2,444 stories by "Michael Billington"
Old Vic, LondonYaël Farber's extraordinary production of Arthur Miller's tale of the Salem witch hunt retains its disturbing relevance todayProductions of Arthur Miller's re-creation of t…
Dominic Dromgoole's lively production, with Elizabethan costume and Roman accessories, delivers Shakespeare with great clarity, but the main roles are unevenly castBefore you enter the theat…
Hampstead theatre, London Beth Steel's recreation of the 1984 strikes exposes the divisions between miners and the destruction of a defiant communityOnce identified with domestic drama, Hamp…
Lyttelton, LondonRichard Bean's satire has a go at press, police and politicians and what he sees as the corrupt chain binding them togetherRichard Bean doesn't do things by halves. His new …
Regent's Park, LondonAudience participation is intelligently used in this family-friendly production that still tackles the play's sexual complexitiesEach summer this precious theatre offers…
Tricycle, LondonFor all its style, this still seems more like a New Yorker short story than a substantial playGlamour is a quality we rarely associate with modern theatre. It positively ooze…
Theatre Royal, BathClare Higgins and Tim Pigott-Smith trade blows with relish, but Adrian Noble's revival brings little fresh insight to Albee's classicWhen Peter Hall ran the Bath summer se…
Young Vic, LondonPeter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne's tale of synaesthesia is an astonishing look at the miracles of the mindNervous theatre-makers strain every nerve to get our attenti…
The Other Place, Stratford-on-AvonFour new plays by women that invite the current generation to rediscover the radical past are uneven but invigoratingI can't think of a finer tribute to Buz…
Royal Court theatre, LondonTim Crouch's show explores our obsession with artists' lives, but occasionally lets the form get in the way of its message Playwright Tim Crouch: 'Avoiding the sta…
Finborough theatre, LondonKevin Kautzman doesn't fully get to grips with the big issue at the heart of his O'Neill-esque family dramaKevin Kautzman, an American playwright here making his Br…
Wyndham's, London The combination of private pain and public rage in this revival of David Hare's play hits you straight between the eyes Quiz: Bill Nighy's greatest lines In pictures: Skyli…
Regent's Park Open Air theatre, LondonHarold Brighouse's 1916 classic doesn't always fit the era of miniskirts, but this update is nicely acted in a warm productionI vividly recall seeing Ha…
An intimate filmed production of the Almeida's Ghosts disproves the idea that theatre is an irreducible experienceI recall a Punch cartoon of the late 1950s showing two moviegoers gazing in …
Jermyn Street, LondonBoerish brutality in the Victorian era and the story of a writer torn between cultures illuminate the country's troubled historyTwenty years after the formal dismantling…
As Tim Crouch's Adler & Gibb hits the Royal Court, here are the finest portraits of artists on stage, from John Logan's study of Rothko to Yasmina Reza's ArtHow do you put visual art on …
Orange Tree, RichmondAn exemplary champion of new works, Sam Walters has curated an ambitious, wide-ranging festivalAs a climax to his extraordinary 42-year tenure at the Orange Tree, which …
Almeida, LondonStrange but never boring, this post-apocalyptic fantasy suggests US TV comedy will be the last relic of western civilisationA pattern is beginning to emerge at the Almeida und…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonFriel's piece, based on Turgenev's novel, yields a rich gallery of performances as it meditates on change, tradition and the power of friendshipIt is significant that…
National Theatre, LondonThe ideas get lost in this violent thriller that explores the political legacy of colonialismBe careful what you wish for. Reviewing Polly Stenham's last play, No Qua…
Ambassadors theatre, London Ian Grieve captures the former leader's moral seriousness, but this one-man show never questions received wisdomEven four years after his electoral defeat, we sti…
Old Vic, LondonWhat emerges clearly in Spacey's magnificent performance as the famed American lawyer, is Clarence Darrow's renegade spiritKevin Spacey's webchat: 10 things we learnedKevin Sp…
Arcola, LondonSarah Daniels tackles the world of therapy in a production marked by some striking performancesSarah Daniels made a big impact in the 1980s with plays including Masterpieces an…
Producer Cameron Mackintosh turned the West End musical into a global franchise. And he's not finished yet. New shows are opening round the world, new theatres are being purchased ... the em…
Shakespeare's Globe, London This Cleopatra kisses the audience and Clive Wood makes a ruffianly Antony What's your favourite Antony and Cleopatra? "Is this well done?" a character…
