All stories by Helen Hawkins on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 22, 2024

Faith Healer, Lyric Hammersmith review - Brian Friel's masterpiece works its magic again by Helen Hawkins

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…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48AM
Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Human Body, Donmar Warehouse review - Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport excel in an intriguing staging by Helen Hawkins

Lucy Kirkwood’s latest mixes the birth of the NHS with a Brief Encounter-ish romance Keeley Hawes onstage is something to look forward to, so rare are her appearances there. In Lucy Kirk…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:02AM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Cable Street, Southwark Playhouse review - engaging new musical in an impressive staging by Helen Hawkins

The rise of fascism in the 1930s East End is given a human face Hot on the heels of Brigid Larmour’s updating of The Merchant of Venice to the East End in 1936, a spirited new musical acr…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:48AM
Sunday, February 25, 2024

The Merchant of Venice 1936, Criterion Theatre review - radical revamp with a passionate agenda by Helen Hawkins

Tracy-Ann Oberman turns Shylock into a heroic Jewish anti-fascist It’s an unhappy time to be staging Shakespeare’s problematic play, given its antisemitic content, so hats off to adaptor…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48PM
Friday, February 23, 2024

Hir, Park Theatre review - incendiary production for Taylor Mac's rich absurdist family drama by Helen Hawkins

Felicity Huffman, heading a superb cast, is a force of nature In 2017, two years after Hir premiered, Taylor Mac was awarded a “Genius Grant” and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for drama…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:24AM
Saturday, February 17, 2024

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - inventive rollercoaster of a revamp by Helen Hawkins

Sarah Snook gives a virtuoso performance amid a dazzling display of tech wizardry Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novella The Picture of Dorian Gray has given the world a trope built for flattery, alon…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:42PM
Thursday, February 8, 2024

Fascinating Aida, London Palladium review - celebrating 40 glorious years of filth and defiance by Helen Hawkins

Age has not withered one jot the FAs' fury at the absurdities of modern life You don’t expect a couple of septuagenarian contraltos, aided by a spring chicken of a soprano in her fifties,…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:32PM
Saturday, February 3, 2024

A Mirror, Trafalgar Theatre review - puzzle play with an empty core by Helen Hawkins

Ingenious twists can't give Sam Holcroft's play a vital sense of danger Take dollops of Orwell and Kafka, with a sprinkling of Pirandello for a lighter texture, then bake. That could be the …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:06AM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The King and I, Dominion Theatre review - welcome return for the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic by Helen Hawkins

Bartlett Sher's intelligent reading is gorgeously staged and winningly performed The giant crinolines are back, and the winsome little royal children with miniature temples on their heads, a…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:02PM
Friday, January 26, 2024

Northanger Abbey, Orange Tree Theatre review - larky retelling of Austen’s satire with a poignant core by Helen Hawkins

Zoe Cooper's queer reading is a tonic: clever, funny and seriously silly What Zoe Cooper has concocted in her loving rewiring of Jane Austen’s first completed novel looks at first sight li…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:06AM
Saturday, December 23, 2023

This Much I Know, Hampstead Theatre review - an intellectual game with a slight emotional payload by Helen Hawkins

Jonathan Spector is a Stoppard fan, but might Mamet have been better? How do you make a play out of Stalin’s defecting daughter Svetlana, the psycho-economic theories of Daniel Kahneman an…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:12AM
Sunday, December 17, 2023

The House with Chicken Legs, Queen Elizabeth Hall review - a potential charmer swamped by its setting by Helen Hawkins

Les Enfants Terribles can't work their usual magic at the QEH There are probably two distinct audiences for the latest adaptation from Les Enfants Terribles, The House with Chicken Legs: the…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:24PM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Ulster American, Riverside Studios review - knockabout comedy with an acid bite by Helen Hawkins

Monsters of ego clash in David Ireland's demolition of posturing theatre types David Ireland’s Edinburgh Fringe hit Ulster American is essentially a play about a play that a Hollywood big…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:24PM

Cold War, Almeida Theatre review - compelling bittersweet tale of love in post-war Europe by Helen Hawkins

Beautiful Elvis Costello songs and stirring music underpin a fine adaptation There’s a touch of Dr Zhivago about director Paweł Pawlikowski’s screenplay for his 2018 film Cold War. Its…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:24AM
Monday, December 4, 2023

Dreaming and Drowning, Bush Theatre - dense and intense monologue about Black queer identity by Helen Hawkins

Terrific showcase for writer-director Kwame Owusu and his performer Kwame Owusu’s 55-minute one-hander does just what it says on the tin: it features a young student who dreams he is drow…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:36PM
Sunday, December 3, 2023

Infinite Life, National Theatre review - beguiling new comedy about a world of pain by Helen Hawkins

