Thursday, April 21, 2022
Iconic couple shoot for West End success
One of the more irritating memes (it’s a competitive field, I know) is the “Name a more iconic couple” appearing over a photo of Posh and Becks…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:42AMSaturday, April 16, 2022
Swordplay and songs never quite hit their stride
Zorro (what a name!) is back, swashing and buckling his way into the West End, 13 years after he left and now not the only one wearing a mask…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:06AMThursday, April 7, 2022
Political lesson on the dangers of populism fails to hit home
Loud madcap comedy morphs into mime and flops when it should fly
When Rhum + Clay conceived this show, the idea of a comic becom…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:12AMThursday, March 10, 2022
Abigail Graham's pacy production focuses on the moneylender's fate
A supposed 'comedy' gives the moneylender Shylock pride of place
The Merchant of Venice is a comedy, you say? Shakespeare,…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:03AMMonday, March 7, 2022
Dennis Kelly's 2005 play presses many 2022 buttons
Lockdown, #MeToo and Ukraine give new urgency to a dystopian fable
Mark was teased about the fallout shelter at the bottom of his garden …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:36AMFriday, March 4, 2022
Another musical based on a movie hits London, with a moral guaranteed to please audiences
Wave your pom poms for a show with its heart in the right place
We open on “Seventeen is Swell”,…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:48AMThursday, February 17, 2022
Few concessions to 21st century sensibilities, but a great night out
Iconic film on stage heats up the West End
Wind the clock back 45 years and the Big Apple was bankrupt, the lights had go…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:18AMWednesday, February 16, 2022
Plodding book detailing a poet's sentimental education falls flat on stage
Somewhere in the world right now, one can hear Mister Mister's AOR hit, "Broken Wings" on an MOR radio station, cap…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:42AMWednesday, January 19, 2022
★★★ THRILL ME:THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY Child killers seduce us with charisma and song
Child killers seduce us with charisma and song
There's a lot of True Crime stuff about, so it'…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:33AMWednesday, January 12, 2022
Sir David Suchet reflects on his extraordinary career
Sir David Suchet takes us from school days to sleuth days
In the 80s, An Audience With... gave a television studio to an actor who th…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48AMSaturday, December 18, 2021
★★★★ THE TIGER LILLIES' CHRISTMAS CAROL: A VICTORIAN GUTTER, SOUTHBANK CENTRE Melancholy musical retelling laced with wit and political venom
The Tiger Lillies tell a familiar…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:24PMMonday, November 29, 2021
★★★ THE GOOD LIFE Nostalgic comedy with a surprising resonance 45 years on
Tom, Barbara, Jerry and Margo are back in the '70s, but with a message for today
"Off-grid" wasn't a thing…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:03AMFriday, November 26, 2021
★★★ A Christmas Carol - Immersive Dickens production not quite a Christmas cracker
Stephen Mangan's Scrooge learns his lesson in imbalanced Dickens adaptation
Four years and a Broadw…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42AMWednesday, November 17, 2021
★★★★ VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Comedy mines Chekhov for laughs and finds some rich seams
Super London debut for Russian-inspired Broadway comedy
Vanya and Sonia and Mas…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:36AMSaturday, November 13, 2021
★★★★★ FOOTFALLS AND ROCKABY, Beckett's ferocious contemplations on the ebbing of life
Double bill finds the Irish master at his most raw
Like all great art, Samuel Beckett's works…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:42AMWednesday, November 10, 2021
★★★★ MILK AND GALL, Baby turns New Yorkers' lives upside down, while Trump has a tantrum or two
No holds barred comedy lays bare the unsentimental side of parenting
Tuesday, 8 No…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:32PMTuesday, November 9, 2021
★★★ THE CHOIR OF MAN, Decent blokes sing old school hits in an old school pub
Lots of songs and lots of sugary sentimentality
Like a previous occupant of this venue, Six, The Choir Of…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:12PMFriday, October 29, 2021
★★★ THE MAGICIAN'S ELEPHANT, ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE A musical about trust and hope, and an unexpected elephant
An elephant awakens an emotionally shattered town
Trigger warnings h…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42PMTuesday, October 26, 2021
★★ VANARA, HACKNEY EMPIRE Falls well short of its West Side Story inspired ambition
Two tribes feud over fire in a post-apocalyptic world's last surviving forest
Two tribes, both alike…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:32AMTuesday, October 5, 2021
★★★★ WHAT IF IF ONLY Caryl Churchill's short play considers the despair of grief and the optimism of hope
A beautifully staged reflection on the pain of confronting loss and the nece…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42AMTuesday, September 28, 2021
★★★★ BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL, ADELPHI THEATRE A spectacular West End show to delight fans old and new
Whether you've seen the movie ten times or never, this will be a night …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48AMSaturday, September 25, 2021
★★★★ THE LAST FIVE YEARS, GARRICK THEATRE Jason Robert Brown's semi-autobiographical show gets a West End upgrade
Flaws remain, but audiences will lap up the gorgeous melodies, be…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:06AMWednesday, September 22, 2021
★★★ BLITHE SPIRIT, HAROLD PINTER THEATRE Jennifer Saunders delights her fans in classic comedy
Jennifer Saunders delivers a fine turn as the celebrated Madame Arcati in Sir Noël Cowa…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:03AMTuesday, September 7, 2021
★★★ STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Timely revival of Athol Fugard's searing indictment of Apartheid
Forty-nine years on, Fugard's anger has l…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:54AMMonday, August 30, 2021
★★★★★ BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY Dazzling Disney rewrite
Beloved Angela Lansbury film is in sure, safe theatrical hands
Bedknobs and Broomsticks has al…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:54AMThursday, August 19, 2021
★★★ CINDERELLA, GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE A spectacular show that hits and misses
A good night out, but with unrealised ambition to be rather more than that
Belleville has lost its Prince…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:36AMSaturday, August 14, 2021
★★ 2:22 A GHOST STORY, NOËL COWARD THEATRE A big name cast wring all they can from a flawed script
A few shocks and laughs but lacking in character-led credibility
Danny Robins tells u…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:06AMFriday, August 6, 2021
★★★★★ BIG BIG SKY, HAMPSTEAD DOWNSTAIRS A wonderful play about decent people
This poignant, uplifting play is just what we need right now
Get to Swiss Cottage early because Bob …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:06PMSaturday, July 17, 2021
★★★★★ SOUTH PACIFIC, CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE Rodgers and Hammerstein classic given renewed relevance
Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is given renewed relevance in a spectacu…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:54AMTuesday, July 6, 2021
Light up a joss stick for this pared-back version of Stephen Schwartz 's 1972 musical
If Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1966 was anyone under the age of 25, why couldn’t a teenage…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMWednesday, June 23, 2021
Deborah Bruce's play puts multiple topics on the table
Thirty years on, Alex and Jason meet at a university reunion and cab it back to Jason’s old student house where Alex is thinking “…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:03AM 
