ON THE TABLE, COCKPIT THEATRE London teenagers pulled into gang culture's world of drugs, knives and misery This is exactly the kind of play that should be…
★★★★ THE LEHMAN TRILOGY The rise and rise and rise of an iconic Wall Street institution - and its collapse  Sensational stagecraft elevates familiar tale o…
★★★ FRENCH TOAST The English and the French, the men and the women, the young and the old, lock horns in 70s farce  Comedy gains momentum when characters are roun…