Enchante! The LA CAGE AUX FOLLES New York City Center Encores! company previews the exciting Edgar Godineaux choreo for “We Are What We Are.” This production of the Tony-winning musical comedy will be using the original…
From a Noh Othello that puts Desdemona centre stage to a requiem for a family killed in the Rwandan genocide, the theatre at this year’s festival gives voice to the marginalisedWhen Willem…
This collection of ‘art meets theatre meets activism’ by more than 80 writers can feel overwhelming, writes our critic, but it devastatingly conveys the cumulative horror and anger of ab…
Chichester Festival theatre This stage version of Ian McEwan’s devastating class novel shows inspiring touches and the cast play adeptly, yet the tale’s emotional sweep feels underpowere…
Barbican theatre, LondonImpeccable vocals and slick staging make for dazzling set pieces in a tame production that’s missing the emotional centre of the 1956 filmFive years ago, the Barbic…
He stood down as boss of the NT – and threw himself into kayaking, writing and DIY. The veteran director talks about his new start aged 60, mourning his mother – and directing Death of a…
Theatre503, LondonHope still resides against horror in this collection of short plays from Palestinian playwrights, poets and artistsWhat are the basic requirements of theatre-making? Actors…
Charing Cross theatre, LondonThe power and personality of its singers and music lift this Twilight-esque story into the realms of enjoyably ridiculousThe origins of this supernatural musical…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonProspero is reimagined as a conductor in this superbly orchestrated version of Shakespeare’s tragicomedyKenneth Branagh is said to have played…
Young Vic, LondonAlexander Zeldin’s devastating play depicts the gruelling loneliness and confusion of life in a care homeAlexander Zeldin’s characters often inhabit the margins, from ze…
Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonForgoing Brecht’s usual distanciation, Anna Jordan’s new translation and Michelle Terry’s lovable performance bring out the humanity of a woman doing what�…
Lyric Hammersmith, London The dissolute aristocrats from 1895 remain sharply funny, and bitingly relevant, in this flamboyant new spinOscar Wilde’s comedy was billed as a “play of modern…
Sherman theatre, Cardiff Connor Allen’s autobiographical show is a twister that winds in everything from gothic mystery to therapy sessions in an ambitious, r…
Southwark Playhouse, London Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s revenge drama has plenty of rug-pulling twists, but stilted presentation leaves little sense of jeopardyAs a revenge fantasy between a f…
The Victoria Wood theatre, Bowness-on-WindermereMarking 10 years since the late comic’s death, this affectionate show blends her songs with a time-slip tale of friendship, regret and middl…
Brighton Dome Corn ExchangeThe timeless parable of a 16th-century horse dealer turned violent protester questions the personal cost of resistance in this awe-inspiring production from Omar E…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonTwo couples, both of whom have lost sons, meet in Fran Kranz’s unflinching look at restorative justiceFran Kranz’s 2021 film Mass, featuring two sets of parents w…
Hampstead theatre, LondonA bond slowly builds between wildlife photographer Tim and his apprentice Marcus in David Pearson’s tender yet underdeveloped dramaA young aspiring wildlife photog…
Hannah Khalil’s new play sprang from her surprise at seeing the great Egyptian actor had performed at the Festival theatre in the 1980s. She explains how it entwined with a story of her mi…
Riverside Studios, LondonJeffrey Longford is pedantic and superior in Farine Clarke’s medical drama – griping at everything from hospital data systems to gender-neutral loosHeartsinks, i…
Marylebone theatre, London A tremendous cast lifts what might have been a formulaic drama into a compelling examination of contested memoryArthur Miller is evidently speaking to the moment. …
The former Casualty actor wrote Driftwood – a family drama set against the backdrop of Trinidadian independence – as a private act after reconnecting with her roots. It was like solving …
Swan theatre, Stratford-Upon-AvonGatiss is part Hitler, part Scrooge, part Trump in Seán Linnen’s circus-like production for the RSCBertolt Brecht’s comic grotesque parable for Hitler�…
Royal Court theatre, London Yousef Sweid shows wit and charm as he tackles his divorce and custody battle, while the larger struggle closes in around himThis is not a political show, Yousef …
Shaftesbury theatre, LondonTwenty years since its West End debut, the sweetly subversive musical returns with a few tweaks and a lot of heart The trigger warning "puppet nudity" does not beg…
Bush theatre, LondonSecrets are exposed during a pub singalong as Franky returns home to find her parents divided in Kit Withington's drama You can hear this play before you enter the audito…
