Park theatre, London Christopher Durang's breezy sextet of plays takes the cast from pique to panic as he explores the insecurities of performing life To complement its main-house productio…
Ustinov Studio, BathThe star mines her family history in this passionate but haphazard ride through socialist resistance to the Nazis This is a show unlike any other. Subtitled "A Family Alb…
Park theatre, LondonA quick-witted Gyles Brandreth, one of 22 stars in action during the run, sleuthed stylishly in this fundraising spoof This is all very jolly. Jez Bond and Mark Cameron h…
Noël Coward theatre, LondonOwen is a disgraced priest, Anna Gunn a widowed hotel keeper in Tennessee William's languorous hymn to human endurance 'Nothing human disgusts me unless it's un…
London PalladiumSheridan Smith and Jason Donovan bring charisma to a jubilant revival " but neither can match the young dreamer at its centre I first saw this show in 1972 when it was a mode…
The Lowry, SalfordInternationaal Theater Amsterdam present a constantly inventive, four-hour staging of the overheated 1943 polemic Ivo van Hove is the most ubiquitous of modern directors. B…
Olivier, LondonHare updates Ibsen's 1867 dramatic poem with wit and ingenuity, resulting in a sharp satire on contemporary mores This play is credited as "by David Hare after Henrik Ibsen".…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonGregory Doran's assured production offers a perfectly judged portrait of public hypocrisy and seething sexuality Gregory Doran is not the first …
Family and politics collide as a British man sets out to unearth his South African roots " and get the audience off their seats This show has the aura of a big event. It helps kickstart the …
Royal Court, LondonBeautifully staged by John Tiffany, Thorne's new drama explores the pitfalls of socialist parenting How does one cope with being reared by radical parents? It's a theme th…
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 …