Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Royal Court, LondonStef Smith’s powerfully alarmist play imagines the impact of a city’s animal infestation on its citizensDystopia is a popular territory for young dramatists. Its lates…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:41AMArts theatre, LondonGeorge Osborne becomes a sex slave in a lethal piece by David Hare alongside short political plays by Caryl Churchill, Mark Ravenhill, Alistair Beaton and Stella FeehilyA…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AMTuesday, May 24, 2016
Finborough theatre, LondonThis rarely revived piece about a Victorian blasphemy trial reveals the playwright’s complex feelings about ChristianityWritten for a 1960 television production s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:50AMRoyal Exchange, ManchesterAspects of Caryl Churchill’s 1994 collaborative fantasy remain obscure, but magnetic Peake and a 12-strong ensemble offer an intensely theatrical experiencePlays …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AMMonday, May 23, 2016
BBC2 The show perked up when it got round to the plays but tried to cram too much into one eveningIt is always worrying when an entertainment promises “something for everybody”. That usu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:52PMA doctor and a private-hire driver are just a couple of the amateur actors starring along RSC members in a touring production of the Dream. The experiment is a success but it shouldn’t set…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AMSaturday, May 21, 2016
Cumberbatch’s turn as Shakespeare’s scheming king is remarkable in a finale that also features fine performances from Judi Dench and Keeley HawesRichard III brings the BBC’s Hollow Cro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55PMRoyal Court, LondonI spy a danger for the theatre in a new form of chic exclusivity. Because everyone wants to see Jez Butterworth's first new play since Jerusalem and because space is limit…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:50AMFriday, May 20, 2016
Young Vic, London With tremendous performances from Daniel Kaluuya, David Haig and Luke Norris, Penhall’s drama packs even more of a punch 16 years after its debutJunior doctors are in the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:44AMThursday, May 19, 2016
Tricycle theatre, LondonThe arguments about global economics in Akhtar’s follow-up to the Pulitzer-winning Disgraced are so dramatic that it’s a shame when the plot kicks inOscar Wilde�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:46AMTheatre Royal, Haymarket, LondonAlan Ayckbourn’s vintage comedy about adultery and male bullying is shockingly up to dateTheatrical snobs still patronise Alan Ayckbourn. Alan Strachan’s …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:37AMWednesday, May 18, 2016
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonNothing is out of bounds in Baddiel’s new standup, which exposes his father’s dementia and his mother’s hyperactive sex life to the same affectionate sc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AMOrange Tree, RichmondThe performances are full of Shavian vitality in this invigorating modern-day revival mocking the disparity between high ideals and personal practice George Bernard Shaw…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AMMonday, May 16, 2016
Donmar Warehouse, London David Leveaux’s fine revival featuring an expertly balanced cast shows this 1997 play is much more than the product of its timeDoes it still resonate? That is the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:46PMJapanese theatre director who harmonised the traditions of east and west in his productions of Shakespeare, Ibsen and EuripidesYukio Ninagawa, who has died aged 80, was a great Japanese thea…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:40AMSaturday, May 14, 2016
Part two of the BBC’s Wars of the Roses series was a visual treat led by a brooding Benedict Cumberbatch, but poignancy was among the script’s many casualtiesLast week’s opening episod…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:50PMDuke of York’s, London The Game of Thrones actor gives us a sense of the scholar’s flailing despair but Jamie Lloyd’s excessive version of the tragedy comes with a trite messageChristo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:39PMFriday, May 13, 2016
London PalladiumA strong cast led by the former Pussycat Doll bring impressive verve to the song and dance spectacular, but the question remains whether the jukebox musical is Andrew Lloyd W…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AMArts Educational, LondonA 1920 private adoption home farms poor children out to rich couples in this fluent production by Kate Sason and a talented student castAs we know from Nell Gwynn and…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:52AMIn Cyprus Avenue, I watched aghast as a Protestant attacked his own baby. But I left with a new understanding of sectarianism. So why did the litany of horrors in Sarah Kane’s Cleansed jus…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:21AMThursday, May 12, 2016
Young Vic, LondonArthur Miller's 1955 Brooklyn drama is stripped right back to showcase rich behavioural accuracy and high-quality performances• Monroe and Miller's sensational year – in…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48PMJury’s Inn, BrightonPatrick Sandford’s candid play about the abuse he suffered as a nine-year-old at the hands of a teacher shines much needed light on dark placesThe Brighton festival h…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AMBrighton festivalThis disturbing piece of immersive theatre shines a light on the morality of police surveillance as audience members get to play undercover agentsAt what point, if any, is p…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:16AMWednesday, May 11, 2016
Lyttelton, LondonSuhayla El-Bushra brings Nikolai Erdman’s 1928 social comedy into the modern day, but leaves its eccentricity and subversion behindThe National Theatre these days seems su…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:16PMRoyal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonSet in a post-Brexit dystopia, Melly Still’s production is odd, excessive and over-stuffed with ideas but it’s unafraid of emotion and boast…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMBranagh channels Olivier, Isabelle Huppert lusts after her stepson and Ralph Fiennes gets the royal hump. Meanwhile there’s magic in the air as Harry Potter grows up – and Groundhog Day …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:52AMTuesday, May 10, 2016
Arcola, LondonMay Sumbwanyambe’s promising play, set in 1998, pits a white farm-owning family against a government agent sent to acquire their landThe Papatango new writing prize has uncov…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:26AMSaturday, May 7, 2016
The Henry VI plays are condensed into two servings of power battles, sex and witchcraft with fine performances from Hugh Bonneville and Sophie OkonedoShakespeare’s early histories used to …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:56PMFriday, May 6, 2016
Hampstead theatre, LondonWhy did TE Lawrence turn his back on fame after assisting the Arab uprising? Brenton’s solidly acted play explores the mystery of a troubled figureThe centenary of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AMWednesday, May 4, 2016
Chichester festival theatreBonneville precisely captures the recklessness and egotism of Dr Stockmann in a vigorous production of Ibsen’s frighteningly topical playThis is the fifth major …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:34PMMill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud, GuildfordPrivate passion coincides with the public chaos of 1947 in this tale of an affair featuring a first-rate castHoward Brenton’s Drawing the Line dramatis…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:00AM 
