All stories by Michael Billington on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Macbeth – review by Michael Billington

Shakespeare's Globe, LondonThe last Macbeth we saw at this venue was a pop-culture Polish production in which the transvestite witches assiduously fellated the hero. No such excesses ta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49PM

Peter Brook to rekindle the magic of the Mahabharata by Michael Billington

In his latest production, Battlefield, the 90-year-old theatre director focuses on a single episode from the great Indian epic that lies at the heart of his careerI’m lucky. I’ve twice s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:22AM
Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Pay to play: the problem with theatres auctioning background roles by Michael Billington

The cast of King Charles III recently held an Equity meeting about whether to share the stage with an auction winner. Are such sales all in a good cause, or do they set a worrying precedent?…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:56AM
Monday, January 11, 2016

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich review – Brecht's chilling vision of nazism by Michael Billington

Union theatre, LondonBertolt Brecht is often thought to be preachy and simplistic, but these plays prove otherwise, offering a complex montage of life in Nazi Germany Brecht wrote this colle…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:19PM
Sunday, January 10, 2016

P'yongyang review – a North Korean dream of love and freedom by Michael Billington

Finborough theatre, LondonRed-star-crossed young lovers, estranged by a socially stratified regime, attempt to escape oppression in a traditional-yet-original romanceYou wait years for a pla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:52AM
Friday, January 8, 2016

Grey Gardens review – show tunes and squalor in a Long Island mansion by Michael Billington

Southwark Playhouse, LondonHigh Society meets What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in this look back at a socialite mother and daughter’s downfallLike Richard Greenberg’s The Dazzle, current…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:04AM
Thursday, January 7, 2016

Guys and Dolls review – expert revival plays its cards right by Michael Billington

Savoy theatre, LondonWith outstanding leads and fizzing choreography from Carlos Acosta, the classic gambling musical is staged with elanIt seems fitting that the Chichester production of Gu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:49AM
Wednesday, January 6, 2016

African Gothic review – incest and madness in Afrikaaner horror story by Michael Billington

Park theatre, LondonTwo siblings in an isolated farmhouse role-play traumatic episodes from their childhood in this flesh-creeping metaphor for colonial declineThis play certainly delivers w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:45AM
Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Children's Hour - review by Michael Billington

Comedy Theatre, LondonThere's only one question to which everyone wants the answer: can Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss cut the mustard? The short answer is that they prove as potent a co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:22AM
Friday, December 18, 2015

Les Liaisons Dangereuses review – Dominic West on love's battlefield by Michael Billington

Donmar Warehouse, LondonJosie Rourke directs a fine revival of Christopher Hampton’s adaptation, where two jealousy-fuelled aristocrats stumble into the confusions of true loveHas there ev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:21AM
Thursday, December 17, 2015

Dr Seuss’s The Lorax review – the best family show since Matilda by Michael Billington

Old Vic, LondonDavid Greig’s anarchic take on the ecological analogy – where greed increases the need for ‘thneeds’ – is full of verbal wit and social purpose Related: How the Lora…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:21AM
Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Dazzle review – Andrew Scott is hypnotic in disturbing tale of eccentricity by Michael Billington

Found 111 theatre, LondonThis story of two society brothers turned recluses is an extraordinary real-life American gothic – but the underlying message is quietly troublingThere’s a long …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:30AM
Monday, December 14, 2015

Forget Me Not review – intensely powerful child-migrant drama by Michael Billington

Bush theatre, LondonAn unremittingly emotional play focuses on a family torn apart by the British empire’s practice of shipping UK children abroad to cover labour shortagesTom Holloway’s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:45AM

Michael Billington's top 10 theatre of 2015 by Michael Billington

Imelda Staunton bustled brilliantly through Gypsy and Shaw’s Superman soared. But it’s a celebrity hangman who tops our theatre critic’s pick of this year’s best showsMartin McDonagh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:45AM

Michael Billington's top 10 theatre of 2015 by Michael Billington

Imelda Staunton bustled brilliantly through Gypsy and Shaw’s Superman soared. But it’s a celebrity hangman who tops our theatre critic’s pick of this year’s best shows Continue read…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:08AM
Thursday, December 10, 2015

