Mega-fame and limitless cash can turn a man into a monster, and Simon Stephens's new play excellently evokes its hero's spiritually shrunken worldNo one will be surprised to learn, from Simo…
Shakespeare's poorly plotted tragedy turns on the shortcomings of the Veronese postal service and is eclipsed by West Side Story yet the best productions overcome these defectsI once anger…
Olivier, LondonNigel Lindsay hits the right note, but this production lacks the farce that unlocks the pain within Alan Ayckbourn's fable Ayckbourn: 'I've never been a political writer: I'm …
David Tennant, Samuel West and Ian Richardson have all excelled in the role but Ben Whishaw's king was extraordinary part Jesus Christ and part Michael JacksonKenneth Tynan once referred to…
Park theatre, LondonWilliam Ivory's tribute to the men of RAF Bomber Command is a highly accomplished look at faith and wartime memories if overly contrivedThere's a patent sincerity to Wil…
Some take this story of the wavering king more seriously than others. Do you have a grudging affection for this unloved play?King John is an unloved play. Yet I have to admit to a grudging a…
Mickey Rooney, who has died aged 93, had a long stage career on both sides of the Atlantic. In this archive piece, originally published on 22 September 1988, Michael Billington can't help bu…
One of Shakespeare's most sublime comedies took Bernard Levin to the heights of ecstasy, apparently. How was it for you?Bernard Levin once said of a production of this play in Regent's Park …
Productions of Shakespeare's early play on love and rivalry should be commonplace: in practice, Crab the dog is the best thing in it. Help Michael Billington find the best productionsI reall…
Roy Williams has returned to the theatre where he started his career and produced a compelling dramaRoy Williams, who has written many fine plays, including Fallout and Sucker Punch, has ret…
It's the 'barbaric, disgusting play' that Michael Billington once demanded never be performed again. But, as well as its characters, is there a chance of redemption for the play itself?I onc…
Theatre Royal HaymarketThe actors do all they can within the script's limits, but a film that was at least a brutally effective psychological thriller has become a modern morality playThere …
Old Vic, LondonJon Robin Baitz's Christmas-set drama uses fractured nuclear families to examine the broken American psycheI was arguing with a friend the other day about whether plays should…
The Print Room, LondonJon Fosse's tale of one man's grief over the loss of his dog is well-acted, yet the play lacks dramatic tensionIn the past, I've eagerly championed the work of the Norw…
Menier Chocolate Factory, London Ray Cooney's production achieves the correct delirious momentum and gets good performances from everyone, including the playwrightWhen I first saw Ray Cooney…
Gielgud, LondonAngela Lansbury is back on a London stage after nearly 40 years, but her presence has a faintly distorting effectGood as it is to see Angela Lansbury back on a London stage af…
Orange Tree, RichmondThis abrasive comedy about the UK's recent economic belt-tightening suggests writer Torben Betts should be a bigger nameClass is the engine driving much British drama. I…
Ustinov Studio, BathAll of life's big dramas take place around the dining table in Dan LeFranc's madcap look at love and marriageMichael Boyd, after a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Compa…
Stratford East's musical will be broadcast tonight, proving radio is still doing more for the stage than TVTonight Oh What a Lovely War could be said to be coming home. The current Theatre R…
Everyman, Liverpool The reborn theatre's first production boasts a superb Malvolio in Nicholas Woodeson and Matthew Kelly as Sir Toby Belch, but could do with speeding up a bit"We want to cr…
St James's, LondonA formidable cast saves this musical pastiche from undermining its own messageFlushed with success on Broadway, where it ran for three years, this bizarre show finally make…
Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica stands head and shoulders above the other nominees. This year's lineup confirms that British theatre's current success lies more in interpretation than in original …
Playwright Barney Norris's first full-length work for the stage sensitively captures a married couple's descent into old ageBarney Norris is a young man in his mid‑20s. I mention this…
Park theatre, LondonThis Stephen Sondheim-Richard Rodgers holiday-romance musical isn't perfect, but is put across with convictionThe fiercest critic of this 1964 American musical is one of …
Hampstead theatre, LondonDavid Lindsay-Abaire's tale of a working-class single mum explores social mobility in the US with compelling resultsI sometimes fret at the Americanisation of Britis…