In the run-up to the festival, our writers will choose new productions that have caught their eye – but here’s a selection of those we’ve already reviewed Richard Marsh has clearly see…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AMShakespeare’s Globe, LondonThis bright, bold show tries to balance humour and darkness but tends to land on the silly side of things Michelle Terry’s Puck is an agent of chaos. She slink…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AMTheatre Royal BrightonSearing collection of diary excerpts, brought to life by prominent queer voices, recalls the devastation of Aids with fury and frankness A mesmeric reckoning with the d…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AMSouthwark Playhouse, LondonMaltese duo use firsthand interviews – and warm humour – to highlight the lack of reproductive rights on the island When Marta Vella says “I love Malta” th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMSoho theatre, LondonThis debut from disability-led theatre company FlawBored is not afraid to make us squirm as it skewers virtue signalling and corporate buzzwords What starts as an audio-d…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AMRoyal Court theatre, LondonTatenda Shamiso sings delighted duets with the person he once was and considers the logistical hurdles he has jumped to access treatment Warmly lit on a cluttered …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AMDonmar Warehouse, LondonStephen Mangan and Rachael Stirling bare their teeth in a show that dials up the violence and sometimes struggles to navigate the humour Love is a tempestuous, abusiv…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AMJohn Lyly’s long-forgotten Galatea – featuring gods, mortals and a highly elastic approach to gender and sex – is being revived at the Brighton festival. We meet the team behind it Wi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMAdaptations of existing media get new fans in the building, but they also rob new plays of space Pay attention to the posters lining the walls of Tube stations, and at least half of the stag…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AMWith everything from Bake Off to Pretty Woman putting bums on seats in Theatreland, launching an original homegrown production is harder than ever. But might salvation be at hand in the unli…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMMenier Chocolate Factory, LondonAnne Reid shines in this delicately written drama about a woman with dementia living with a robot re-creation of her late husband as a young man Jordan Harris…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:58AMReading Rep theatreIt makes sense to rethink the sexual currents running through the classic drama, but this version has lost the nuance it needs Queering Hedda Gabler feels completely natur…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:09AMInfluenced by the music of Billy Bragg, Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf, After the Act explores the culture of fear and self-censorship caused by the law, voted through by the Tories during moral …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMSam Wanamaker Playhouse and Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonAs this ambitious production switches between stages, and deaths pile up like dishes, neither the comedy nor the tragedy have room to…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:00AMGate theatre, LondonInventive direction and a spectacular cast make the London transfer of Robert O’Hara’s kaleidoscopic off-Broadway play a spiralling, high-energy triumph Robert O’Ha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:21AMHaving starred in some of Britain’s biggest TV shows, the pair are taking to the stage for Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, a minimalist two-hander where words are strictly rationed. An…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AMPetty France, LondonTaking part in a trial shift to help coma patients wake up, the tension grows as it slowly becomes clear why you’re really mining strangers’ secrets A deliciously une…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:29AMFire the glitter cannons! Unleash the water pistols! The panto season is here. But how did the cross-dressing dame become so central to the tradition? And in an age of gender fluidity, shoul…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32PMThe disruptive artist’s new show is a boisterous evening, with her brazen persona an exhilarating challenge for audiences Lucy McCormick’s half-naked body is covered in tomato puree. The…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMSam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonIn this coruscating production from Headlong and Shakespeare’s Globe, Henry’s grasp for power is cast in a stark light The king is weeping as his subjects …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PMJermyn Street theatre, LondonThe cast’s hard work can’t save a confused script that struggles to mine comedy from a desperately sad story A gentle chuckle is never the aim of a great far…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMThe Star Trek actor is making his West End debut in a play about the 1968 US TV political debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley. But he fears the pair’s fiery exchanges may be p…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PMTheatre503, LondonMatthew Gabrielli’s play about abusive online culture cleverly uses puppets as trolls but feels didactic Everyone knows you should never respond to trolls. In Zombiegate,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AMSoho theatre, LondonDirected by Blanche McIntyre, Nathan Ellis’s drama serves as a reminder of what cuts are doing to our health service but it tells more than it shows The bone-deep exhau…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PMSoho theatre, LondonThe raucous folk songs, open-hearted performances and tender love story make this queer gig-theatre romcom a delight Gently directed by Ria Parry, this is a queer romcom …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55PMBattersea Arts Centre, LondonHumour and rage intertwine in Back to Back theatre company’s playful debate of ethics, language and philosophy The unjust treatment of people with learning d…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:07AMCharing Cross theatre, LondonTennessee Williams’ script about a dying widow dictating her memoirs is dragged into the modern day as characters fidget with their phones on a sparse set Some…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AMSoho theatre, LondonA different Mrs Perón gets the mega-musical treatment in Sh!t Theatre’s hilarious, sinister comedy about the ethics of populism and the heartbreak of loss As in: Evita…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:33PMShipwright, DeptfordExquisitely staged on the banks of the Thames, this ambitious and inquisitive production uses its natural surroundings to remind us of everything we stand to lose Sneak a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:43PMSouthwark Playhouse, LondonYouTube philosopher Abigail Thorn moves offline and on to the stage with an ambitious exploration of identities and the performance of gender Using the intelligent…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AMThe Globe theatre sparked outrage when it announced its plans to stage a non-binary Joan of Arc. The play’s writer explains why the French warrior would have approved ‘I’m always hungr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:55AM
