If a successful future is to be unlocked for Lock and Key then much work is needed on its book. The show is crying out for credible characters who engage in plausible human interaction, and …
Janie Dee's brief residency at Live At Zedel was a chance to glimpse a performance of understated excellence. A two-time Olivier winner " and just nominated for a third " Dee drew her inspir…
Old Fools is brilliant, devastating theatre, marking Tristan Bernays out as an outstanding talent amongst his generation. It deserves a life beyond this stunning premiere " until then, it is…
The politics may be clumsy but the acting is beautiful at the National Theatre. Make no mistake, Rory Kinnear is a magnificent Macbeth.
Paapa Essiedu's Hamlet is likely to be remembered and talked about in years to come and Simon Godwin's production is a beautifully accessible performance of a perfect play.
This Pippin is one of those productions rarely seen on the fringe. It captures the sparkle of Broadway, transporting it to south London in a whirl of unmissable musical theatre.
Carefully curated by Chris Burgess, and starring Kieran Brown, Steven Dalziel, Natalie Green and Laura Sillett, A Night At The Oscars is a charming production of a delightful idea.
When told well, coming of age stories are very often a reminder of the fragility and beauty of life, inspiring a carpe diem attitude tempered with immense gratitude. That the 'Harold and Mau…
Back in London for a one-week residency, Scott Alan was in sparkling upbeat form as he played to a packed audience at Live At Zedel.
As Tyrone Huntley and Georgie Henley tackle Philip Ridley's six monologues for Angry alternately one apiece, each of them immerses themselves in a coruscating display of compelling physical …
In the right hands (and voices) opera's classics can work spectacularly on the Fringe, but all too often in Carmen 1808 one is left with the distinct feeling that Phil Willmott has done to B…
Cirque Berserk is a show that families can afford and all generations will enjoy. Prise your kids away from their screens " entertainment does not come more perfectly performed.
Surrounded by those with seated tickets and lorded over by scene after scene of masterclasses in the craft, the cheap seats in the pit for Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre are without dou…
Much like a street card conman setting out his stall, Tom Salomon's The Grift at the Town Hall, Bethnal Green, describes itself as "a practice in the art of deception".
The production of Rothschild & Sons at the Park Theatre is another example of London's Off-West End at its finest, seeing a relatively obscure musical dusted down and shipped across the…
George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, stylistically inspired by Anton Chekhov, was first performed in 1920. Set on the brink of the First World War, its message about the very real danger …
In what has been another full and stimulating year of reviewing countless revivals and some occasionally excellent new writing, below are the twelve productions that have impressed me the mo…
Fittingly, the reviewing year has ended in the grandest of styles at Paris' Grand Palais to where the city's illustrious Theatre du Châtelet have temporarily decamped, reviving their 2015…
Matthew Bourne's Second World War staging was first aired in 1997, before a revival in 2010 leading to this 2017 slightly re-worked reprise and it makes for an uncompromising interpretation …
"This is not a musical. This is not a concert. This is not a panto, or a play, or anything I can compare it to," so proclaims Tom Fletcher in the show notes. And he is quite right. While The…
When a family-friendly Christmas clown show seems more akin to Waiting For Godot rather than an act from a big top, three-ring circus, something's gone wrong.
Headed up with an engaging performance from RSC stalwart David Troughton as the frail but somehow still intimidating Titus Andronicus, the play is quite the ride with humour kept firmly at t…
Following critical and commercial success with last year's Cinderella, QDOS Entertainment has again invested millions to make Dick Whittington the biggest, boldest and glitziest pantomime on…
Reprising his 2016 creation, Robert Lindsay is a gnarled and grizzled Ebenezer Scrooge, blossoming as he journeys to discover compassion and kindness.
Miracle on 34th Street is a sparkling, joyful and heartwarming spectacle. For a very merry Christmas, this is just the ticket.