Friday, 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 02:25AMFriday, September 22, 2023
Austrian musical finally arrives in London to entertain, but not quite thrill
There are times when it’s best to know as little as possible before taking one’s seat for a show – this…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:25PMThursday, September 14, 2023
★★★ INFAMOUS, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Caroline and Rose Quentin perfectly cast in mother and daughter play
A clever, sexy, confident woman woos the aristocracy but is disowned when she …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:04AMSaturday, August 19, 2023
★★★★ MAKESHIFTS AND REALITIES, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Three one act works revived with a beautiful attention to detail
Plays that show that much may have changed for women in the last 1…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:19AMWednesday, August 16, 2023
Feelgood show acquires added poignancy on an emotional night
Forty years ago, the world was very different for gay men. AIDS was devastating their communities around the world, especially …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:19AMSaturday, August 12, 2023
★★ THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE Broadway show drowns in an unsympathetic venue, holed beneath the waterline by a lacklustre book and incoherent score
Fine performances cannot…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:19AMFriday, August 11, 2023
★★★ MACBETH, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Stripped back version has plenty of echoes of today's news, but lacks coherence and spectacle
Matti Houghton shines as a grieving, accusing, frustrate…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:33AMFriday, 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 office
Al Murray and Carrie Hope Fletcher prov…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:55AMMonday, July 24, 2023
★★★ ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LAVENDER THEATRE Corny book still has its problems,. but Irving Berlin's songs are as glorious as ever
In fields of lavender flowers, an open air show sung we…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:19AMThursday, July 6, 2023
★★ MODEST, KILN THEATRE A trans and queer celebration, but not a very good play
Art, songs and a cabaret (indeed, Cabaret) vibe, but the story goes nowhere
Whether you believe that Ell…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 12:04AMTuesday, 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
Much of cricket comp…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:43AM 
