Royal Court, LondonCordelia Lynn probes middle-class morals in a drama about a family who house a stranger following an attack on LondonThe mysterious visitor whose presence provokes a moral…
Royal Court, LondonJez Butterworth's last play, Parlour Song, transported us to a housing estate on the edge of a dark forest. Now he takes us into the woods for a bucolic frolic depicting t…
It is the hit that transformed British theatre. As Jez Butterworth's epochal drama returns, our critic chooses the 25 best plays since Jerusalem " from exploited boxers to warring kingsFinan…
As Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, Rylance transformed himself into a strutting, muscular figure in Jez Butterworth's haunting study of a changing EnglandBig claims are often made for Mark Rylance. …
Regent's Park Open Air theatre, LondonThis superb production creeps into every corner of the outdoor space, as the battle for children's souls intensifies Britten in the park? A ghost story …
Old Vic, LondonFor the second time in a week we are confronted by a play set in the summer of 1936 dealing with domestic and social upheaval. Like Peter Flannery's Burnt By The Sun, Brian Fr…
Ambassadors theatre, LondonThe actor-playwright finds rich drama in the interaction of war and weather in a show with a powerful contemporary resonance"How can the weather ever be boring?" a…
Minerva, ChichesterWilliam Wycherley's 1675 comedy of manners and morals gets a modern-day update starring Susannah FieldingIs it always necessary to update Restoration comedy? Two months ag…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonLia Williams is superb in David Harrower's adaptation of the novel, directed by Polly FindlayI can think of more urgent requirements for the British theatre than yet …
Almeida, LondonNatalie Abrahami directs Sophie Treadwell's unforgettable portrait of a young woman suffocating at home and workNow is obviously a good time to revive Sophie Treadwell's 1928 …
Park theatre, LondonTorben Betts's social satire about a beleaguered kitchen goddess builds to a bewildering climax of panic and violenceTorben Betts clearly sees cooking as a source of dram…
Whether too avant garde, too shocking or simply unlucky, sometimes a great play doesn't find favour with the public. I'd like to see these given another run " how about you?CE Montague, a fa…
Queen Elizabeth Hall, LondonWatching Huppert's expert differentiation of the Marquis de Sade's Justine and Juliette in solo recital makes you wish she would bring a conventional play to Lond…
Lyttelton, LondonThe Crown's Vanessa Kirby impresses but this updated version of the class-conscious tragedy is overblownPolly Stenham is not the first dramatist to update Strindberg's Miss …
Bridge theatre, LondonElizabeth Strout's novel works outstandingly on stage, thanks to sole performer Linney's nuanced command of the narrativeNovels, depending on the stream of time, rarely…
Orange Tree, RichmondEmily Schwend's play about a mum with two jobs, three kids and a feckless husband pays homage to female enduranceWatching Emily Schwend's prize-winning play about the da…
Finborough, LondonDavid Heneker and Warner Brown's musical captures the heady excitement of the burgeoning movie businessPre-talkies Hollywood constantly seduces musical-makers. This forgott…
Lyttelton theatre, LondonExposing the myth of the happy nuclear family has long been a staple of American drama. If Tracy Letts's play, in a magnificent Chicago Steppenwolf production by Ann…
Trafalgar Studios, London This revival of Tracy Letts's violent play about a grotesquely dysfunctional family keeps the audience uncomfortable Even with a big movie star, Orlando Bloom, in t…
Jermyn Street theatre, LondonThe novelist's debut play depicts the true story of Lady Anne Tree's determination to bring needlecraft to prisoners The novelist Esther Freud (Hideous Kinky) ha…
Bush theatre, LondonThree decades since its debut Winsome Pinnock's pioneering portrayal of the lives of black Britons feels shockingly contemporaryIt is more than 30 years since Winsome Pin…
Olivier, LondonBrian Friel's play about the infinite mysteries of language is richly realised in a meticulous Ian Rickson production, with excellent performances from a strong castBrian Frie…
Duke of York's, LondonForget all the hype about Polly Stenham, at 21, being the youngest West End debutant since Christopher Hampton.What matters is that her 90-minute play, first seen at th…
National Theatre, LondonThe ideas get lost in this violent thriller that explores the political legacy of colonialismBe careful what you wish for. Reviewing Polly Stenham's last play, No Qua…
Theatre Royal Haymarket, LondonChristopher Hampton's erratic California-set adaptation features strong performances by Audrey Fleurot and Paul Anderson, but its lack of coherence is not just…