Middlemarch review – World’s Greatest Novel hurtles from costume drama to jolting marital tragedy by Arifa Akbar

Swan theatre, Stratford-Upon-AvonThis RSC staging of the sprawling middle England masterpiece has humour, compassion – and even George Eliot herself as a characterIs there a literary achie…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:45pm on October 29, 2026☆⚑

The Sea review – Jennifer Saunders takes fussing over buying curtains to Shakespearean levels by Holly O'Mahony

Theatre Royal BathEdward Bond’s play about consumerism and the strength of humans in dark times is hugely enlivened by Saunders and her tight-lipped pomposityWhen describing his own play, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:25am on October 29, 2026☆⚑

Girls review – a story of friendship amidst extreme misogynist violence by Arifa Akbar

Young Vic, LondonRecalling Boko Haram’s abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, Theresa Ikoko’s fierce and tender play reveals how three teenagers find hope and laughter under the mo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:40am on October 28, 2026☆⚑

‘Fear is contagious’: why horror shows are taking over the New York stage by Benjamin Lee

Hit London plays 2:22, Paranormal Activity and A Ghost in Your Ear are now spooking audiences on and off Broadway amid high demand for communal experiencesAs we escaped the restrictions of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:00am on October 28, 2026☆⚑

The Master Builder review – false swagger and queasy infidelity propel Ibsen’s big-drop drama by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonDavid Edgar’s translation grounds Ibsen’s otherworldly play about a middle-aged architect’s fall from power, but its flaws are too loud to ignoreThis outing of He…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:00pm on October 27, 2026☆⚑

‘A dog would get treated better than a drag queen in Hollywood’: Alaska on prejudice and leading Oh, Mary! by Owen Myers

The RuPaul’s Drag Race alum on queer visibility, politics and starring in Cole Escola’s smash comedyAlaska may be starring in the most subversive comedy in American theater today, but sh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:00am on October 27, 2026☆⚑

Cheer up, Scrooge! The merriest Christmas theatre shows, from musketeers to a penguin party by Arifa Akbar

The festive season brings swashbuckling adventure, heartwarming Antarctic antics, a yuletide spin on Pride and Prejudice and Matthew Bourne’s CinderellaRoyal Exchange theatre, Manchester, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:20am on October 27, 2026☆⚑

‘I laughed so hard my Tampax fell out’: Michael Gambon’s pranks revealed by the stars he cracked up by Chris Wiegand

He made Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter fart, left Judi Dench unable to control herself and told a fry-up fantasy about Helen Mirren. A new biography details the star’s mischiefJasper Re…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:00am on October 26, 2026☆⚑

As mega-hit Into the Woods wows the West End, what’s the secret weapon of this Sondheim spectacular? by David Jays

With its shimmering forest and its plunge into darkness and destruction, this fairytale romp bagged an Olivier for its lighting – and, reveals designer Aideen Malone, it wasn’t even fini…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 4:40am on October 26, 2026☆⚑

The Pianist review – Władysław Szpilman’s Holocaust memoir retold with his own music by Arifa Akbar

Park theatre, LondonThis adaptation is perhaps too smooth but is well-staged and performed, and draws strong feeling from the pianist’s compositionsThe idea of turning the survival story o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:30am on October 26, 2026☆⚑

Derren Brown turns into Nostradamus – and I predict you’ll submit to one gasp-inducing stunt after another by Brian Logan

Apollo theatre, LondonProphecies are impossibly fulfilled by the superstar who takes his cue from the legendary French seer in his show Only HumanDo we have free will – or are the words I …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:45am on October 25, 2026☆⚑

Swoon! London City Ballet are positively glowing in a night of dreams – and ghosts from dance history by Lyndsey Winship

Sadler’s Wells, LondonAlina Cojocaru astonishes in John Neumeier’s Ghost Light, an ethereal meditation on time, while Glen Tetley’s Firebird has much to cherishA ghost light is the nam…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:10pm on October 23, 2026☆⚑

Stranger things turn an English village upside down in Max Porter’s rural noir Lanny by Arifa Akbar