Arcola theatre, London Writer Ken Ludwig's heartfelt and funny romcom draws the audience into every step of Jack and Louise's developing affection, their longing deepened by physical separat…
Hampstead theatre, LondonMichael Frayn's cerebral drama of science and conscience returns with urgency " although this production struggles to ignite its emotional core Paapa Essiedu recentl…
Almeida theatre, LondonAnya Reiss packs the marriage scandal plot with inspired ideas, from convincing talk of Instagram to a look at sexual dynamics in the crosshairs of contemporary capita…
Southwark Playhouse Borough, LondonThe songs soar and blast in this inventive tale of a toxic romance " though it needs a few tweaks to be truly brilliant The scope and ambition of this dark…
Dorfman theatre, LondonComedy infuses Winsome Pinnock's disarming but ebullient drama about two Black academics who are given the job of authenticating the diaries of an enslaver You don't i…
National theatre, LondonA queenly Lesley Manville steals the show in this dark, rageful tale of seduction as contact sport Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was serving as an artillery officer whil…
Royal Court theatre, LondonA class on The Crucible unearths troubling parallels for a group of teen girls in Kimberly Belflower's play set in the wake of the Weinstein scandal Kimberly Belfl…
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonJocelyn Bioh's comedy " following a day in the life of a Harlem braiding salon " is filled with humour and hijinks 'Don't touch my hair" is a racially-charged statem…
Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe's pure chemistry perfectly encapsulates the urgent and uncompromising nature of first love Has the conveyor belt from screen-to-stage celebrity turned full circle wh…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-Upon-AvonCo-artistic director Tamara Harvey stages a well-acted production that never hits as hard as it should The bellicose patriotism in this, the las…
Duke of York's theatre, LondonFifty years since David Hare's play was first staged, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is inspired casting as a singer who refuses to go out without a bang David Hare's 1975…
The writer, actor and singer won an award for her role in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Then everything went silent. As the rising star returns in her very own musical, she hi…
Hampstead theatre, LondonUS businessman-turned-playwright Aaron Loeb combines medical tech concepts with knotty dilemmas and Mamet-esque dialogue An earnest research scientist turns up at a …
Olivier theatre, LondonWriters Nina and Moses Raine add comedy and raunch to Maxim Gorky's satire of the holidaying elite In 1898, Maxim Gorky wrote a fan letter to Anton Chekhov. Gorky was …
Watford Palace theatrePaying tribute to his grandfather whose 1983 show at the same venue lasted only one night the actor and comedian skilfully unveils a big reveal worthy of Inside No 9 Th…
Mercury theatre, Colchester The targets of the infamous 17th-century 'witchfinder general' narrate a powerful play based on AK Blakemore's novel 'It does not matter what is true," a teenager…
Young Vic, LondonJordan Fein's revival finds hypnotic power in Miller's 1994 play, as Pearl Chanda and Eli Gelb bring haunting emotional force to a story of paralysis and denial Some might s…
Arcola theatre, London Nicolas Kent directs a set of short plays by British and Ukrainian writers giving devastating vignettes from the conflict Nicolas Kent's concept for a series of short …
King's Head theatre, LondonJessica Regan creates a collaborative collage of the capital and its romantic encounters, eccentric flatmates and eye-watering rents Jessica Regan's promising one-…
Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonEmerging playwright Samson Hawkins takes on toxic influencers in an exuberantly directed drama with echoes of TV's Adolescence The audience enters through a …
Donmar Warehouse, London The 28 Years Later star joins the impressive Anastasia Hille in Anna Ziegler's two-hander about grief and family There are many ingenious ideas in Anna Ziegler's spa…
Hampstead theatre, London Elizabeth Dulau is terrific in Alexi Kaye Campbell's new play as the young woman set to become a daring pioneer in fiction and real life This is a play about George…
Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon After a book, a film and a Ted Talk, William Kamkwamba's heroically inventive response to floods, drought and starvation is now delivered with energetic son…
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonThe Black Panther actor's melding of social commentary and Shakespearean themes is sometimes opaque yet undeniably poetic Chadwick Boseman was not only an acco…
Noël Coward theatre, LondonDeploying accents and wigs, the Wicked star takes on all Bram Stoker's characters, but the atmosphere lacks the fever or diabolicism required Are people born wi…
