2,444 stories by "Michael Billington"
Noel Coward, London1956 was a momentous year: the Suez crisis, the Hungarian revolution, Khruschev's denuniciation of Stalin. But it was also a time of cultural upheaval, and this exuberantl…
Jermyn Street, LondonLong before it became trendy to attack celebrity culture, Alan Ayckbourn satirised it brilliantly in his 1988 Man of the Moment. He returned to the theme in this play, w…
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonTheatre can offer many things: entertainment, enlightenment, ecstasy. But this strange show is something else: theatre as therapy. In the first half Ruby Wax,…
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Olivier Theatre, LondonForget Boris Karloff with a bolt through his neck. Forget even Peter Boyle as the new, improved monster singing Puttin' On The Ritz in the Mel Brooks pastiche. What yo…
'Keep off the stage when you're on duty'"Imprisoned in every fat man," Cyril Connolly once wrote, "a thin man is wildly signalling to be let out." And inside every critic, it seems, lurks a …
Donmar, LondonGiven the Donmar's exemplary musical track record, it is a bit of a shock to find them importing this flimsy, vacuous diversion. Like Grease and Legally Blonde, it has a vaguel…
Royal Court, LondonOne of the virtues of the Royal Court's International Playwrights Season is that it brings us news from abroad. And this intriguing 90-minute play by Pedro Miguel Rozo, se…
Barbican, LondonRobert Lepage made his name internationally with The Dragons' Trilogy, created in 1985. Now he returns to the subject of the cultural collision of east and west in what he ca…
Crucible, SheffieldDavid Hare's play gets richer with time. Acclaimed in 1990 for its accurate portrait of a Church of England in crisis, it now seems a perfect metaphor for British ins…
Jerwood Vanbrugh, LondonA special fascination attaches to the early work of celebrated dramatists: you invariably get a first sketch of their lifelong obsessions. This youthful Noël …
Print Room, London"Can't a ghost story reveal insights into human nature?" Alan Ayckbourn asked before this play's 2002 Scarborough premiere. The answer is that of course it can: one has onl…
Orange Tree, RichmondNo one could accuse this theatre of ducking the Arab-Israeli conflict. A year ago it staged an absorbing play, Ben Brown's The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration of …
Royal Court, LondonClimate change drama is the new growth industry. But, while the National's Greenland is entirely issue-driven, Richard Bean's new play uses characters to explore ideas. Th…
Comedy Theatre, LondonThere's only one question to which everyone wants the answer: can Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss cut the mustard? The short answer is that they prove as potent a co…
Crucible Studio, SheffieldA three-play David Hare season kicks off with a revival of his 1978 study of the lies and disappointments of the postwar world. And, even if I'd like to see the pla…
Young Vic, LondonWhen it first appeared in 2007 Tanya Ronder's adaptation of DBC Pierre's prize-winning novel was somewhat overshadowed by a shooting on a Virginia campus which eerily echoed…
List of contenders accurately reflects the dominance last year of acting and directing over new writingNo great shocks in the list of this year's Olivier award nominees: it reflects, pretty …
Finborough, LondonThis is a rediscovery: a 1950 play by Emlyn Williams that provides an exciting suspense-drama, a portrait of the Jekyll-and-Hyde existence of a successful novelist and a me…
The Gallery Soho, LondonIt makes total sense to present Neil LaBute's 10-year-old play in a chic Charing Cross Road gallery. His theme is the nature of art and the moral responsibility of th…
Lyttelton, LondonHow on earth do you dramatise climate change? The best answer so far was Steve Waters' double bill, The Contingency Plan, which approached the vast topic through personal re…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterSchool plays are all the rage. Vivienne Franzmann's piece, joint winner of the 2008 Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, anticipated the vogue in its exploration of t…
High ticket prices are fuelling this rise in box-office takings, and London theatre can't just rely on spin-offs and musicalsI'm always cheered when the theatre is doing well. And, on the su…
King's Head, LondonMatthew Bugg has written the book and lyrics, composed the score and also directed this late-night chamber musical. While I admire his energy, I wish he could have found a…
Bush, LondonSteve Waters was the first dramatist to comprehensively tackle global warming with The Contingency Plan. He is now ahead of the pack in confronting the subject of so-called "free…