Black or white? Casting can be a grey area by Michael Billington

Let's have more black Hamlets and white Othellos - not to mention some Queen Lears.Patrick Stewart does Othello in Jude Kelly's "photo-negative" production in Washington. Photograp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:46PM

Hapgood review – spy drama infiltrates hearts and minds by Michael Billington

Hampstead theatre, LondonTom Stoppard’s science-meets-espionage thriller makes for an excellent revival, as public savvy catches up with its testing dual structureAttention must be paid to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45AM
Wednesday, December 9, 2015

You for Me for You review – rich and startling North Korean escape epic by Michael Billington

Royal Court Upstairs, LondonTwo starving sisters flee across the border with very different results in this brilliantly designed, superbly disorientating dramaLike Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimeric…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:09AM
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A Better Woman review – internet dating's tangled web by Michael Billington

Marlowe, Canterbury Simon Mendes da Costa’s lively comedy has fun exploring the etiquette of modern dating for dithering middle-aged men and sexually assertive divorceesHaving undergone a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM
Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dick Whittington and His Cat review – deliciously traditional cockney panto by Michael Billington

Wilton’s Music Hall, London Roy Hudd plays his first pantomime dame – amid a medley of time-tested jokes and cockney standards – in this witty, warm, unadulterated delightIt comes as a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:56AM
Friday, December 4, 2015

Luc Bondy obituary by Michael Billington

Director whose opera and theatre work was enriched by a broad European outlook and interest in new dramaIn an age when mainland European directors are often judged by the extravagance of the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:57PM

Macbeth review – pounding electro and hurly-burly as witches storm the stage by Michael Billington

Young Vic, LondonAnna Maxwell Martin is a cool Lady Macbeth to John Heffernan’s neurotic hero, but the relentless physical movement overshadows the text’s potencyIf directing Shakespeare…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AM
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Funny Girl review – a joyous Sheridan Smith keeps rain off parade by Michael Billington

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonIt may be a poor man’s Gypsy and Barbra Streisand has hitherto owned the role, but this production exhibits real class and Smith is a constant joy to watchT…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:52AM
Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Linda review – an invisible woman's improbable breakdown by Michael Billington

Royal Court, London Real social issues about older women get lost in sensory overload as Penelope Skinner’s promising polemic lapses into melodramaNoma Dumezweni has stepped in at short no…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AM
Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Queen Anne review – pain and passion of a monarch's fight to rule with grace by Michael Billington

The Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonThe queen’s relationship with Sarah Churchill (an icily seductive Natascha McElhone) is central to this fascinating, topical production on the last Stuart quee…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AM
Monday, November 30, 2015

Pygmalion - review by Michael Billington

Garrick, LondonLast year in Chichester I found Philip Prowse's production of Shaw's indestructible play coarse and overstated. If it has improved, it is partly because it fits more snugly in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:38PM
Sunday, November 29, 2015

Here We Go review - a chilling reminder of our own mortality by Michael Billington

Lyttleton Theatre, LondonCaryl Churchill has written a striking memento mori for an age without faith that evokes the idea that we are here for a short time and then are suddenly goneMany pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:14PM
Friday, November 27, 2015

Little Eyolf review – Richard Eyre's shockingly intense Ibsen by Michael Billington

Almeida, London A striking production, starring Lydia Leonard, vividly captures what Henry James called ‘the hard compulsion’ of this terrifying masterpieceThe Almeida is fast becoming t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AM
Thursday, November 26, 2015

Pericles review – marine miracles on an adventure around the Med by Michael Billington

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonIt’s easy to be swept along by the humour and heroism in Dominic Dromgoole’s poignant, beautifully staged productionDominic Dromgoole’s production of Per…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:26AM
Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Evening at the Talk House review – Wallace Shawn throws a hell of a party by Michael Billington

Dorfman, LondonIn his blunt new play, set in a genteel private club, Shawn tackles political barbarism via showbiz bitcheryWith airstrikes in Syria being debated in the UK and a massive inve…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:14AM
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The Divided Laing review – study of the psychiatrist's inner streetfighter by Michael Billington

Arcola, LondonPatrick Marmion’s ambitious play about the commune created by RD Laing in the 1960s leaves the audience deeply dividedIt was possible to have double vision while watching Pat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:58AM