2,444 stories by "Michael Billington"
National Theatre, London Bijan Sheibani's play is at its best when it returns to the human values of Erich Kastner's storyThe National has set the bar high when it comes to family entertainm…
Jude Law's performance as Shakespeare's contradictory king brings to mind John Sutherland's provocative essayJude Law is the big draw in the fifth and final production of Michael Grandage's …
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonLeonard Bernstein's musical gets a restless, comic-strip production that has a jaunty ebullience and two outstanding leadsI suspect there are two ways to appr…
Guildhall School, LondonA beautifully staged show about the brutal Depression-era dance marathons is something of an endurance test for us as wellAvid fans of Gypsy will recall that Dainty J…
Finborough, London There are strong performances in this entertaining revival of RC Sherriff's ghost story, but much of the play feels like paddingIt is the fate of RC Sherriff to be remembe…
Tricycle, LondonGuilty of the very intolerance it condemns, Mary O'Malley's 1977 convent school drama " here directed by Kathy Burke " is a jolly but nonetheless flawed affairTime has not b…
St James's, LondonSarah Ruhl's superb drama of female frustration and solitude is well served by director Laurence BoswellSarah Ruhl's brilliant play is, to put it mildly, an eye-opener. Set…
Young Vic, LondonSix politically engaged playlets demonstrate that drama has extra bite and zest when it deals with big issuesDo we all get more rightwing in times of austerity? That's the p…
Gielgud Theatre, LondonWhile the mechanics of the dual murders are moderately exciting, in the second half the tension deceleratesTheatre is theatre, film film. Right? Actually not any more …
Gate, LondonThis wryly resilient musical monologue about the corporate world is as New York as a triple-decker pastrami sandwichAn authentic piece of Manhattan has landed in west London. It …
London PalladiumDame Edna's creator pushes the bad taste boundaries in this raucous show that confirms just what a rare bird he isIn a theatre shorn of outsize personalities, the idea of a B…
Barbican, LondonThe audience become eavesdroppers in Ivo van Hove's gripping and inventive restaging of the Ingmar Bergman classicWho's afraid of Ingmar Bergman? Obviously not Ivo van Hove a…
This revival of Jez Butterworth's play " a tale of rock'n'roll rivalry in gangland Soho " packs plenty of punchJez Butterworth's first play burst on the scene like a fireball in 1995, a…
Duke of York's, LondonMatthew Macfadyen is a fine Jeeves in this farce-fuelled dramatisation of PG Wodehouse's The Code of the WoostersHow do you dramatise a sublime novel like PG Wodehouse'…
Garrick, London This 1950s courtroom drama is an efficient piece of entertainment but is beginning to show its ageReginald Rose's script has had an incredibly long life. It first surfaced on…
Minerva, ChichesterThis return to star-driven Shakespeare has in Frank Langella a commanding Lear still driven by a craving for loveWe are used to director's Shakespeare. This production, wh…
Southwark Playhouse, LondonTimberlake Wertenbaker's modern interpretation produces anachronisms, but brings home the psychological ravages of warTimberlake Wertenbaker has been inspired by S…
Birmingham RepThis modern update of Molière's play tries too hard to keep the laughter coming, with comedy destroying any sense of dangerThe panto season has come early to Birmingham t…
The Shed, LondonDebbie Tucker Green achieves a compelling synthesis of poetry and drama in this charged cry of anguish recalling Sarah KaneI've always admired the distinctive voice of "debbi…
We got a brilliant, kaleidoscopic entertainment that evoked the National's past and opened up possibilities for the futureI count myself fortunate to have been part of the audience at Saturd…
Finborough, LondonThis impressive play takes an unsensational approach to the stresses of having to work professionally with abusive imagesHow do human beings cope with being exposed, profes…
The Bussey Building, LondonWritten in Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship, this play offers a moving image of the desolation created by oppressive regimesThis play, by the Chilean writer J…
Arcola, LondonDavid Storey's haunting, elegiac play reveals itself slowly but this production too often leaves the audience staring at actor's backsDavid Storey's beautiful 1970 play about o…
Young Vic, LondonThis musical about racist bigotry in 1930s America is a strong show with a social conscience One of theatre's most potent weapons is an ironic contrast between form and cont…
Hampstead theatre, LondonThree couples on a weekend in Wales. What could go wrong? With Robert Webb, Sarah Hadland and Tamzin Outhwaite, there's plenty of comic potentialActors who write pla…
