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…
Print Room at the Coronet, London Two prisoners and a condemned man vie for dominion of their cell in a well-executed production leavened by fantasy sequencesThis is Jean Genet's first play,…
Gielgud theatre, LondonHair is more than just a musical: it is a social and cultural phenomenon, a jubilant assertion of life and freedom and a cry of protest against politicians who, in the…
With interrogations of class, labour and politics entwined around the lives of ordinary people " including plenty of well-written women " Arnold Wesker created plays that showed his endless …
Almeida, LondonLeo Butler's play follows a teenager adrift in cold, modern London, but its compassion is sometimes overwhelmed by a restless productionLeo Butler has attempted something tric…
As playwright Arnold Wesker turns 80, he talks about his early successes, his later battles " and the day he tried to flog his entire oeuvre for £10,000'I don't feel I'm known as a playwr…
Arcola, London This compelling portrait of how the Maoist revolution gripped one particular village is a big, ambitious and thought-provoking playThere is a growing body of plays about China…
Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonNo one any longer has to make a case for this once-despised play. But, whether it is viewed as a neo-Senecan study in stoic acceptance of grief or a Tarantino-like e…
David Ireland's story about a Belfast loyalist is a blackly comic examination of sectarian hatred " and a subversive drama that has never been more relevant Related: Cyprus Avenue review " c…
Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonAlan Bennett makes a shrewd point in his Diaries. Attending a performance by Complicite, he remarks that some theatre companies have become like rock groups attracti…
Watford Palace theatreThe team behind Britain's Got Bhangra can't smooth over the thorny issue of arranged marriages with song and dance in this musical based on a 12th-century forerunner of…
Old Vic, LondonFollowing the current trend of not treating Harold Pinter with pause-ridden reverence, Matthew Warchus transforms the writer's first big hit into a wild comedy of deluded misf…
Royal Court, LondonCharacters hear strange voices and time itself starts to dissolve in Alistair McDowall's new play, set in a research base on PlutoAlistair McDowall has quickly built a rep…
Coliseum, LondonSemi-staged performance brings us closer to Billy Wilder's film than Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1993 version Billy Wilder, on emerging from the original 1993 staging of Andrew Llo…
Southwark Playhouse, London There are good performances in this finely staged revival, but Hemingway's autobiographical drama set during the Spanish civil war is a rambling affairErnest Hemi…
Theatre Royal, Haymarket, LondonAlan Ayckbourn's vintage comedy about adultery and male bullying is shockingly up to dateTheatrical snobs still patronise Alan Ayckbourn. Alan Strachan's clev…
National Theatre, LondonWhite liberalism and postcolonial freedom-fighting clash in Yaël Farber's sensuous production, but Lorraine Hansberry's play is a product of its timeThis play has …
Bristol Old VicRichard Eyre rushes through Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece but gets to the heart of the tortured love of the Tyrones, played mesmerisingly by his leadsRichard Eyre famously dire…
For 60 turbulent years, the Royal Court has thrilled and outraged audiences and critics alike. Michael Billington, who was once cuffed by an angry playwright there, celebrates " and picks 10…
Hampstead theatre, LondonThe American playwright edges away from his usual bilious comic antagonism with this drama about romantic crisesNeil LaBute's new play uses the same set of character…
Wilton's Music Hall, LondonBy keeping its audience's eyes covered, this vivid production heightens the wistful evocation and graveyard wit of Samuel Beckett's long-ignored piece Samuel Becke…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon With this heartening production, director Simon Godwin and a largely black ensemble make you feel like you are seeing the play anewThere is som…
Salisbury PlayhouseKirsty Bushell adheres to Hedda's destructiveness but invests her with humour and sexual allure in this bracingly intelligent revivalIbsen's Hedda is often described as th…
National, LondonThe National Theatre used to bring us Broadway's golden oldies. Now it imports something original: a remarkable musical, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and music by Jea…
Garrick, LondonDoors are slammed and trousers dropped in this bawdy hitman caper which teases out the comic skill of its leadsFarce is purely a matter of taste. I met someone the other day w…