From Cabaret to Streetcar, the West End's hottest director has a reputation for finding leads who put bums on seats. 'I just go on my gut,' she says How do you tell a story to an audience wh…
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonThis bright, bold show tries to balance humour and darkness but tends to land on the silly side of things Michelle Terry's Puck is an agent of chaos. She slinks an…
Theatre Royal BrightonSearing collection of diary excerpts, brought to life by prominent queer voices, recalls the devastation of Aids with fury and frankness A mesmeric reckoning with the d…
Southwark Playhouse, LondonMaltese duo use firsthand interviews " and warm humour " to highlight the lack of reproductive rights on the island When Marta Vella says "I love Malta" there is a…
Soho theatre, LondonThis debut from disability-led theatre company FlawBored is not afraid to make us squirm as it skewers virtue signalling and corporate buzzwords What starts as an audio-d…
Royal Court theatre, LondonTatenda Shamiso sings delighted duets with the person he once was and considers the logistical hurdles he has jumped to access treatment Warmly lit on a cluttered …
Donmar Warehouse, LondonStephen Mangan and Rachael Stirling bare their teeth in a show that dials up the violence and sometimes struggles to navigate the humour Love is a tempestuous, abusiv…
John Lyly's long-forgotten Galatea " featuring gods, mortals and a highly elastic approach to gender and sex " is being revived at the Brighton festival. We meet the team behind it Wickedly…
Adaptations of existing media get new fans in the building, but they also rob new plays of space Pay attention to the posters lining the walls of Tube stations, and at least half of the stag…
With everything from Bake Off to Pretty Woman putting bums on seats in Theatreland, launching an original homegrown production is harder than ever. But might salvation be at hand in the unli…
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonAnne Reid shines in this delicately written drama about a woman with dementia living with a robot re-creation of her late husband as a young man Jordan Harris…
Reading Rep theatreIt makes sense to rethink the sexual currents running through the classic drama, but this version has lost the nuance it needs Queering Hedda Gabler feels completely natur…
Influenced by the music of Billy Bragg, Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf, After the Act explores the culture of fear and self-censorship caused by the law, voted through by the Tories during moral …
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Shakespeare's Globe, LondonAs this ambitious production switches between stages, and deaths pile up like dishes, neither the comedy nor the tragedy have room to b…
Gate theatre, LondonInventive direction and a spectacular cast make the London transfer of Robert O'Hara's kaleidoscopic off-Broadway play a spiralling, high-energy triumph Robert O'Hara is …
Having starred in some of Britain's biggest TV shows, the pair are taking to the stage for Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, a minimalist two-hander where words are strictly rationed. And …
Petty France, LondonTaking part in a trial shift to help coma patients wake up, the tension grows as it slowly becomes clear why you're really mining strangers' secrets A deliciously uneasy …
Fire the glitter cannons! Unleash the water pistols! The panto season is here. But how did the cross-dressing dame become so central to the tradition? And in an age of gender fluidity, shoul…
The disruptive artist's new show is a boisterous evening, with her brazen persona an exhilarating challenge for audiences Lucy McCormick's half-naked body is covered in tomato puree. The flo…
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonIn this coruscating production from Headlong and Shakespeare's Globe, Henry's grasp for power is cast in a stark light The king is weeping as his subjects sing…
Jermyn Street theatre, LondonThe cast's hard work can't save a confused script that struggles to mine comedy from a desperately sad story A gentle chuckle is never the aim of a great farce. …
The Star Trek actor is making his West End debut in a play about the 1968 US TV political debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley. But he fears the pair's fiery exchanges may be par…
Theatre503, LondonMatthew Gabrielli's play about abusive online culture cleverly uses puppets as trolls but feels didactic Everyone knows you should never respond to trolls. In Zombiegate, a…
Soho theatre, LondonDirected by Blanche McIntyre, Nathan Ellis's drama serves as a reminder of what cuts are doing to our health service but it tells more than it shows The bone-deep exhaust…
Soho theatre, LondonThe raucous folk songs, open-hearted performances and tender love story make this queer gig-theatre romcom a delight Gently directed by Ria Parry, this is a queer romcom …