This Verity Bargate Award-winning dramedy is both entertaining as well as thought provoking Niall is unwell. Very unwell. Very, very. There’s a lot going on in his head. He can’t really…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:18PMKatherine Moar returns with a Patty Hearst-inspired follow up to her debut hit Farm Hall Oh yes, I actually do remember Patty Hearst. She was the American publishing magnate William Randolp…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:54AMWest End transfer of National Theatre hit extravaganza stars Stephen Fry and Olly Alexander Star casting has, since the pandemic, done much to restore the fortunes of commercial theatre. An…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:54AMLively star-led revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 debut is fun, but raises uncomfortable questions Playwright Joe Orton was a merry prankster. His main work — such as Loot (1965) and What the…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:02PMAlice Birch’s latest is a wildly epic family drama that is both mind-blowing and exasperating OMG! I mean OMG doubled!! This is amazing! Or is it? Can Alice Birch’s Romans: A Novel at …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:48PMExperimental work about nature led by Katie Mitchell is both extraordinary and banal I love irony. Especially beautiful irony. So I’m very excited about the ironic gesture of staging a sh…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:02AMStaging of Ukrainian-American Ilya Kaminsky’s anti-war poems is too meta-theatrical The Ukraine war is not the only place of horror in the world, but it does present a challenge to theatr…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:02PMThrilling revival of Philip Ridley’s cult classic confirms its legendary status Ever wondered if there was one moment when in-yer-face theatre started? Well, yes there was; there was one …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:06PMMike Bartlett’s new state-of-the-agricultural-nation play is beautifully performed Playwright Mike Bartlett is, like many writers, a chronicler of both contemporary manners and of the stat…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:36PMSuzie Miller’s follow up to her massive hit Prima Facie stars Rosamund Pike Rosamund Pike is back. For her first stage appearance since 2010, when she played Hedda Gabler in Adrian Noble�…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:06PMComedy debut stars Adeel Akhtar, but is an awkward mix of the personal and the political The first rule for brown people, says the main character – played by BAFTA-winner Adeel Akhtar –…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:54AMChloë Moss’s latest play about the different lives of two sisters is deeply felt Near the start of Chloë Moss’s latest play, Run Sister Run, one character tells his wife to “Calm yo…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:18PMSarah Kane’s exceptionally groundbreaking play gets a nostalgic anniversary reboot Sarah Kane is the most celebrated new writer of the 1990s. Her work is provocative and innovative. So it…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:42AMNew play about loss, love, grief and gardening is humane, but flawed The Bush Theatre is becoming a garden centre. Earlier this year, the venue staged Coral Wylie’s Lavender, Hyacint…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:42AMNew play about two sisters, death and hoarding is well written, but feels incomplete “They fuck you up your Mum and Dad; they may not mean to, but they do.” These lines from Philip Lar…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:03PMNew play about a sibling’s death is well imagined and deeply felt, but a bit slender The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. Or words to that…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:12PMAfter his Olivier Award win for Oedipus, Robert Icke turns to a modern “monster” Are we really in “a new era of male anger, societal discontent and rage”? This is what Royal Court ar…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:54AMIonesco classic gets an entertainingly vivid and contemporary update Is the theatre of the absurd dead? In today’s world, when cruel and crazy events happen almost daily, the idea that yo…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:06PMNew play about motherhood and vampirism is disappointingly incoherent Motherhood is a high stress job. Ask any woman and they will tell you the same: sleepless nights, feeding problems and …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:36PMApril De Angelis’s 1993 play is a delightful if sketchy account of Restoration female actors Creatives — or creatures? In the 1660s, women — having been banned from working as actors …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:06PMNew play about the game of Dungeons & Dragons explores fact and fantasy “The exercise of fantasy is to imagine other ways of life,” says one of the role-players during a Dungeons &a…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:06PMThe Guyanese migrant experience of 1970s London gets the big-stage treatment Plays about the Windrush Generation are no longer a rarity, but it’s still unusual for revivals of black Briti…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:12AMGaza play is both surreally humorous and finally devastating The war in Gaza has been going since 7 October 2023 — that’s about 15 months. But it’s strangely absent from British stage…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:12PMHouse of Cards writer tackles AI and religion, but without the necessary clarity Our humanity is defined not only by our use of language, but also by our sense of the spiritual. Whether you…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:06PMNew West End drama about spicing up marriage is oddly lacking in passion Since when has new writing become so passionless? Mike Bartlett is one of the country’s premiere playwrights and h…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:18PMA new sci-fi gothic horror about life after death is intriguing, but flawed I always advocate in favour of more sci-fi plays, and over the past decade there have been a gratifying number of …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:18PMHoward Brenton’s new play about Winston and Stalin is both intelligent and fun Playwrights who work for decades often acquire a moniker. In the case of Howard Brenton, who began his caree…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:36AMNew play about mental breakdown is a mix of acute distress and poetic writing In a world tainted with racism and homophobia, the Bush theatre is something of a refuge from prejudice. As one …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:54PMSouth African satire about racism, sexism, home ownership and community politics Most Brits don’t know much about South Africa today, but we do know about house values, so this new comedy…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:06PMTom Stoppard’s classic evocation of Victorian golden age Oxford stars Simon Russell Beale Can men really love each other — without sex? Or, to put it another way, how many different form…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:02PMGig theatre piece about the pain and redemption of a pioneer reggae artist I live in Brixton, south London. To get to the tube, I have to cross Windrush Square. Since 2021, I go past the Ch…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:36PM