Bristol Old VicA family are just getting used to their new home in this haunting drama when a parallel world emergesOverheard in the auditorium during the interval: it’s like Tales of the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 8:45am on October 23, 2026☆⚑

‘Hot Santa’, Raging Bull and a Toy Story vibe help to rebuild The Snowman for a new generation by Lyndsey Winship

More than 30 years after Raymond Briggs’ story became a stage show, director Will Tuckett and Paddington designer Tahra Zafar have given it a hi-tech refresh with a hunky Saint Nick“Top …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:05am on October 23, 2026☆⚑

Flo & Joan: With Feeling review – sisters turn an old rock setlist into hilariously neurotic songs by Brian Logan

Shepherd’s Bush Empire, LondonRichly wrought lyrical wit and sumptuous harmonies enhance the duo’s clever new show – along with plenty of backchatThe last time Flo & Joan played Sh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 4:40pm on October 22, 2026☆⚑

This mighty cry for a goddess to help Earth proves Dickson Mbi is a bold force in dance by Lyndsey Winship

Sadler’s Wells East, LondonThe Olivier-winner draws on his Cameroonian heritage in a visceral show, with music and movement that speak as oneDickson Mbi won an Olivier award for his last m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:15pm on October 22, 2026☆⚑

‘Bodies, pornography and disgust’: did 2 Girls 1 Cup change the way a generation thinks about sex? by Joey Sims

A New York theater show about the infamous viral video explores the effects of growing up with internet pornAmong the first questions posed in Two Girls, a verbatim play reconstructing the e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:00am on October 22, 2026☆⚑

Martin Guerre review – return of Les Mis duo’s melodrama reveals a surprise new hero by Arifa Akbar

Old Vic theatre, LondonMatthew Warchus directs a radical and intimate revival of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s musical about a Frenchman who flees homeSome revivals overstat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:50am on October 22, 2026☆⚑

West End to get another lesson from The History Boys two decades on by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

Nation’s favourite play makes London comeback amid renewed debate about future of humanities teachingThe History Boys is to return to the West End for the first time in two decades, with a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 4:45am on October 22, 2026☆⚑

‘Wow, logging that as a microaggression!’ Sophie Duker on trolling masculinity, lesbian cruises and her stripper fantasy by Interview By Liam Pape

The standup on the bizarre gifts she’s received from fans, the intoxicating power of being an author and manifesting her ‘fiercely intellectual slutty grandma’How did you get into come…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:30am on October 22, 2026☆⚑

860 review – Billy Crystal’s charisma powers rambling one-man play by Juan A Ramírez

Imperial Theatre, New York CityThe veteran actor charms with stories about his colorful life and losing his home in the LA fires while taking jabs at TrumpIn his review of the 1986 buddy com…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:00pm on October 21, 2026☆⚑

Ilford Boy review – Barbra Streisand teaches teen to smile about the way we are by Kate Wyver

Donmar Warehouse, LondonIn Danny Lee Wynter’s drama, a quiet boy struggles amid the swirl of his family until a mercurial friend offers him another futureBroad Essex accents fill the stage…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:55pm on October 21, 2026☆⚑

Our Friends in the North: The Thatcher Years review – old pals back on the toon as TV series gets squished by Mark Lawson

Theatre Royal, NewcastleThey have appeared in epic BBC dramas since their RSC debut but Peter Flannery’s immortal foursome now return in an 80s-focused playThe four thwarted, postwar north…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:40am on October 21, 2026☆⚑

High School Musical review – Disney fave is sweet, slick and as squeaky clean as ever by Holly O'Mahony

Troubadour Wembley Park theatre, LondonHarry Judd is the coach while KayCee Stroh from the original movies is back to play a teacher in the hoop-shooting, pompom-waving romanceSince soaring …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:25am on October 21, 2026☆⚑

Standup Jon Richardson on turning his dark teenage diaries into a tearjerking memoir: ‘I couldn’t sugarcoat those years’ by Brian Logan

While facing grief, illness and a very public breakup, the comic reached for his diaries – and found a happy kid who spiralled into despair. Inspired by a Nobel laureate, he wrote a frank,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55am on October 21, 2026☆⚑