Mark Ravenhill's new play is a fragmentary audio autobiography Does a subjective theatre piece encourage a subjective critical response? I think it might, especially when it's a memory play…
Film version of the Oscar Wilde classic is a brilliant critique of the digital age Let's face it, most adaptations of classic novels are disappointingly pedestrian. They are so middle-of-the…
Latest show from Chris Bush is a celebration of local stoicism and wry humour All theatre is local " if you can't get to where a show is playing you can't see it. That is, until a pandemic c…
Film version of 2019 monologue about institutional racism is brilliant As the events of last year made clear, the police have a problem with race on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, B…
Film version of award-winning show about young offenders has more power than plot Film is the new theatre " this we know, but does the distance imposed by the change of medium increase or de…
New monologue is a shout out for trans and non-gender-conforming rights Travis Alabanza is black, trans, queer and proud. And they've got a lot to be proud about. In 2016, they were the youn…
The Dickens classic, as adapted by this venue's artistic director, shakes its holly A Christmas Carol is a seasonal standard. In a normal year, there are a couple of versions to be enjoyed, …
Film adaptation of Jonathan Coe's 1994 bestseller is a postmodern masterpiece Classical murder mysteries end with a neat solution " and with the arrest of the perpetrator. Postmodern murder …
Lillian Hellman meets a handful of other female greats in an imaginary dinner party Feuds make good theatre. I mean, look at the furious 1970s spat between playwright Lillian Hellman and cri…
Return of one-woman show about growing up is disappointingly thin Success smells sweet. The Bridge Theatre's pioneering season of one-person plays continues with sell-out performances of Dav…
Masterly revival of Inua Ellams's 2016 autobiographical one-man show When the history of British theatre's response to COVID-19 comes to be written, the names of two men will feature promine…
Simon Stephens and Juliet Stevenson create the perfect installation for our times Wowee! Twenty weeks after the last time I set foot in a theatre, I was able to visit a venue once more. Hell…
Athena Stevens's punchy account of how an airline trashed her wheelchair During the current pandemic, stories about isolation have a particular resonance. Feelings of claustrophobia, lonelin…
A festival of responses to the Black Lives Matter campaign is personal, political and powerful The strength of the response to the re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter campaign has provoke…
NT archive recording of Lorraine Hansberry's last play is absolutely compelling Lorraine Hansberry's debut, A Raisin in the Sun, was the first drama written by a black woman to be produced o…
Film version of a loud and proud 2017 tribute to Ian Dury and the Blockheads If any musical can live up to this title in these troubled times, it must be this show from Graeae, a theatre co…
NT Live recording of this classic Young Vic production is genuinely unmissable The National Theatre's triumphant march through its archive of NT Live recordings continues this week with a gl…
Revival of 2011 HighTide hit reconceived for streaming stars Diana Quick During lockdown, some of the best online theatre has been shows that are specially created for this digital format. M…
NT Live version of this iconic tale of creative hubris features a dynamic acting duo So far, it could be said that the National Theatre is having a good lockdown. Every week, this flagship s…
Howard Brenton's docu-drama about the harassment of the Chinese artist is defiantly brilliant London's Hampstead Theatre has recently been very successful in bringing some of its best shows …
Emma Rice's version of Angela Carter's last novel is a celebration of alternative families Reviewing theatre now means reviewing film. Knowing that Emma Rice's Old Vic 2018 production of Wis…
Gloriously surreal monologue about everyday anxieties in extraordinary circumstances She's an ordinary young woman, and she really doesn't know what to think. After all, things are way out o…
BBC film version of a Renaissance rape trial is powerfully resonant and completely relevant Artemisia Gentileschi has definitely had a hard time. Although she was an outstanding Renaissance …
NT Live version of this masterpiece of farce is now available for free Armchair theatre-lovers rejoice. During the lockdown, the National Theatre is streaming a selection of its past hits fo…
Original Theatre's tartan gothic thriller is complex but also a bit overwrought With everyone in lockdown, observing physical if not social distancing, a story about isolation can have a pa…