Annie Baker delivers a richly satisfying piece about hungry women A sun deck with seven pale-green padded loungers is the latest setting for the latest National Theatre premiere from Ameri…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:24AM
Friday, December 1, 2023

Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Lyric Theatre review - adult panto delivered as jolly chaos by Helen Hawkins

Mischief Theatre’s sight gags are faultlessly timed, though the verbals need a trim Mischief Theatre set themselves a big challenge when they evolved their brand of knowing slapstick. And…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:18AM
Thursday, October 26, 2023

Clyde's, Donmar Warehouse review - high-octane comedy with a soft-centre by Helen Hawkins

Lynn Nottage and Lynette Linton reunite to deliver a rollicking evening Lynn Nottage’s second London opening this year, the Donmar premiere of Clyde’s, is a comedy about a sandwich, the…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:04AM
Tuesday, October 24, 2023

The Confessions, National Theatre review - rich mix of the personal and the epic by Helen Hawkins

Alexander Zeldin creates a complex portrait of a woman's struggle for self-esteem How to describe Alexander Zeldin’s latest, The Confessions? It is almost a kitchen-sink drama, but also a …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:37PM
Friday, October 20, 2023

Dear England, Prince Edward Theatre review - still a winner in its new West End home by Helen Hawkins

James Graham's play works like a big joke that a whole nation is in on It was interesting, in the same week that the England football team trounced Italy 3-1 in a Euros qualifier, to see Dea…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:25PM
Thursday, October 19, 2023

Meetings, Orange Tree Theatre review - three-hander that chews on big issues by Helen Hawkins

Mustapha Matura's 1981 play set in modern Trinidad is superbly served up Mustapha Matura’s 1981 play, Meetings, is still a knockout. Supply the characters with mobile phones and it could …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:33PM

Hamnet, Garrick Theatre review - conventional adaptation of the bestseller drains its poetry away by Helen Hawkins

Maggie O'Farrell's inventive retelling of the Shakespeares' love story needs a more inventive production The RSC apparently has a hit on its hands with its West End transfer of Hamnet. Box o…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:49AM
Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, Gielgud Theatre review - exuberant gala of nonstop virtuosity by Helen Hawkins

Big Broadway show with a pleasing British accent The Sondheim gala show Old Friends is a must for fans of the master, naturally, but its quality would knock anybody who loves musical theatre…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:25PM
Friday, September 29, 2023

Close-Up: The Twiggy Musical, Menier Chocolate Factory review - a tourist's view of a Sixties icon by Helen Hawkins

Ben Elton has written an odd musical-documentary, part comic-strip, part lecture The Biba dresses are way too colourful, the shop’s interior about 10 times too bright… and did anybody re…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:55AM
Friday, September 22, 2023

It's Headed Straight Towards Us, Park Theatre review - indigestible mix of fact and fiction by Helen Hawkins

Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer have muddled aims for a tale of warring actors An impressive performance by Samuel West as one of two warring hams stuck on-set in a trailer over a not-so-d…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:55AM

Mlima's Tale, Kiln Theatre review - simple, powerful tale about the rape of Africa by Helen Hawkins

Lynn Nottage’s 2018 play gets an exquisite staging with moving performances The work of the double Pulitzer-winning Black American dramatist Lynn Nottage has thankfully become a fixture in…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:49AM
Saturday, September 16, 2023

The Old Man and the Pool, Wyndham's Theatre - Mike Birbiglia makes a big splash by Helen Hawkins

The affable American humourist proves death becomes him Few comedians are such good company that you never want them to stop. The young Billy Connolly was one such; affable American Mike Bi…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:55AM
Saturday, September 9, 2023

God of Carnage, Lyric Hammersmith review - a dark piece is lightened with slapstick by Helen Hawkins

Yasmin Reza's savage study of the middle-classes becomes a farce lacking in danger Yasmin Reza’s God of Carnage (2008), like her British megahit, 1994’s ART, is not strictly a comedy. Th…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:19AM
Thursday, August 31, 2023

Next to Normal, Donmar Warehouse review - terrific cast in a punchy musical by Helen Hawkins

Twin miseries of bipolar disorder and grief are given an unusual treatment The journey from off-Broadway to central London has taken 15 years, but the multi-award-winning musical Next to N…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:19PM
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

The Odyssey: The Underworld, National Theatre review - community effort with real heart and a great staging by Helen Hawkins

The Public Acts project creates a model mix of high and low for a modern ensemble One of the great wonders of Western literary history is one of the earliest, Homer’s The Odyssey, an epic …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:55AM
Saturday, July 22, 2023

Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors, National Theatre review - verbatim theatre delivered to wrenching effect by Helen Hawkins

Gillian Slovo's incendiary play points a finger at the bureaucrats at the heart of the tragedy The shadow of Grenfell Tower has already produced Nick Kent and Richard Norton-Taylor’s dispa…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:04AM

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