Thursday, February 29, 2024
★★★ CRUEL INTENTIONS, THE OTHER PALACE Bad people do bad things, but bangers from Britney and co save the day
Jukebox musical gets toes tapping, even if the thrill of transgression a…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:12PMWednesday, February 28, 2024
★★★ NACHTLAND, YOUNG VIC Patrick Marber directs flawed but fascinating disquisition on the past's relevance to the present in art, politics and morality
Something to laugh at and plent…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:02PMFriday, February 23, 2024
Revived 20 years on, this Windrush musical lands differently, but is still wonderfully entertaining
Is there a healthier sound than that of laughter ringing round a theatre?
There are ple…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:02PMThursday, February 22, 2024
'We don't use the word slave round here' - 21st century tourism skewered
You do not need to be Einstein to feel it. If the only dimension missing is time, 75% of a place’s being can invad…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:03PMWednesday, February 14, 2024
★★★ JUST FOR ONE DAY, THE OLD VIC Nostalgia fest becomes a little uncomfortable when addressing a 21st century audience
Saint Bob, Mrs T and a whole lot of feelgood. Oh, and mass star…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:24PMThursday, February 8, 2024
★★★★ OTHELLO, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Ola Ince makes compromises but gains much in return with her terrifyingly relevant production
An Othello for our times, our city
Detective Chie…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 01:36AMSunday, February 4, 2024
★★★★ BRONCO BILLY THE MUSICAL, CHARING CROSS THEATRE Accept the show's unambitious intentions and you'll have a wonderful ride
With additional musical numbers, the old Clint Eastwoo…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:24PMMonday, January 29, 2024
★★★★ THE MOST PRECIOUS OF GOODS, MARYLEBONE THEATRE A story of love's triumph in an ocean of hate
An account of one family's near-destruction in the Holocaust given added strength b…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:12PMWednesday, January 17, 2024
★★★★ KIN, NATIONAL THEATRE The power of physical theatre to tell the story of migration
Unconventional and thrilling, this Gecko Theatre project will live long in the memory
Waiting…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:12AMFriday, January 12, 2024
★★★ THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Witch Hunt play fails to fly
An overdue response to 'The Crucible', but very much rooted in its place, if not its time
It is no surpri…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42PMFriday, January 5, 2024
★★★★ 1979, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Comedy-drama set in 1970s Canadian politics proves much more interesting than it sounds!
There's fun and profundity in the thick of Ottawa's political c…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:18PMWednesday, December 13, 2023
★★★★ A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK, THEATRE503 Russian tale resonates far beyond Moscow
Roxy Cook's dramedy has echoes of Chekhov in its melding of comedy and tragedy
We’re in Moscow (…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMTuesday, December 12, 2023
★★★ PANDEMONIUM, SOHO THEATRE Armando Iannucci finds some laughs but nothing fresh
If you're ready for more gags about Boris Johnson's House of Horrors administration, this is the sho…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:36AMSunday, December 3, 2023
★★★★★ £1 THURSDAYS, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Beautifully delivered by two sensational leads
Seldom does one see a writer's vision so perfectly realised on stage
It’s 2012 and the L…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42PMFriday, December 1, 2023
★★★★ MACBETH, THE DEPOT War in a warehouse scores on its beautiful line readings and spectacle
Touring show lands first in Liverpool with a terrifying relevance
Next door to the beau…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:18AMSunday, November 26, 2023
★★★ OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Joan Littlewood invents devised theatre with satirical wit and righteous anger centre stage
Blackeyed Theatre's touring production has its…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMTuesday, November 21, 2023
★★★★★ THE MONGOL KHAN, LONDON COLISEUM Cirque du Soleil meets Game of Thrones
Take its limitations on trust and this Mongolian epic proves the best value in town
“But that’s w…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:36PMTuesday, November 14, 2023
Speculation and facts woven into a compelling portrait of a singular man
Four centuries on from the publication of the First Folio, is there anything new to be said about William Shakesp…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:32PMSunday, November 12, 2023
★★★ THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE, APOLLO THEATRE If Doctor Who did musical romcoms...
Powerhouse performances and visual effects let down by unambitious book and lacklustre songs
You real…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:12PMFriday, November 10, 2023
★★★★★ NINETEEN GARDENS, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE DOWNSTAIRS Black comedy about transgressive love gone sour proves an accomplished English language debut for prize-winning Polish writer …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42PMTuesday, October 31, 2023
The immersive experience makes us both victims of, and perpetrators in, an all too familiar perversion of truth
The day after I saw the show, as went about the mundanities of domestic life,…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:25AMMonday, October 30, 2023
Simon Stephens' take on Max Frisch's classic play can hit and miss, but when it hits, it hits hard
A dystopian present. Sirens ring out across the city. Firefighters rush to the wrong locat…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:33PMFriday, October 27, 2023
★★★ MANIC STREET CREATURE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Songs in the key of a traumatised life
Maimuna Memon sings of the pain mental illness brings, and not just to the person it afflicts
The…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:07AMThursday, October 19, 2023
★★★ THE FLEA, THE YARD THEATRE Hotchpotch of influences and tones derails production that exposes hypocrisy in high places
Victorian scandal meets Ziggy Stardust with a little panto …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:04AMSaturday, October 14, 2023
★★★★ DEAD DAD DOG, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Nostalgia rather than political satire drives charming revival
A play that will speak to any middle-aged Londoner with roots elsewhere
I know,…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:33AMThursday, October 12, 2023
★★★ THE CHANGELING, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Wild ride proves too bumpy to land all its points
An excess of gimmicks and uneven tone unbalance an innovative take on a Jacobean epic
Writing …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:04AMMonday, October 9, 2023
A compelling character gets re-invented in Sinéad Rushe's fascinating production
Shakespeare gives Iago over 1000 lines to implant the jealous rage in Othello, so there’s plenty to of raw…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:43AMSaturday, October 7, 2023
John Mortimer creates a dazzling vehicle for a star, alongside one-dimensional supporting characters
Like theatre itself, the law finds its voice in stories, performance and spectacle. Any …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:37AMTuesday, October 3, 2023
Big-hearted and necessary play fails to deliver fully on its huge promise
The Royal Court’s collaboration with Access All Areas (AAA) may not be theatre’s first explicit embrace of the n…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:25PMFriday, September 29, 2023
★★★ UNBELIEVABLE, CRITERION THEATRE Entertaining show, but short of a little magic in more senses than one
Pantomime vibe undermines the unique frisson of the magician's art
Unbeliev…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:03AMWednesday, September 27, 2023
★★ UNTITLED F*UCK M*SS S**GON PLAY, YOUNG VIC A gruelling watch, but message hits home
Satirical comedy-drama labours its points across an uninterrupted two hours
Seldom can a title hav…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:25AM 
