2,878 stories by "Lyn Gardner"
Ambassadors, LondonThis Hamlet prequel is not on a par with Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but it has some artful momentsEverything is rotten in the state of Denmark. The young…
Watford PalaceGary Owen's spry online-dating satire stretches credulity but doesn't dodge some of the trickier questions around loveThe nagging thought that there might be someone out there …
Lyttelton, LondonThis almost entirely sung-through show lacks a genuine fairy tale sense of wonder or real emotional punchOnce upon a time the National Theatre proposed to stage a fairy tale…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonA fine revival of Wesker's kitchen-sink drama, in which a daughter's return reveals the emptiness of lives marked in potato peelingsLook Back in Anger is often cited …
Watford PalaceTwo plays take on the impact of the digital world: futuristic Override is an at-times sinister comedy, while Virgin examines what women gain and lose from brave new techStars: …
Critics are getting laid off. It's getting tougher to find ways to be paid to write. It sounds as if theatre criticism is on life support. Or is it?Is theatre criticism in meltdown, as some …
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsJames Brining's debut production strips the Victorian gothic from Sondheim's greatest musical " with compelling resultsAll the world's a madhouse in James Brin…
From rabble-rousing to quietly comforting, which monologues make you lean forward in your seat?A revival of Arnold Wesker's 1959 play, Roots, opens at the Donmar Warehouse next week. It star…
Ambassadors theatre, LondonThis look at the Conservative party's struggles with sexuality is timely and thoughtful, with lively performancesSam is a young, working-class Tory education resea…
Hytner's successor needs to make bold, brave changes to keep the NT relevant through the 21st centuryEveryone who works in theatre knows that it is the successful act that is the hardest one…
Peacock, LondonFrom breakdancing to trampowalling, the Canadian circus's latest spectacle fizzes with skill and self-beliefTake the energy of a small nuclear explosion and add the attitude o…
National Theatre, LondonFrances Ya-Chu Cowhig's play puts the flesh and blood on the stories of China's workers who flock to the citiesWhen Sunny (Katie Leung) is born in rural China in 1992…
Rose, KingstonStephen Unwin's production captures the grey mood of Ibsen's gripping family story " until an ill-timed interval breaks the spellThe portrait of the late Captain Alving ma…
St James, LondonOlivia Williams and Mark Bazeley are lacerating as the central couple in this stage adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's filmMarianne (Olivia Williams) and Johan (Mark Bazeley) see…
Duchess, LondonHitler's rise to power is parodied in Brecht's allegorical satire with the Führer as scary as a tea cosy. But the finale is soberingThe American gangster movie meets Richard …
New research suggests that teenagers don't think that theatre is just for their mums and dads. Maybe theatres should take note' Read more on the reportAre theatre audiences getting younger a…
Taking shows out of traditional venues will be good for audiences " and provide a necessary fillip for stagecraft tooAccepting a special commendation at this year's Amnesty International Fre…
The Door, BirminghamKate Tempest's single, unguarded three-hander about women in prison is a little too earnest but fizzes with truthChess (Amanda Wilkin) and Serena (Gbemisola Ikumeio) are …
Derby theatreThis fluid, largely traditional take on the boy and his bird taps directly into current concerns about wasted potentialSince the arrival of new artistic director Sarah Brigham a…
Equity wants action on female stereotypes on stage. But change would be swifter if theatre-makers challenged their own thinkingWomen are at the heart of Ché Walker and Arthur Darvill's The …
Nottingham PlayhouseThis George Orwell adaptation is a superbly handled multimedia speculation on the nature of truthThe Party plays plenty of mind games in George Orwell's novel about …
We all know the stage is a precarious profession. But maybe that's what's driving such brave and creative performancesPlaywright Simon Stephens says actors are being creatively "stifled" and…
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonThis wild, panto-campy version of Euripides's last play is oddly conventional and pointlessly excessiveEuripides's last play still has a grip on British theatre. S…
Battersea Arts CentreWith tales told by a single storyteller, this site-specific journey through the city finds the extraordinary in ordinary livesIn big cities, most people are strangers an…
Mill Studio, GuildfordSiobhan Nicholas looks to the stars in an exploration of the role played by women as thinkers and scientists throughout historyYou have probably heard of William Hersch…
