Orange Tree, Richmond In this revival of Storey’s 1989 play, set during the Thatcher era, a poignant celebration subtly turns into a state-of-the-nation drama There could no better tribute…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMMore than any other director, Sir Peter Hall shaped British theatre. As he turns 80, he tells Michael Billington about his doubts about the new RSC building and his dismay at fighting arts c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AMHamilton hits London, Bryan Cranston’s news anchor goes berserk, Wayne McGregor turns his DNA into dance, Mae Martin revisits her teen addictions and Toyah Willcox is a time-travelling que…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AMCharing Cross theatre, LondonThis adaptation of Jack Rosenthal’s TV film brings back the desperate drivers and their sadistic examiner – but does the story belong on stage?Any adaptation…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42PMRoyal Exchange, ManchesterFamilies lie at the heart of drama. And Simon Stephens' new play, co-commissioned by the National Theatre and the Royal Exchange, offers a sensitive study of three …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18AMBelgrade theatre, Coventry A dazzling ensemble play dogs and chickens, as well as brutal soldiers and their prisoners, in this account of the horrors of the gulagHelena Kaut-Howson is one of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMNational Theatre, LondonImelda Staunton is unforgettable in Dominic Cooke’s ingenious revival of a musical that perfectly fuses splendour and poetic sadnessAlthough it has legions of admir…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:04PMOlivier, LondonHelen McCrory excels in this modern-dress take on Euripides that is alive with complexity and psychological astutenessAfter her success with Ibsen's A Doll's House, Carrie Cra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18PMBirmingham RepStuffed with gags and overflowing with an easygoing, laid-back liberalism, this comedy about a vinyl-shop owner fighting developers has the feel of a stonking hitIf there is a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48PMDonmar Warehouse, LondonHollywood star shines in limited run production directed by Kenneth Branagh and designed to raise funds for RadaFew shows are seemingly more exclusive than this. Tom …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PMFinborough, LondonGeoffrey Beevers’ production of little-known play about the moral fissures within an upper middle-class family is a razor-sharp take on a quietly subversive workAs a refo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AMPark theatre, LondonFrom the necrophilia to the suggestion Christ was framed, the playwright’s most dangerous work – performed without the censor’s cuts for the first time – shows Or…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AMDonmar Warehouse, LondonDavid Harrower’s 1995 play, with its deceptively simple premise of a woman finding articulacy, offers insight into the power of language to shape our humanity If on…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04AMMinerva, ChichesterInjustice, inequality, power and passion drive the plot of this remarkable play which still rings horribly true a century after it was writtenGitha Sowerby’s remarkable …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:04PMWhishaw is quietly charismatic in this play with lofty philosophical ambitions but which ignores the social and political history behind today’s violenceBen Whishaw is a highly sympathetic…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AMShakespeare’s Globe, London On a stripped-back stage, Nancy Meckler’s production locates Lear in a world of deprivation, broken family relationships and bubbling anger‘No disco-dancing…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMDorfman, London Rob Drummond presents us with questions such as whether violence is a legitimate weapon of political protest but there’s not enough room for real debateVoting is becoming t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMKing’s theatre, EdinburghAlan Ayckbourn’s Handmaid’s Tale-esque projection of a plague-ravaged future contains many nice ironies and performances, but strains patience over its six hou…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18AMUstinov Studio, BathHenry Goodman is utterly convincing in Alan Franks’ one-man play about Lucian Freud, with stories of his models, from the Krays to the QueenA solo play about a painter …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AMTraverse, EdinburghDomestic friction and a guilty history set the scene for powerful performances in Douglas Maxwell’s new playSubtlety is not the prime asset of Douglas Maxwell’s new pl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AMAlbert Finney sobbed like an animal, Harold Pinter ramped up the terror and John Hurt even resembled Beckett himself. Now, at the Edinburgh festival, Barry McGovern takes on the role that ne…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AMThe Scottish playwright’s take on an Ionesco classic comes with added festival gags, while her drama Meet Me at Dawn looks at the difficulty of letting goThree works by the Scottish dramat…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMChurch Hill theatre, Edinburgh Two boys endure stormy seas and slave labour as they journey from Kabul to London this highly imaginative productionHow do you begin to recreate the refugee ex…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AMTrafalgar Studios, LondonThe West Wing and Grease star takes the lead in this revival of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s play, but is let down by unresolved contradictionsStockard Channing, star of …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AMGarrick, LondonNeal Foster has created a gentle, genial show based on the bestselling book about a boy and his gran joining forces for a heist at the Tower of LondonDavid Walliams bounced on…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AMA theatrical adaptation of the Hitchcock classic finds clever ways to rework film techniques – and is the latest example of how the screen is influencing the stageHollywood in its infancy …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32AMRoyal Court, LondonLemn Sissay stars in a revival of Jim Cartwright’s 1986 account of a community scarred by unemployment that couldn’t be more relevant or rousingJim Cartwright’s play…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AMFinborough theatre, LondonCicely Hamilton’s feminist play from 1911, exposing the plight of women forced to use marriage to gain their independence, is full of attackCicely Hamilton (1872-…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AMMenier Chocolate Factory, LondonWith the help of a vibrant ensemble, Luke Sheppard tells the earnest diarist’s much-loved story with wit, craft and crackling Cuban dance numbersSurprisingl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AMOld Vic, LondonA superb cast use Bob’s back catalogue to glorious effect in Conor McPherson’s astonishing cross-section of hope and stoic suffering in Depression-era MinnesotaThis is the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PMDorfman, LondonOlivias Williams and Colman give a spellbinding account of sibling strife in this wonderfully ambitious play set during the Higgs boson breakthroughLucy Kirkwood has proved, w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM
