2,436 stories by "Michael Billington"
Phoenix, LondonI've never read Michelle Magorian's 1981 novel for young readers on which David Wood's adaptation is based, but I was struck by the story's debt to Oliver Twist: in both, a se…
Young Vic, LondonTransfers can be as tricky in theatre as they are in football; and while Joe Hill-Gibbins's largely recast production of Middleton and Rowley's 1622 tragedy, which originall…
Britain's brightest talents were rewarded at a glitzy ceremony on Sunday. Great " but savage cuts are about to damage our theatre beyond recognition"Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" was …
While the glitterati assembled at the Savoy for the Evening Standard theatre awards, I was at London's Royal Court watching a fine cast give a brilliantly clear account of Arden's neglected …
Soho theatre, London"Can a story save a life?" That is the question posed at the start of this multi-authored show in which six writers adapt narratives from The 1001 Nights, in response to …
Orange Tree, RichmondWatching David Antrobus's rare and exhilarating revival of this early Ibsen play, written in 1862 when he was 34, I was reminded of another youthful work: Shakespeare's …
Olivier, LondonIt was originally to have been The Count of Monte Cristo in the Olivier this Yule but instead we get a revival of Pinero's 1885 farce. I have no complaints about that since I …
Trafalgar Studios, LondonAleksei Arbuzov's play, with its suggestion that the wartime siege of Leningrad emotionally devastated a whole generation, must have seemed daring in the Soviet Unio…
Apollo, London★★★★/★★★For those of us who favour good sightlines and acoustics, the transfer of these two productions from Shakespeare's Globe to th…
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Almeida, LondonPlays about poets are notoriously problematic. But Nick Dear overcomes the difficulties in this probing, intelligent piece about Edward Thomas, who produced a formidable body …
Cottesloe Theatre, LondonHow do you follow a big hit? Just as Jez Butterworth succeeded Jerusalem with the more modest The River, so Lucy Prebble follows her spectacular Enron with an intima…
Gate, LondonEuripides's great anti-war play has been constantly updated. But much as I relished the linguistic vigour and pugnacious wit of Caroline Bird's new version, descri…
Salisbury PlayhouseThis version of William Golding's 1964 novel confronts a subject from which the British theatre normally shies away in terror: the nature of religious faith. Although…
'Forget the single play " give me an entire oeuvre'Over the years, I've been to seasons of plays by Harold Pinter at the Gate theatre in Dublin, by Sarah Kane at Berlin's Schaubühne and, mo…
The Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonThis production of a Chinese classic has already caused controversy because only three actors out of a cast of 17 are of east Asian origin. But, although there a…
Lyttelton Theatre, LondonIn 1980 Alan Bennett wrote Enjoy, which showed a Leeds working-class house and its occupants being preserved as a museum exhibit.Now, in his mordantly funny new play…
St James, LondonJean Webster's 1912 novel about an orphan girl and her mysterious benefactor has cast a long shadow. It spawned a Broadway play and several movies, including one in which, ra…
Noel Coward, LondonYou could hardly have a greater contrast than between the stolid Uncle Vanya that has just opened at the Vaudeville and this mercurially brilliant import from Moscow's Vak…
Vaudeville, LondonHow do you play Anton Chekhov today? After the liberating unorthodoxy of the Young Vic's Three Sisters, we are back to normal with Lindsay Posner's production of Uncle Vany…
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonShakespeare's great revenge comedy gains immeasurably from being staged in modern dress. But, while other directors have opted for the materiali…
Royal Court, LondonLucy Kirkwood's new play is bright, sharp, funny and 80 minutes long. And, while one can never legislate for length, I found myself craving more: I wanted to see Kirkwood,…
From the Woman in Black to killers in thrillers, theatre has plenty of characters that shock " but it takes Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth to well and truly terrify ' Spoiler alert: this blog re…
Crucible, SheffieldShelagh Delaney's play, the work of an unknown working-class 18-year-old from Salford, was a big hit in 1958 and became a source of inspiration to a new generati…
Royal Court, LondonI spy a danger for the theatre in a new form of chic exclusivity. Because everyone wants to see Jez Butterworth's first new play since Jerusalem and because space is limit…
