Thursday, February 27, 2020
The playwright’s new work has been seen as a departure from his intellectual stock-in-trade. But look deeper, and passion has always been present
What kind of writer is Tom Stoppard? In co…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AMTuesday, February 18, 2020
The Royal Shakespeare Company has vowed to drill the Bard’s rhythms into its actors – but our alienation from his language runs deeper
‘Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced i…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03AMTuesday, February 4, 2020
The former RSC director had a stellar career, seeing the depth in derided plays and restoring the Histories to their rightful stage
I was saddened to hear of the death of Terry Hands at the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AMMonday, January 20, 2020
From Rome to Paris to London, Uncle Vanya delivers fresh meanings wherever and whenever it’s performed
Which is Chekhov’s greatest play? It tends to be the one you’ve seen most recentl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AMThursday, December 19, 2019
Royal and Derngate, NorthamptonAstrid Lindgren’s nine-year-old rebel is suitably anarchic and altruistic in a festive musical show that leaves you chuckling
I’ve come late in life to Ast…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:42AMTuesday, December 17, 2019
Katori Hall gave us a miracle, Caryl Churchill delivered a dark quartet and Tom Hiddleston astounded in Betrayal. But the year’s highlight was a breathtaking Ibsen with Hayley Atwell
More …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AMSunday, December 15, 2019
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonElla Hickson’s Elizabeth I story vividly portrays her battles with men and a patriarchal system but doesn’t make a strong case for contemporary parallels
E…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AMFriday, December 13, 2019
Donmar Warehouse, LondonMike Lew’s American update of Shakespeare, directed by Michael Longhurst, captures the king’s complexity
Mike Lew’s relocation of Richard III to a US high schoo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMThursday, December 12, 2019
Royal Court, London Race and relationships are the focus of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s deeply moving drama that presents an honest picture of multi-cultural Britain
There’s a great story by …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18PMWednesday, December 11, 2019
Lyttelton, LondonBuoyed by first-rate performances, this production transforms the Russian classic into an eye-opening account of the Biafran war
Inua Ellams describes his new play, his firs…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM11 December 1972: on the evidence of recent shows, the musical is in dead trouble: the more one watches dancers catapulting across the stage as if fired from a cannon and leading ladies bari…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AMMonday, December 9, 2019
With shows such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Six and The Boy in the Dress, the musical is in rude health in this country – whether Broadway knows it or not
Has the British musical…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PMSunday, December 8, 2019
Playhouse, LondonVisual flummery and the famous nose are dispensed with in Martin Crimp’s modern take on Rostand’s proxy-wooing play
This version of Edmond Rostand’s play, as adapted b…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PMFriday, December 6, 2019
Hampstead theatre, LondonBoris Spassky and Bobby Fischer’s 1972 match is a proxy war in this intriguing but overcomplicated chess drama
There has already been a musical, Chess, inspired by…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMThursday, December 5, 2019
Young Vic, London Directed by Nadia Latif, this Pulitzer prize-winning play by Jackie Sibblies Drury is definitely one to see – and argue over
This play by Jackie Sibblies Drury is tricky …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMWednesday, December 4, 2019
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonThis pitch-perfect revival of Sandy Wilson’s 1953 musical is a positive invitation to dance
Time has been good to Sandy Wilson’s 1953 musical. Although se…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PMAs Michael Billington, the Guardian’s chief theatre critic, prepares to step down, he discusses what has changed – and what hasn’t – in his 48 years as a nightly aisle-squatter
Ten o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PMFriday, November 29, 2019
Finborough, LondonA Welsh teenager is hailed as the second coming in this fascinating revival of Emlyn Williams’ long-forgotten play
This enterprising theatre struck gold in 2011 with its …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AMThursday, November 28, 2019
The Guardian’s theatre critic was at the sketch group’s first show in 1960. It was the beginning of a friendship … and a satire boom that changed the world
My first sighting of Jonatha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PMRoyal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonA resplendent cast sing the praises of self-expression in Mark Ravenhill’s adaptation of the feelgood football novel
The boy who defies tribal…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PMWednesday, November 27, 2019
Orange Tree, Richmond upon ThamesThis production of George Bernard Shaw’s remarkable play about a poet and a priest in love with the same woman induces giddy delight
Paul Miller is almost …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AMTuesday, November 26, 2019
Bush theatre, LondonBijan Sheibani’s writing debut about two half-Iranian brothers relies on a puzzling backstory, yet vivid staging and beautiful performances fill it with vitality
You ca…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36PMMonday, November 25, 2019
Bridge theatre, LondonAslan is more substitute Churchill than surrogate Christ in Sally Cookson’s brilliantly inventive production of CS Lewis’s wartime fable
The popularity of CS Lewis�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12PMThursday, November 21, 2019
Gate theatre, LondonDespite Temi Wilkey’s best efforts, including rolling in slime, Tue Biering’s play can’t decide whether it is a critique of utopianism or a message of reassurance
�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMWednesday, November 20, 2019
Shaftesbury theatre, LondonSongs of the prolific Swedish tunesmith are shoehorned into a silly Shakespeare-derived story for this misguided West End musical
Romeo and Juliet, the starting po…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03PMTuesday, November 19, 2019
Noël Coward theatre, LondonSam Tutty shines as the lonely student who fabricates a friendship with a dead boy, but this award-winning musical has plot holes
This musical arrives from the US…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12PMFriday, November 15, 2019
David Greig’s survival-story adaptation has clawed its way to the West End – and it is a triumph of resolve and innovation
When this adaptation of Joe Simpson’s mountaineering memoir, …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AMThursday, November 14, 2019
Hampstead theatre, LondonChinonyerem Odimba’s subtle play is a celebration of female friendship, given an intimate production by Daniel Bailey
There is much to admire in this play by Chin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03PMWednesday, November 13, 2019
Prince Edward theatre, LondonZizi Strallen is excellent as the buoyant nanny in Eyre’s chippy and enduring show, which also calls on Julian Fellowes, Matthew Bourne and Petula Clark
I was …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12PMTuesday, November 12, 2019
Theatre 503, LondonWriter John Webber shows edgy promise with this story of a woman’s contrasting encounters with two men
Like many emerging dramatists, John Webber is an actor. He doesn�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMFriday, November 8, 2019
After two incidents in six years, visitors may need reassurance before they return to the West End
“Don’t clap too hard: it’s a very old building,” says Archie Rice in John Osborne�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM 
