New adaptation of Patrick Hamilton novel is thinly written and poorly stagedThe second world war is central to our national imagination, yet it has been oddly absent from our stages recently…
Brand-new London theatre is wonderful, but its first show is disappointingGiven the rather uneven record of the National Theatre at the moment, there's already a certain nostalgia for the da…
This site-specific revival of 1953 courtroom drama works like a treatSome site-specific theatre feels like a really good fit. You could say, in this case, that it seems like poetic justice. …
New play about gay parenthood suffers from an identity crisisA new baby is like an alien invasion: it blows your mind and it colonises your world. For any couple, parenthood can be both exal…
Doctor Foster writer explores Englishness with enormous metaphoric zealProlific writer Mike Bartlett is the most impressive penman to have emerged in British theatre in the past decade. The …
New two-hander is a stylized account of a nihilistic realityWhat does it mean to feel contemporary? Feel. Contemporary. According to theatre-maker Chris Thorpe, whose new play Victory Condit…
Anne-Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham in unconvincing rom-comPlaywright Simon Stephens and director Marianne Elliott are hyped as a winning partnership. Their previous collaborations include T…
Comedy about Labour Party history is starry, but tediously overblownProlific playwright James Graham aspires to be nothing if not timely. His latest, a play about the Labour Party, was origi…
New Chilean play about terrorism is satirical, but ends up non-committalIn the 1960s, we had the theatre of commitment; today we have an attitude of non-committal. Once, political playwright…
Heartwarming new play about young love is good fun, if a bit slenderLocation, location, location. Jim thinks he lives in the "shittiest" small town in Scotland. It's Mallaig, on the west coa…
Award-heavy American play about the Oslo Accords is highly entertainingDocumentary theatre has a poor reputation. It's boring in form, boring to look at (all those middle-aged men in suits),…
Playwright August Strindberg goes psychotic in Howard Brenton's latestAnyone who likes playing "Spot the weirdo" will find themselves instantly at home in Howard Brenton's new play, which ha…
Anniversary revival of Joe Orton's farce is a delight from start to finishFifty years ago this month, playwright Joe Orton was murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell. His debut play, Entert…
The star director's revival of a nineties classic is atmospheric but unconvincing Hark, is that the call of the earth I hear? In a frenetic urban world, the myth of rural simplicity exerts a…
New American drama about God and violence is baggy, but often brilliantLuke is a Silicon Valley billionaire, a high-tech wizard. And he's just had a message from God. And what does God say? …
New play about democracy is entertaining, but a bit too tricksy A new plague is sweeping British theatre: audience participation. Instead of just sitting back and enjoying the show, your vis…
Broadway legend Stockard Channing dominates this family dramaThe 1960s were "hilarious", says one young character in this revival, starring Broadway icon Stockard Channing, of Alexi Kaye Cam…
New drama about surrogacy is rich in metaphor and fraught with conflictSurrogacy is an emotionally fraught subject. The arrangement by which one woman gives birth to another's baby challenge…
Rupert Murdoch saga by 'This House' playwright is too detailed and overblownThe recent general election result proves that the power of rightwing press has diminished considerably in the dig…
Audience participation cannot save a trial that suffocates in abstractionCan the theatre be a courtroom? A good public place to debate morality and to arrive at profound decisions. You could…
New American satire about families only rarely hits the markDonald Trump's electoral success was, we have been told, fueled by the anger of the American working class. But how do you show th…
Katie Mitchell returns with a powerful account of depression and despairDorothy Parker's take on suicide is called "Resumé": it goes, "Razors pain you; Rivers are damp; Acids stain you; And…
New play about fatherhood and masculinity has an enjoyably global reachThe strapline for this joyful show is: "One day; six cities; a thousand stories". Allowing for hyperbole, this is just …
Epic new play about the Enclosures gets bogged down in obscurityHistory is a tricky harlot. She is bought and sold, fought for and thrown over, seduced and betrayed " and always at the mercy…
Three monologues brilliantly summon up a punchy world of pain and violenceThe monologue is a terrific theatre form. Using this narrative device, you can cover huge amounts of storytelling te…