A refurbished version of the 1963 Tommy Steele vehicle has opened in the West End and joins a string of stellar homegrown hitsIt is an odd, but intriguing, fact that Oh! What a Lovely War an…
Following the hip-hop musical's special message to the US vice-president elect, here's a selection of great American shows that could enlighten him and his bossEveryone knows what happened w…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonFears that digital technology would upstage the actors are scotched in this RSC production starring Simon Russell BealeSimon Russell Beale's ret…
Royal Court, LondonIn EV Crowe's teasing tale, the suspicion and rebellion among rural women in 1700s England lead to troubling questions about the modern worldEV Crowe tends to write about …
Union theatre, LondonThe story of Women's Institute members fighting to decriminalise sex work did not deserve the Carry On treatmentThere is a good show to be written about the 10-year camp…
Gate, LondonJonas Hassen Khemiri's disturbing, topical exploration of what it's like to be a foreigner in the aftermath of a terrorist attack is stalled by a series of flashbacksWhat must it…
New London TheatreWhen Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes let down their hair, the results are hardly anti-establishment. But the kids are genuinely talented and this is good-natured entertain…
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonClaire van Kampen mixes story and song superbly in a tale about the celebrated castratoPlays about mad kings are always popular. After Alan Bennett's portrait …
Chichester festival theatreEverything slots perfectly into place in this glorious evocation of American vaudeville's tackinessIf proof were needed of the power of the traditional Broadway mu…
Southwark Playhouse, LondonMatt Grinter's play vividly captures the pressure to conform as a girl in an isolated fishing community tries to prevent a devastating mythical ritual The Papatang…
King's Cross theatre, LondonDavid Bowie and Enda Walsh's sequel to The Man Who Fell to Earth is staged with visual sophistication by Ivo van Hove but it's rarely emotionally engagingHelp fun…
Jermyn Street theatre, LondonTwo short plays by the Swedish dramatist show that his female characters can be just as varied and vivid as the menThe title sounds like a provocation, given Str…
Park theatre, LondonJonathan Maitland's new work about an ambitious runner and her coach shows that there is no such thing as a level playing field in sportJonathan Maitland, as a journalist…
Minerva, ChichesterThis return to star-driven Shakespeare has in Frank Langella a commanding Lear still driven by a craving for loveWe are used to director's Shakespeare. This production, wh…
Theatre Royal, BathDavid Haig, like the late Nigel Hawthorne, follows an acclaimed performance in Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III by playing Shakespeare's deranged monarch. But, alt…
Old Vic, LondonJackson ends a 25-year absence with a ferocious, unflinching performance that transcends gender and puts her among the best LearsHelp fund our journalism by becoming a Guardia…
Vaudeville, LondonKatherine Parkinson is hilarious in Terry Johnson's revival of his 1994 drama about a group of emotionally deficient comedy obsessivesImages of Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonWhat are the hottest tickets in London theatre? Patrick Stewart's Macbeth, Ian McKellen's Lear and what will now be known as Chiwetel Ejiofor's Othello. For director …
Birmingham RepMcDiarmid delivers the paradoxical politician's 'rivers of blood' speech in Chris Hannan's new play which switches between the 1960s and the 90sThe Rep seems the right place fo…
Donmar Warehouse, LondonPatrick Marber is not the first person to give Molière's comedy a makeover. Only two years ago Neil Bartlett transposed the action to a belle-époque hotel. But, whi…
Wyndham's Theatre, LondonArt is not a competition. Since, however, this is the second Much Ado in five days, comparisons are inevitable. And, while Jeremy Herrin's version at Shakespeare's G…
The Boston Globe's initiative to fund a classical music critic by nonprofit groups raises troubling questions for arts critics on both sides of the AtlanticAll critics cherish their independ…
Found111, London Shepard's 1983 play about incestuous love " revived with Adam Rothenberg and Lydia Wilson " has lost something of its visceral powerSome plays grow richer with time. I can't…
Finborough, LondonHoward Brenton's play about the ringleader of a chaotic squat is given a timely revival by Josh RocheHoward Brenton's play dates from 1973: a period when Britain was every …
Olivier theatre, London Musicians are thrust centre stage to epic effect in Michael Longhurst's revival, and Lucian Msamati is excellent as the composer locked in battle with the divinePeter…