Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonSteven Berkoff plays the Iraqi dictator with virtuosic menace in Anthony Horowitz's admirable yet troubling comedyCan you have a comedy about tyranny? Chaplin…
Hampstead theatre, LondonRussell Beale is as coyly flirtatious as ever in a merry, if overstuffed, tale of a trailblazing Georgian comedianIan Kelly's play, based on his biography of the sam…
Royal Court, LondonDavid Morrissey and Reece Shearsmith give pitch-perfect performances in the theatrical maverick's first London premiere in 12 years Related: Martin McDonagh interview: 'Th…
Lyttelton, LondonA shortened version of the acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production has much to admire, but inevitably loses the fine detail of the great novelAcclaimed last year at the Bristol…
Harold Pinter Theatre, LondonKristin Scott Thomas and Lia Williams are currently alternating the two female roles in Harold Pinter's 1971 play with Rufus Sewell as the man in the middle. The…
Bush, LondonTanya Ronder's play probes the clash between corporate career and private conscience via one conflicted familyYou can't accuse the British theatre of ignoring climate change: in …
Adelphi, LondonFrom Cyndi Lauper's score to impressive lead performances, this winsome men-in-frocks show puts its best foot forwardThis theatre seems to be specialising in factory-set music…
Watching dramatisations of Chekhov's early short stories, Michael Billington finds the writer sketching out his caustic portrait of the Russian character " complete with drunken fishermen an…
Noël Coward theatre, London Anna Ziegler's new play asserts the contribution of 1950s chemist Rosalind Franklin to the discovery of DNA and asks: is science still sexist?You could hardly …
Old Vic, LondonEverything that art can do to boost this revival of Tennessee Williams's 1959 play has been done. Marianne Elliott's production is first-rate. The cast, led by Kim Cattrall, i…
Aldeburgh, Suffolk Ninth time round, the festival showcases three impeccable new plays using sharp writing to deal with testing topicsNow in its ninth year and transferred from Halesworth to…
He was one of Britain's most shocking, uncompromising playwrights. Then he fell out of favour. But now Edward Bond is back. He grants Michael Billington a rare interview'I'm an extremist,&qu…
Old Vic, London Tamsin Oglesby's play dissecting the British education system packs a punch yet still has fun in the playgroundMatthew Warchus begins an ambitious, eight-play first season at…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe playwright directs a well-acted and ruefully comic view of marital breakdown, mayhem and murderGiven that this is Alan Ayckbourn's 79th play, it is har…
Orange Tree, RichmondA rare revival of Sharman Macdonald's quietly haunting play reveals uncomfortable truths about the oppressiveness of family life and sexual attitudes in wartime Scotland…
Lyttelton, LondonI sometimes feel I know Alan Bennett's family almost as well as my own. But, although these two "recollections" contain material that will be familiar to readers o…
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonRory Mullarkey's adaptation is linguistically rich, but Adele Thomas's production can't seem to settle on a styleAfter Robert Icke's free adaptation of Aeschylus's…
Richmond theatre, London A well put together production of Terence Rattigan's 1942 play about a love triangle among RAF bombersTerence Rattigan's 1942 play about wartime bomber crews enjoyed…
Dorfman, LondonDenise Gough is superlative as an actor who breaks down mid-show and is forced into recovery, in a vibrant play that draws parallels between theatre and rehabDuncan Macmillan …
Finborough, London Matthew Wilkinson's play about the rage of a grieving man is given acute expression by Cal MacAninch and Thusitha JayasunderaWritten and directed by Matthew Wilkinson, thi…
St James's, London An anthology highlighting Jewish songwriters' contributions to the American musical, from the 1930s to the present, is at its most delightful in the first halfThe title de…
Olivier, LondonThe National production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's historical play shows convicts and captors alike escaping their colonial chains in shared expressionSince it is only two ye…
Theatre Royal, BathTerry Johnson's adaptation of the 2005 film is a defiantly patriotic piece with a delightful score, rousing ensemble and first-rate performancesIt's a cliche that, ever si…
How do you even begin to pick the world's 101 greatest plays? The Guardian's theatre critic explains how he approached this controversial task for his new book " and admits he is already hav…
Barbican, LondonCumberbatch has a gift for suggesting Hamlet's essential decency, but visual conceits take the place of textual investigation in this frustrating stagingAfter all the hype an…