1,401 stories from theatrecat.com
A FERTILE DESPAIR This is two hours of  treasure. Barry Humphries of course always was one, in all his characters, and this time he puts on "the most subtle and intricate disguise"…
A CLASSIC OF POWER, PUZZLEMENT AND A DIFFICULT WOMAN     Sometimes less is more and understatement gives a show its sharpest edge. Which is not to suggest, perish t…
BEYOND THE JOKES, A WHIFF OF SULPHUR…     Danny Robins' funny, credible, sharp-tongued play pivots round four figures of central cultural importance to modern Bri…
RATHER LATE BUT WORTH IT….A FERTILE ARGUMENTÂ Forty years ago as a Today reporter I helped cover the first IVF baby , Louise Brown. A Scottish cardinal told me that it was si…
DRIPS 'N DRUGS 'N ROCK 'N ROLL… Â Â Alan Bennett may fear he is a national teddy bear these days, but the crafty old bugger still has a gnarled finger on the nation's trick…
A TREE, A TEENAGER, A FAMILY TRAGEDY This is billed for ten years old or more, and its protagonist is a boy of thirteen. But warned: this  Old Vic young adult su…
MARIA MARTEN STRIDES AGAIN: A WOMAN'S STORY   Founding this touring company 36 years ago, Ivan Cutting swore a great oath that one local story they wouldn't do …
FLUENT, FASCINATING,  FUN. FIVE!  This show has no right to be so much fun.  Over three hours, two intervals, three middle-aged blokes in black suits in a revol…
STRIDING OUT OF THE FRAME : A KICK-ASS HEROINE OF THEATRE Theatre owes a lot to Joan Littlewood: daughter of East End larkiness , music-hall jangle and tough 1930's socialism; idealis…
OH WHAT A TREAT… OI!        The sun has got his hat on, England's in the semi-final under a chap with a proper waistcoat, and Noel Gay's 1937 musical i…
CHARLOTTE VALORI FINDS SAND, SEA AND SERIOUSNESS AT BUXTON On his way home from victory at Troy, Cretan king Idomeneo's ship is caught in a dreadful storm. In desperation, he vows to Neptune…
CHARLOTTE VALORI UNCOVERS FORGOTTEN INCA GOLD WITH VERDI IN BUXTON Verdi's little-known opera about Peruvian Incas and Spanish conquistadors, Alzira, has finally received its UK premiere at …
A REVIVAL CRASHING WITH NEW LIFE AND ANCIENT DARKNESS A heatwave in festival season, everyone's muzzy yearning for greenwood misrule: it's perfect timing for the dangerous…
CRITIC AND HELLRAISER LUKE JONES WINCES AND LAUGHS … This is as violent as anything I've seen on the stage. And I'm including in this survey that Titus Andronicus at the Globe w…
A RISOTTO OF RESENTMENTS In some plays, you reach the interval not exactly dissatisfied but wondering "where is this going next? How will it knit up the ends.? So m…
MICHAEL ADAIRÂ SHUDDERS AT THE HARD OLD PATRIARCHY… 'These modern neurotic women, doctor. What are we going to do with them?' says one exasperated male character to another. H…
STRINDBERG MEETS STENHAM, BIRD MEETS BLENDER We're in a Hampstead mansion. The daughter of the house is whooping it up at her birthday party, a deafening, purple-lit rave where tight-…
THE RUMBUSTIOUS AFFAIR OF THE CLOGS IN THE NIGHT TIME Barrie Rutter and the Globe are made for each other:. Fresh out of his storming leadership (and frequent personal performa…
A WRITER, A MOTHER, A LIFE The elegant new Bridge continues to demonstrate – firmly " that it is uniquely versatile. After one traditional tragicomedy (Young Marx) we had a swir…
LUKE JONES REVELS Â IN VIOLENCE, CHILL, NIGHTMARE..AND GREAT DIALOGUE Orlando Bloom – denim, cowboy hat, slicked back hair, twinkling grimace – is as chilled out as a ma…
A TAPESTRY OF HOPE Â Â Â Â Â Lady Anne Tree was the Duke of Devonshire's daughter, sister in law of Kathleen Kennedy and Debo Mitford: Â grand as they come. Â…
THE EDUCATION JUNGLE    A late catch-up for this short tour from Theatre Royal York: but blimey, well worth it. sA drawing-room drama of manners with deep, tangled …
SORROW AND SPLENDOUR IN WORDS THAT SING The first act of Brian Friel's great play ends with a shout of "bloody, bloody, bloody marvellous!". And so it bloody well is, this comi…
LUKE JONES FALLS FOR TINKERBELL… Peter Pan has now flown into every medium possible. He is a play, novel, pantomime, musical, television programme, cartoon and a Kate Bush single. This…
MULTINATIONAL MENACE It is always a dilemma, for those of us who despise star-ratings as a measuring device, when a 90 minute play seems set fair to earn three, or three-and-a-bit, tr…
