Arts Educational, LondonA 1920 private adoption home farms poor children out to rich couples in this fluent production by Kate Sason and a talented student castAs we know from Nell Gwynn and…
In Cyprus Avenue, I watched aghast as a Protestant attacked his own baby. But I left with a new understanding of sectarianism. So why did the litany of horrors in Sarah Kane's Cleansed just …
Young Vic, LondonArthur Miller's 1955 Brooklyn drama is stripped right back to showcase rich behavioural accuracy and high-quality performances' Monroe and Miller's sensational year " in pic…
Jury's Inn, BrightonPatrick Sandford's candid play about the abuse he suffered as a nine-year-old at the hands of a teacher shines much needed light on dark placesThe Brighton festival has s…
Brighton festivalThis disturbing piece of immersive theatre shines a light on the morality of police surveillance as audience members get to play undercover agentsAt what point, if any, is p…
Lyttelton, LondonSuhayla El-Bushra brings Nikolai Erdman's 1928 social comedy into the modern day, but leaves its eccentricity and subversion behindThe National Theatre these days seems susp…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonSet in a post-Brexit dystopia, Melly Still's production is odd, excessive and over-stuffed with ideas but it's unafraid of emotion and boasts fi…
Arcola, LondonMay Sumbwanyambe's promising play, set in 1998, pits a white farm-owning family against a government agent sent to acquire their landThe Papatango new writing prize has uncover…
The Henry VI plays are condensed into two servings of power battles, sex and witchcraft with fine performances from Hugh Bonneville and Sophie OkonedoShakespeare's early histories used to be…
Hampstead theatre, LondonWhy did TE Lawrence turn his back on fame after assisting the Arab uprising? Brenton's solidly acted play explores the mystery of a troubled figureThe centenary of t…
Chichester festival theatreBonneville precisely captures the recklessness and egotism of Dr Stockmann in a vigorous production of Ibsen's frighteningly topical playThis is the fifth major re…
Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud, GuildfordPrivate passion coincides with the public chaos of 1947 in this tale of an affair featuring a first-rate castHoward Brenton's Drawing the Line dramatised…
Ibsen was sane, progressive and formal. Strindberg was neurotic, reactionary and fragmented. The two were arch enemies - but together they laid the foundations for modern drama, says Michael…
Finborough, LondonAthena Stevens' drama about a girl with cerebral palsy and a teacher overstates the message that disability is no bar to ambition, but it's laudable propagandaThis play cha…
The Space, LondonGotthold Ephraim Lessing's European drama, given an admirable revival at this fringe theatre, is an assured attack on unfettered princely powerThis 1772 tragedy by Gotthold …
Donmar Warehouse, London Payne's utterly relatable characters make this play about scientific progress an exploration of the very human concepts of love, identity, faith and lossNick Payne's…
Minerva, ChichesterPatricia Hodge is superb as a madcap aunt, whisking her buttoned-up nephew on a world tour, in a perfectly pleasant show that lacks the novel's ambiguitiesGraham Greene's …
Through intelligent handling of its racial themes, Daniel Evans's revival has steered this much-loved 1927 show smoothly into the modern ageWhat is it about Show Boat? Why is it that a music…
Duke of York's, London The Game of Thrones actor gives us a sense of the scholar's flailing despair but Jamie Lloyd's excessive version of the tragedy comes with a trite messageChristopher M…
Composer and conductor who wrote music for RSC productions of all Shakespeare's playsIf music is now seen as an integral part of modern Shakespeare productions, the credit belongs to Guy Woo…
BBC2 The show perked up when it got round to the plays but tried to cram too much into one eveningIt is always worrying when an entertainment promises "something for everybody". That usually…
As celebrations kick off around the world " including an immersive Romeo and Juliet in a Dubai mall " we look at why his plays are still staged 400 years after his deathOn Saturday the RSC m…
Dorfman theatre, London Astonishing New York hit goes behind the scenes at a cinema to expose the desperate longings of its three young protagonists Arnold Wesker in The Kitchen introduced u…
St James theatre, LondonPaul Robinson delivers an impeccable revival of Charlotte Keatley's 1987 play about the trials and tribulations of mothers and daughters Charlotte Keatley's play, fir…
Temporary theatre at the National, LondonDrawing on interviews and first-hand accounts, Gillian Slovo's enlightening play puts the rise of Isis, and its appeal to young Europeans, in context…