★★★★ AN ACTOR CONVALESCING IN DEVON, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Paul Jesson finds considerable poignancy in Richard Nelson's bespoke play Fact lightly repackaged as fiction…
Philippa Gregory's first play tries to exonerate Richard III, with mixed results History is very present in Philippa Gregory's new play about Richard III. Literally - History is a character,…
Latest from American penman Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is less than the sum of its parts I've never been one for school reunions, but even if I had kept in touch with former classmates I think …
Ian McKellen's Falstaff thrives in Robert Icke's entertaining remix of the Henry IV plays Shakespeare's plays have ever been meat for masher-uppers, from the bowdlerising Victorians to the m…
★★★★ CASSIE AND THE LIGHTS, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Warm, funny and moving ensemble play about three sisters finding a way to live Heart-rending chronicle of difficult, d…
Dominic Dromgoole directs UK premiere of Paul Grellong play, wit Julian Ovenden, 2024 Olivier nominee Giles Terera, and Michael Benz
Paul Grellong play delivers in its final passages The Menier Chocolate Factory has made something of a habit of late out of trawling unexpected corners of the contemporary American…
A five-women team spell out a feminist message with humour and strong singing Many an Edinburgh Fringe transfer has struggled when it moves to the big city, but the Dirty Hare company's Gunt…
Olivier Award-winner Paul Jesson explains how Richard Nelson came to write a solo play for him In September 2022 I had an email from my American friend Richard Nelson: "Would you like me to…
Gemma Whelan discovers a mean streak under Charlotte's respectable bonnet The Brontë sisters and their ne'er-do-well brother will always make good copy. The brilliance of the women constr…
Patricia Clarkson powers the latest iteration of this great, grievous American drama Memory is a confounding thing. By way of proof, just ask the Mary Tyrone who is being given unforgettable…
Sheridan Smith gives it her all against near-impossible odds Is there a more purely likeable actress than Sheridan Smith, the performer who was still a teenager when she stole the show at t…
Awkward mix of knockabout laughs, heartfelt tribute and feminist messaging never quite settles There are genres of theatre that demand buy-in from the audience " musicals, opera and the…
Greg Hicks shines as Dostoevsky's defiantly optimistic dreamer Like all great literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky's final, eccentric, playfully wondrous short story seems to have been written just…
It's a great song and dance evening, but the story is an empty one In a secret chamber somewhere, the producers of MJ the Musical may be keeping a portrait of the King of Pop that has ac…
'Gunter' co-creator and historian connects a 1604 witch hit to the world today I first read Anne Gunter's story about five years ago, when I was in my first year of university at Oxford, lit…
★★★★ FOAM, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Skinhead finds his feet (in a pair of DMs) then leads double life as street thug and gay cruiser Infamous neo-Nazi brought to life in co…
The author of 'Power of Sail' sets the scene for his play's UK premiere I'm writing this in the lobby of the Menier Chocolate Factory a couple of hours before the first preview. I was last …
Director Rachel O'Riordan finds lighter moments in a tale of grief Brian Friel's Faith Healer isn't noted for its laughs, but Rachel O'Riordan has found more than most directors do in this …
Focused on young life in south London, this hit is as energetic and joyful as ever The reviews of Tyrell Williams' debut play on its first and second outings at the Bush Theatre were univer…
THISISPOPBABY serves up a joyous tapestry of Ireland contemporary and traditional In what feels like the beginning, or at least the Old Testament, there was Riverdance. Now, ready to flow th…
Billy Crudup essays multiple characters as a fake Englishman abroad Is it just coincidence, or something about the post-Covid theatrical landscape, that one-person shows are becoming commonp…
Trevor Nunn, age 84, makes a blinding return to form "We all live here in peace and friendship," notes Telegin (David Ahmad), otherwise known as Waffles, early in Uncle Vanya, to which one …
Ryan Calais Cameron brilliantly uses storytelling, music and verse When For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy first moved to the West End in 2023, it felt…
Roy Williams and Ebenezer Bamgboye skilfully bring Sam Selvon's novel to the stage Sam Selvon's 1956 novel about a flotilla of Caribbean migrants who came to London filled with expectations …