All stories by Heather Neill on BroadwayStars

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Red Pitch, @sohoplace review - the ebullient tale of teenage footballers gets a rollicking transfer by Heather Neill

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…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:48PM
Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Enfield Haunting, Ambassador's Theatre review - muddled revisiting of famous paranormal events by Heather Neill

Poltergeist activity in the suburbs remains earth-bound Reports of supernatural events are always met with either willing belief or dismissive scepticism. The "camps" generally don't have mu…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:42PM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

The Homecoming, Young Vic Theatre review - Pinter's disturbing masterpiece is given a low-key revival by Heather Neill

Unsettling investigation of patriarchal family and sexual relationships has uneven force As the audience enters, thick mist envelopes the thrust stage and jazz music fills the theatre. The s…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:54PM
Wednesday, November 22, 2023

She Stoops to Conquer, Orange Tree Theatre review - much-loved classic rumbustiously updated by Heather Neill

A familiar comedy provides Jeeves-and-Wooster period Christmas fun Oliver Goldsmith was a literary all-rounder - novelist, poet and playwright - remembered chiefly for one example of each di…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:32PM
Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Private Lives, Ambassador's Theatre review - classy revival lacking physical excess by Heather Neill

Mature actors bring style and poignancy to Coward's brittle comedy There is a grainy piece of black and white film on YouTube featuring Noel Coward as the celebrity guest on a 1964 edition …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:25PM
Thursday, February 9, 2023

The Lehman Trilogy, Gillian Lynne Theatre review - a modern classic exuberantly revived by Heather Neill

The story of an immigrant family's contribution to American capitalism is still captivating The frantic world of finance moves fast, its giddy successes and thundering crashes causing ripple…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:10PM
Thursday, December 15, 2022

As You Like It, @sohoplace review - music-filled, warm-hearted celebration by Heather Neill

The first home-grown offering at this impressive new space is a playful paean to theatre The scene is set onstage in the first minutes. And it remains a stage throughout this harmonious prod…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:02PM
Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Antigone, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - Sophocles rewritten with purpose and panache by Heather Neill

Inua Ellams adds contemporary political thrust to a well-loved classic Antigone, the forceful young woman who takes on the male establishment, has long resonated with idealists; Sophocles' p…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:37PM
Thursday, May 19, 2022

The Father and the Assassin, National Theatre review - Gandhi's killer puts his case in a bold, whirlwind production by Heather Neill

Anupama Chandrasekhar argues, with humour and invention, against political extremism The young Indian man stepping towards us on the vast Olivier stage is unremarkable enough, slight and boy…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:48PM
Monday, October 4, 2021

Hamlet, Young Vic review - Cush Jumbo flares in a low-key production by Heather Neill

Youthful Elsinore reflects life in present-day London It is a truism that every Hamlet is different, depending more than any other play on the casting of the lead. Each production moulds it…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:42PM
Thursday, September 30, 2021

Witness for the Prosecution, London County Hall review - return of Agatha Christie's gripping courtroom drama by Heather Neill

This serpentine classic is perfectly placed in every sense Lucy Bailey's production of Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, first staged at County Hall in 2017, has a few years to make up…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:03PM
Friday, July 9, 2021

The Dumb Waiter, Old Vic: in Camera theatre review - Pinter's two-hander more in sorrow than in anger by Heather Neill

Thoughtful and funny revival of a familiar classic Pinter wrote The Dumb Waiter in 1957 (although it wasn't seen in London until 1960) the year before The Birthday Party received its notorio…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:18PM
Sunday, May 16, 2021

Romeo and Juliet, Creation Theatre online review - game version falls between stools by Heather Neill

Live performance, film and digital play combine in this misfired interactive experience There is a promising production struggling to get out of this muddled concept. Creation Theatre (here …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:33PM
Sunday, April 4, 2021

Romeo and Juliet, National Theatre online review - a triumphant hybrid by Heather Neill

Simon Godwin's debut film is part dressed-down rehearsal, part cinematic flourish Shakespeare's enduring tale of star-crossed lovers is especially pertinent in a pandemic. The fatal plot twi…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:42PM
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Romeo and Juliet online review - futuristic and timely by Heather Neill

Innovative technology places actors virtually in the Palace Theatre, Manchester The story of Romeo and Juliet is well known, worth revisiting endlessly and always relevant. But there is anot…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:32PM
Sunday, January 31, 2021

Love in a Wood, Jermyn Street Theatre review - stars gather remotely for a lively online presentation by Heather Neill

Free reading for charity of Wycherley's first Restoration comedy Swaggering rakes, posturing fops, sexual intrigue, illicit encounters, wit, artifice, wigs, fans and beauty spots - these ar…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:54PM
Tuesday, June 16, 2020

