Friday, July 28, 2023
★★ THE CROWN JEWELS, GARRICK THEATRE True story, dreadfully low on laughs and drama, in which the only successful heist comes at the box officeÂ
Al Murray and Carrie Hope F…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:55AM[SHARE]Monday, July 24, 2023
★★★ ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LAVENDER THEATRE Corny book still has its problems,. but Irving Berlin's songs are as glorious as everÂ
In fields of lavender flowers, an open ai…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:19AM[SHARE]Thursday, July 6, 2023
★★ MODEST, KILN THEATRE A trans and queer celebration, but not a very good playÂ
Art, songs and a cabaret (indeed, Cabaret) vibe, but the story goes nowhere
Whether you believ…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:04AM[SHARE]Tuesday, June 27, 2023
★★★★ STUMPED, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE A smart, funny, and beautifully staged new play
An hour zips by in the company of two playwrights bickering on the boundary edge
Mu…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:43AM[SHARE]Monday, June 26, 2023
★ ROBIN HOOD. THE LEGEND. RE-WRITTEN. REGENT'S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE Play with music lost in a forest of competing genres and tones
New version of old story wastes talent and resources…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:04AM[SHARE]Thursday, June 15, 2023
★★★★★ 42nd STREET, SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE Glorious entertainment led by a star in the making
Old show sparkles in astonishing new production that dazzles fro…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:07AM[SHARE]Thursday, May 25, 2023
★★★ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE - Hot button issues douse fiery passions
MIchelle Terry steals the show as a Puck who brings a malevolent undertow to the…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:24AM[SHARE]Saturday, May 20, 2023
★★★★ A BRIEF LIST OF EVERYONE WHO DIED, FINBOROUGH THEATRE New play that mines the bittersweet moments of a long lifeÂ
Jacob Marx Rice's new play mines the bitters…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:06AM[SHARE]Friday, May 12, 2023
★★★★ THE CIRCLE, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Acerbic reflections on the price paid for love
Jane Asher leads an ensemble cast in Somerset Maugham's comedy of manners
Tom Lit…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:18AM[SHARE]Monday, May 1, 2023
FlawBored's meta-theatrical show comforts and then goes in for the kill
Just when you've relaxed a little, privileged duly checked and confident that you won't be guilt-tripped for nipping i…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:48AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 27, 2023
Classy new stage adaptation of 1950s French novel proves intellectually rewarding
It's apt that this new play, with characters moving in and out of Paris either side of World War I, is stag…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:42AM[SHARE]Monday, April 24, 2023
Frenetic take on Brecht's tale of doing good in a bad world loses focus
As the UK undergoes yet another political convulsion, this time concerning the threshold for ministers being shitty to…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:54AM[SHARE]Saturday, April 22, 2023
American show is lost in the West End with only the hits to save it
Ain't Too Proud? Ain't too good either I'm afraid. Which is a shame as there's plenty of the raw material here that powers…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:06AM[SHARE]Friday, April 7, 2023
New production of the West End show based on the Alan Bennett film is perhaps near its sell-by date
People can't find the food they want in the shops. Nobody has enough money. Public service…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:24AM[SHARE]Friday, March 31, 2023
A reprehensible man treats women badly, but the political magic is left entirely unexplored
One wonders if Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan pondered long over their debut musical's title. S…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:42AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Evanna Lynch heads up wan troubles-themed dark comedy
"Darkly comic thrillers" (as they like to say) set in Ireland tracking how families, or quasi-families, fall apart under pressure are ve…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:24AM[SHARE]Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Ambitious but misconceived take on musical theatre landmark outstays its welcome
It is, perhaps, important to note that this production was first staged in London at the Young Vic, a venue …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:40AM[SHARE]Monday, February 20, 2023
★★★★ STANDING AT THE SKY'S EDGE, NT 60 years in one Sheffield flat tells our nation's story
Chris Bush and Richard Hawley write a love letter to a friendly and fla…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:07PM[SHARE]Friday, February 17, 2023
★★★★ SYLVIA, THE OLD VIC Beverley Knight is compelling and complex in suffragette musical
Sylvia Pankhurst suffers for her commitment to votes for women and to soc…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:16AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 5, 2023
★★★★★ SMOKE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Kim Davies' 2014 play has only grown in relevance for the post #MeToo worldÂ
The perils of navigating power relations whe…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:49AM[SHARE]Friday, February 3, 2023
★★ TITUS ANDRONICUS, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Gory play full of murders played with neither gore nor murdersÂ
Tricksy staging distracts and disappoints
If All's Well That…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:26AM[SHARE]Friday, January 27, 2023
★★★★ NOISES OFF, PHOENIX THEATRE Michael Frayn's farce about a farce still jars the funny bone
Sure it's overly familiar, but, 40 years on, the laughs keep coming
…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:04AM[SHARE]Friday, January 20, 2023
★★★★ ALLEGIANCE, CHARING CROSS THEATRE Beautifully sung show shines light into a dark corner of American history Â
Star Trek's Mr Sulu honours fellow Japanes…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:31AM[SHARE]Friday, January 13, 2023
★★★★ A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, ALMEIDA THEATRE Torment, toxicity and trauma in New Orleans Â
Torment, toxicity and trauma in New Orleans
It's a long way fr…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:20AM[SHARE]Wednesday, January 11, 2023
★★★★ WATCH ON THE RHINE, DONMAR Country house comedy transforms into call to arms
In wartime, when tough actions are needed to back up easy words, what do you do?
…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:15AM[SHARE]Thursday, December 15, 2022
★★★ DOLLY PARTON'S SMOKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS CAROL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE Great songs, but a sanitised book declaws Yuletide parableÂ
Dolly and Dickens team up for dreams a…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:42AM[SHARE]Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt brings superstar quality and emotional depth to villainous ogre
Hovering way, way above us, three aptly named high fairies, in voluminous chiffon, open a show that …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:06AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 26, 2022
★★★★ ELF, DOMINION THEATRE Plenty of presents for all the family in a spectacular show based on the much loved filmÂ
Buddy the Elf charms everyone on either sid…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:36AM[SHARE]Saturday, November 19, 2022
★★★★ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, RSC Old favourite finds contemporary relevance in sanitised staging
The RSC Christmas show delivers exactly what it promises
Life is full o…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:24AM[SHARE]Thursday, November 17, 2022
★ HERE, Southwark Playhouse Characters drown in a surfeit of issues
The prestige of the Papatango Prize cannot rescue a play that fails to transcend its inexplicable limitations
The k…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:54AM[SHARE]Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Super songs can't quite rescue an ill-focused story and sparse staging
Whorehouses, gay prostitution and suicide " you can see why James Jones' bestselling 1951 novel was bowdlerised by the …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:06AM[SHARE] 
