Sunday, July 9, 2017
London Palladium A technical hitch gave rise to a welcome burst of spontaneity from Rufus Hound as Mr Toad in this otherwise tame tale of wildlife“Poop, poop”, as Toad so aptly puts it. …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AMDonmar Warehouse, London Sandra Marvin is imperious as Camila Batmanghelidjh but this verbatim reconstruction needs more vimJosie Rourke keeps pushing at the Donmar. All-female Shakespeares.…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AMSunday, July 2, 2017
Wyndham’s, LondonA bad gig for the jazz legend is a great one for McDonald as she embodies the troubled singer one wild night in PhiladelphiaLady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill supplie…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMOrange Tree, RichmondBranden Jacobs-Jenkins’s ingenious reworking of a 19th-century slave drama continues an exceptional new lease of life at this tiny theatreWhat Paul Miller has done at …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMAlmeida, LondonCarvel is a natural as the media mogul in James Graham’s engrossing play charting the rise of the Sun newspaperIs Ink indelible? Not really. Is it the talk of the theatrical…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMSunday, June 18, 2017
Minerva, ChichesterNearly 60 years after Edna O’Brien’s novel outraged the establishment, the gallivanting girls are as vital as ever in this skilled stage versionWhen Edna O’Brien pub…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AMRoyal Court, LondonAlice Birch’s riveting play, expertly directed by Katie Mitchell, examines how devastating sadness can seep through generations of womenWhen sadness runs through a famil…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AMFestival theatre, ChichesterJonathan Kent summons arresting moments from Tennessee Williams’s drama but can’t fully rescue a play that fails to meld personal and politicalTennessee Willi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AMSunday, June 11, 2017
Dorfman, LondonAn African world full of anecdote and argument is conjured up at the barber’sIsn’t this what all playwrights would wish for? To come across in their daily lives a dramatic…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AMOlivier, LondonWords fail everyone in a play about the loss of common land in the early 1800sHow has this to pass come? Lower down explain will why like this I write. DC Moore author of good…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AMFriday, June 9, 2017
The Observer's theatre critic chooses the 10 sets that changed the face of modern theatre, from a 1912 Hamlet to Punchdrunk's immersive Faust Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48AMSunday, June 4, 2017
The Other Palace, LondonSally Cookson’s take on the cinema classic makes for magical theatre with just bare boards, smoky light and a fine, versatile castThere is nothing like a woman with…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AMRoyal Court, LondonGary Owen continues his exploration of male dysfunction through the generations with this fierce three-handerTwo years ago Gary Owen’s Violence and Son viscerally sugges…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AMRegent’s Park Open Air theatre, LondonBernstein’s music, three strong women and Drew McOnie’s choreography drive his inventively staged productionI was completely taken aback by On the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AMSunday, May 28, 2017
Two decades ago, Susannah Clapp filed her first theatre review for the Observer. Here, she reflects on the quirks of the job, the joy of spotting new stars – and how the role of the critic…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18AMSunday, May 21, 2017
Minerva, Chichester Sharon D Clarke is extraordinary as the defiant heroine of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s dynamic musical set in 60s AmericaPolitical punch, moral intricacy – and …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AMRoyal Court, London Seeing a man read out an anonymous woman’s sexual fantasies on stage produces curious resultsNo one knows who wrote the words of Manwatching. No one can see a script be…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AMYoung Vic, London Brendan Cowell brings Brecht’s rebel scientist to combative life in Joe Wright’s coruscating productionHow to see what’s really going on? How to recognise interesting…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AMSunday, May 14, 2017
Olivier, National Theatre, LondonYaël Farber’s turgid take on the biblical story leaves some fine actors stranded in the desert“It begins at the end.” You might be warned from the sta…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMTheatre Royal, Stratford East, LondonEmma Donoghue’s acclaimed novel makes the leap to the stage, with a little help from young Harrison WildingEmma Donoghue has written eloquently about h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMHull Truck theatre, HullMat Fraser is genially terrifying as the dastardly king in Northern Broadsides’ urgent 25th anniversary performanceMat Fraser, who hosted the 2012 Paralympics openi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AMSunday, May 7, 2017
Lyttelton, LondonGaudy and unflinching, Tony Kushner’s 90s Aids drama still resonates in this bold, starry revival directed by Marianne ElliottYou can tell when a show is bound for success…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:02AMRoyal Court, London Magic runs through Butterworth’s brilliant new play, directed by Sam Mendes, with a fine stage debut from Paddy ConsidineJez Butterworth’s plays shoulder their way on…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:02AMSunday, April 30, 2017
Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonThe lovers alone convince in Daniel Kramer’s bewildering productionEmma Rice’s last season in charge of the Globe opens with loud defiance. Daniel Kramer’s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AMBarbican, LondonNo amount of writhing and roaring can enliven Ivo van Hove’s self-absorbed take on ViscontiIn one corner David Hare: the least likely of dramatic Brexiters, suspicious of c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AMLyric Hammersmith, LondonA visually dazzling staging by 59 Productions is missing a human dimensionJames Fenton, trenchant former theatre critic of the Sunday Times, once described his job a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AMSunday, April 23, 2017
Bush theatre, LondonBrilliantly designed, Rajiv Joseph’s philosophical, whimsical play brings immensity to a small space at the refurbished west London theatreThe rejigged, refreshed Bush …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AMUstinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath; Trafalgar Studios, LondonPlaywright Christopher Hampton’s talents are illuminated in two clever satires skewering the literary and academic lifeWho wou…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54AMSunday, April 16, 2017
Coliseum, LondonKatherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe sound as good as you might expect, but ‘semi-staged’ here signifies a woeful lack of acting talentThe English National Opera has said that…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AMBarbican, LondonCheek by Jowl rise to Shakespeare’s challenge, including a wonderful awakening for Hermione. But the beast scares no oneThe Winter’s Tale is a series of dares for a direc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AMSunday, April 9, 2017
Dorfman, LondonNina Raine adroitly tackles barristers’ struggles with the truth as the audience becomes the jury in a rape caseMore than Consent. Heartfelt approval. It is hard to overemph…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM 
