2,436 stories by "Michael Billington"
Donmar Warehouse, London"How can you bear another Lear?" someone asked me over lunch. And, if one's honest, there are times when Mount Lear, as a critic once called it, can seem as daun…
Finborough, LondonAt this time of year, the name of JM Barrie usually means one thing: Peter Pan. But, with characteristic audacity, the Finborough has chosen to revive this 1902 Regency-set…
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonIt's good that the Lyric is elastic enough to switch from Blasted one month to panto the next. But, while director Steve Marmion and his team have created a raucousl…
Roundhouse, LondonRupert Goold's sensational production of this problematic play sails into London from Stratford with all guns blazing. Signalling the start of a five-year partnership …
Cottesloe, LondonThe dedicatedly avant-garde Katie Mitchell astonished many last year with her playful production of The Cat in the Hat. Now she has directed and co-devised, with writer Lucy…
Young Vic, LondonDavid Almond's Skellig provided the Young Vic with one of its biggest Christmas hits in 2003. Now Almond is back with a charming, gently optimistic fable about human longing…
Trafalgar Studios, LondonThe Donmar's West End season is driven by the desire to promote young directors, and it has an excellent one in Chris Rolls. He has grasped the key point that this 1…
Royal Court, LondonThe myth of childhood innocence is under sustained attack at the Royal Court. After Polly Stenham's Tusk Tusk and Anya Reiss's Spur of the Moment, we now have a disturbing…
A number of productions are dragging British theatre away from the grip of realism " with sensational results"Expressionist" is one of those handy terms that we critics use rather promiscuou…
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonIllusionist Paul Kieve is the invisible genius of British theatre. You may not know the name, but he has supplied the tricks for scores of plays and musicals …
The renovation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's main theatre in Stratford brings the audience closer to the actors. The big question is whether it will help them hearLike Jonathan Glancey,…
Trafalgar Studios, LondonUnless they have some radical new information to impart, I could happily accept a moratorium on all bio-plays about Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Maria Callas. Th…
Almeida, LondonIbsen's weird, autobiographical 1892 play gets a radical makeover at the Almeida. Out go the oppressive furniture, the frock coats and even the statutory intervals. Instead we…
Young Vic, LondonWe have not been starved of productions of Tennessee Williams's famous autobiographical play. What makes this version, directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins, unusual is its fidelity …
Olivier, London"Who here has ever been to jail?" asks the eponymous hero of this frenetic musical. It is not a question often asked of National Theatre audiences, but it is indicative of a s…
Orange Tree, RichmondAs a writer-director, Tim Luscombe doesn't shirk the big subjects. His last play, The Schuman Plan, dealt with the European federal dream. His new one tackles both Formu…
Shakespeare's Globe, London Continue reading...
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Royal Court, London Continue reading...
Cottesloe, London1,600 Jews were massacred in the small Polish town of Jedwabne in the summer of 1941. Such is the starting-point for this play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek which follows recent r…
Noel Coward, London Continue reading...
Courtyard, Stratford-upon-Avon Continue reading...
Old Vic, London· Mamet in pictures· Quiz: do you know your Mamet? Continue reading...
Young Vic, LondonPeople leapt to their feet at the end of this show as if we were in America, which is appropriate since Tarell Alvin McCraney's play has been a big hit at New York's Public …
