Southwark Playhouse, LondonGreta Garbo and Sally Bowles stalk Thom Southerland's full-tilt production of the 1989 musicalAt Southwark Playhouse, Thom Southerland has done sterling work in to…
In nearly 20 years reviewing theatre for the Observer Susannah Clapp has seen 24 wildly different interpretations of Hamlet. Benedict Cumberbatch had many examples to study before offering h…
Almeida, LondonThere is tremor not terror " but tremendous acting " in James Macdonald's overly ingenious reworking of EuripidesOn the one hand Ben Whishaw. Wandlike " or thyrsos-like " sway…
Regent's Park Open Air theatre, LondonThere are beards and gingham and high kicks galore in Rachel Kavanaugh's pitch-perfect production Seven Brides for Seven Brothers could have been called…
Platform theatre, Central Saint Martins, LondonThis clever co-production of Stevenson's great story really is a tale of two halvesHow appearances can deceive. Jekyll and Hyde is an intriguin…
Home, ManchesterCharlotte Rampling collaborates in a scare-free adaptation of the fairytaleThis year's Manchester international festival has made striking tilts at fairytale and myths. Maxin…
Soho theatre, LondonAnders Lustgarten's stories of injustice, delivered as first-hand testimony, are powerful but ultimately improbableIt is not easy to cry in a small theatre, especially if…
Wyndham's, LondonNeither Stephen Merchant nor Steffan Rhodri can elevate Richard Bean's two-hander above the level of whimsyIt's as if you turned up to Centre Court and found yourself watchi…
Bristol Old VicOwen Sheers interviewed soldiers recently wounded in Afghanistan for his harrowing tale of young lives shattered by warPink mist is the spray of blood that hangs in the air wh…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterCaryl Churchill's doom-wreaking Skriker, created 20 years ago, proves to be a primary figure of modern theatreShe would not be welcome as a member of the Garrick Cl…
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonDominic Dromgoole's final staging as artistic director turns Shakespeare's troubling problem play into something close to jolly, and is all the bolder for itFive y…
Young Vic, LondonNick Gill's adaptation and Richard Jones direction conspire to flatten the novel's tension and mystery, though Rory Kinnear shines throughKafka said he wanted his work to be…
Royal Court, LondonDebbie Tucker Green directs her own intense crime and punishment dramaCataclysm in a small space. Explosion in lower case. Intensity and obliqueness are defining marks of …
Lyttelton, LondonAn ex-con struggles to go straight in a vibrant New York dramaThe design alone makes it worth the visit. Robert Jones's set declares the idiom of Stephen Adly Guirgis's 2011…
What's inherited, what's learned? The dialogue's salty and the performances finely tuned in Gary Owen's Royal Court debutViolence and Son by Gary Owen begins with an electronic sizzle. A boy…
Dorfman, London Fine performances add clout to Patrick Marber's changing-room three-handerIt is 20 years since Patrick Marber burst on to the stage of the National with his sharp-witted poke…
Former Fads shop, Archway Mall, LondonThree wordless studies of old men in a shop window make a surreal spectacle of ordinary lifeArtangel's new show could hardly have a more suitable settin…
Almeida, LondonAn exhilarating present-day reworking of Aeschylus gives free rein to female power"I felt so alive once I'd killed him." As the husband-slayer Clytemnestra, a magnificent Lia …
Theatre Royal Haymarket, LondonCooper's buzzy West End debut is impressive but performing without prostheses and makeup is both a considerable feat and a cop-outPeople have been hustling vig…
Old Vic; Lyttelton, both LondonVowel-torturing upper-class accents; ferocious feelings; a traditional scene performed in an abstract place. Thea Sharrock " who kick-started the Terence Ratti…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonAntonio and Bassanio are the revelation in Polly Findlay's RSC production Continue reading...
Donmar Warehouse, LondonSteve Waters's recasting of events surrounding the Occupy protests is scrupulously balanced but lacks animation Continue reading...
Royal Court; Old Red Lion; Regent's Park Open Air; Jellyfish theatre, all London
From David Tennant's sardonic and volatile performance to John Gielgud's choked-up ferocity, Susannah Clapp picks the 10 best portrayals of Hamlet
Can anyone fill the director's shoes at London's best off-West End theatre?