Lyric Hammersmith, LondonMichael Frayn's witty parody of backstage antics endures in an entertaining production that hit a real-life on-stage glitch What irony! Just as Michael Frayn's famou…
Chiswick House, LondonCal McCrystal brings a woozy vibe to Giffords Circus, though these hippies are versatile performers and formidable athletes We expect a display of random skills. But th…
Minerva, Chichester Nancy Carroll is magnificent as a woman shamed by a failed affair with a younger man, in a play that seethes with postwar English anger Two critics, a Young Turk and an O…
Donmar Warehouse, London David Greig's 1994 play about yearning for a united Europe as fascists gather strength is deeply resonant Refugees desperately seek shelter, neo-fascist thugs roam …
Almeida, LondonRupert Goold directs a taut adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's film about an innocent man falling prey to clannish locals Back in 2004 the Almeida had a big hit with a stage ve…
Old Vic, London Scott is richly funny as a peacocking Peter Pan whose theatrical bohemia is threatened by outsiders Andrew Scott gives a virtuosic performance in Noël Coward's imperishabl…
Finborough, LondonDion Boucicault's convoluted melodrama is elevated by the earnestness and imagination of Phil Willmott's canny revival "Spare me the theatricals," pleads a character in Dio…
Vaudeville theatre, LondonLev Dodin's masterly production allows the actors to truly inhabit their roles and presents a familiar play afresh We live in an age of director's theatre. But the …
Barbican, LondonThis adaptation of Luchino Visconti's 1969 film, performed by the Comédie-Française, is full of startling set pieces When Luchino Visconti's movie, The Damned, opened in …
Garrick theatre, LondonJohn Malkovich works overtime to squeeze depth into David Mamet's predatory Hollywood tycoon Barney Fein David Mamet's new play, we are assured, is fiction and any res…
Bush theatre, LondonNancy Medina directs a slow-burning story of a family caught between two cultures in 80s Britain As part of its policy of reviving neglected plays by writers of colour, t…
Orange Tree, RichmondSuperb performances power the ingeniously plotted story of a young earl's marriage to the daughter of an impoverished duke The whirligig of time, as Shakespeare observed…
Chichester Festival theatreRachael Stirling is excellent in Kate Hewitt's invigorating production of a play about individual and national unease There seems a cunning plan to Chichester's pr…
Royal and Derngate, NorthamptonRivalry and shared guilt combine as Pope Benedict XVI meets his successor, Pope Francis, in Anthony McCarten's drama Having written films about Winston Church…
Ustinov, BathStrong performances buoy up a lightweight story about characters fated to fulfil the destinies of their fictional namesakes I find it mildly astonishing that this piece won the …
Bridge theatre, London Festive fun, ear-nibbling and high-wire antics infuse Nicholas Hytner's startling role-reversal production A promenade Julius Caesar was one of the Bridge's biggest hi…
White Bear, LondonSophie Treadwell's long-lost tale of Freudian fear gets its first outing with a cast who foster high tension in an intimate venue Sophie Treadwell is best known for her exp…
Barbican, LondonA pair of Lion King fans blunder into a highbrow drama in Declan Donnellan's gallant update of the class-collision comedy In Francis Beaumont's 1607 burlesque, a grocer and h…
Kiln, LondonSamuel Adamson's stimulating family saga revolves around A Doll's House and is inventively staged by Indhu Rubasingham The slam of the door at the end of A Doll's House was, said…
The Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonPrasanna Puwanarajah's edge-of-the-seat revival of Thomas Otway's 1682 tragedy looks like Blade Runner but deals in age-old themes of hypocrisy, corruption and e…
Old Red Lion, LondonEmma Hemingford's promising debut gets under the skin of a troubled relationship and refuses to take sides Emma Hemingford has written and co-stars in this promising debu…
Wyndhams, LondonKenneth Lonergan's tale of astronomy and midlife misery makes fine use of an A-list cast but never truly explodes into life With Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth McGovern head…
Lyttelton, LondonAllam shines as the tyrannical capitalist patriarch at the heart of Githa Sowerby's powerful story of a society in transition It has been exactly 25 years since a National T…
King's Head theatre, LondonKnown for her sharp tongue and love affairs, the eccentric Australian actor is celebrated in this entertaining one-woman show If the title is outrageous, so was th…
Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonAugust Wilson's overheated story of an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life is buoyed by an energetic cast with meaty roles The parts are sometimes bigge…