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Globe online review - a seasonal treat by Heather Neill

Michelle Terry, John Light and Pearce Quigley lead an inventive cast relishing the comic potential of the Elizabethan stage What could be better for a lockdown summer night "out" than a virt…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:42AM
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Nora: A Doll's House, Young Vic review - Ibsen diced, sliced and reinvented with poetic precision by Heather Neill

Stef Smith brings exhilarating spirit to a familiar classic Ibsen's Nora slammed the door on her infantilising marriage in 1879 but the sound of it has continued to reverberate down the year…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:12PM
Wednesday, December 11, 2019

The Duchess of Malfi, Almeida Theatre review - a radically original perspective on Webster's tragedy by Heather Neill

Rebecca Frecknall directs a production which ultimately finds its heart This play can be a challenge for modern audiences: a woman who is ostensibly in a position of power, "a prince" in Ren…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:33AM
Wednesday, December 4, 2019

A Christmas Carol, Old Vic Theatre review - the festive favourite mixes gloom with merriment by Heather Neill

A vigorous Paterson Joseph meets the Christmas spirits "Dickensian" commonly means both sentimental Victorian, apple-cheeked family perfection (especially at Christmas) and abject poverty. …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48PM
Friday, November 29, 2019

The Wind of Heaven, Finborough Theatre review - a welcome, if strange, Emlyn Williams rediscovery by Heather Neill

Welsh parable of the second coming makes unusual seasonal fare This is the third Emlyn Williams piece to be presented here in a decade: The Druid's Rest in 2009 was followed by the enormous …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:18PM
Friday, November 8, 2019

The Taming of the Shrew, Barbican review - different but still problematic by Heather Neill

Gender changes provide a new perspective on the balance of power This is one play by Shakespeare ripe for tinkering. It's well nigh impossible now to take it at face value and still find rom…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48AM
Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Ian McKellen on stage, Harold Pinter Theatre review - a master relishes the joy of theatre by Heather Neill

Communicator par excellence on a journey from Gandalf to Macbeth via panto, Coronation Street and gender politics Reviewing Ian McKellen's show is, in one sense, like appraising the Taj Maha…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:03PM
Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Blood Wedding, Young Vic review - inventive, poetic if over-stretched revival of Lorca's rural tragedy by Heather Neill

The Spanish classic with an Irish accent Earthiness, lyricism, fatalism, the undeniable force of passion, of ecstatic attraction, known as "duende": these are the familiar ingredients of Lor…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:18PM
Wednesday, September 11, 2019

A Doll's House, Lyric Hammersmith review - Ibsen tellingly transposed to colonial India by Heather Neill

Tanika Gupta's layered version launches a new era Newly arrived from a much-lauded stint at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Rachel O'Riordan has undertaken to make "work of scale by women" du…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:54PM
Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The Girl on the Train, Duke of York's Theatre review - boozy psycho-thriller rolls clunkily into town by Heather Neill

Samantha Womack lurches valiantly through this scarcely credible crime drama It may help if you love the book. It was a runaway bestseller, so fans must be legion, but a suspenseful story wh…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:18PM
Saturday, July 13, 2019

theartsdesk Q&A: Lia Williams on the challenges of theatre by Heather Neill

As The Night of the Iguana opens, the actor renowned for playing dual roles talks Tennessee Williams, Pinter - and Wallis Simpson Lia Williams is not an actor who looks for easy options. Twi…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:24PM
Thursday, May 16, 2019

Henry IV Parts 1 & 2/Henry V, Shakespeare's Globe review - helter-skelter ensemble history trilogy by Heather Neill and David Nice

Doubling, humour and an outstanding female Henry V Henry IV Part One (***)

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:48AM
Thursday, May 9, 2019

Death of a Salesman, Young Vic review - new-minted revival of a masterpiece by Heather Neill

Arthur Miller's tragedy from an African-American viewpoint The Young Vic, a welcoming theatre with a culturally diverse audience, has been home to memorable Miller revivals before, notably I…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:42PM
Friday, April 26, 2019

theartsdesk Q&A: William Nicholson by Heather Neill

The Shadowlands playwright talks about C S Lewis, love, pain and being a writer It is 30 years since Shadowlands, William Nicholson's much-loved play about C S Lewis's unexpected love affair…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:59PM
Monday, March 25, 2019

Mary's Babies, Jermyn Street Theatre review - rollercoaster investigation of the results of early fertility treatment by Heather Neill

Two-hander provides multifarious acting opportunities but insufficient focus Obstetrician Dr Mary Barton had the best of intentions. As a missionary in India she had observed the poor treatm…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:45PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards