Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonJessie Wallace and Gary Kemp star in this revival of Frank Norman's nostalgic musical, set in London's shady underworldYou have to abandon all notions of …
Prince Edward theatre, LondonThe opposing forces of communism and capitalism carry strange visual echoes in this production by Laurence ConnorSo how does Boublil and Schönberg's musical…
From Harold Pinter to Harry Potter, Michael Gambon has worked with all the greats. He nearly joined the Royal Ballet too. He talks about crying on cue, his dodgy memory, and the job that got…
Southwark Playhouse, LondonThis Tony award-winning musical makes up for what it lacks in the story department with an exuberant score and outstanding choreographyWhen seen on Broadway in 200…
Everyman, LiverpoolMichael Wynne's lively slice of Mersey life, seen through one family, prompts us to examine difficult home truthsYou could hardly have a more localised piece than this. Mi…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterSimon Armitage's modern mastery of Homer is impressive even if Lily Cole's Helen is not but this production lacks a personal touch You have to admire the skill and…
Shaftesbury theatre, LondonRichard Eyre's joyous production of this 1954 show has an exuberance comparable to that of his National Theatre Guys and DollsIt's a big leap from the Minerva in C…
The play that burned down the Globe theatre in 1613, after a stage cannon ignited the thatch, is a potent farewell to this seriesIt seems strange to end this series of favourite Shakespeare …
The Shed, LondonChinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang uses humour to look at the implications of being racially hyphenated in this peach of a playWhat exactly is racial identity? Doe…
This stormy staple of the Shakespeare canon has appeared in many guises. But the great Giorgio Strehler's Italian version is our critics's top pick. What's your favourite version?I've experi…
Nuffield, SouthamptonThree Noel Coward triple bills in one day might sound daunting, and some of his less admirable attitudes are all too apparent, but this epic show still contains some mas…
Barbican, LondonFiona Shaw is brilliant as the mother of Jesus, and juggles other characters, in an ingenious adaptation of Colm TóibÃn's novella Fiona Shaw on the power of tragedyI ca…
This is a searing study of jealousy and a moving account of transformative magic. What's your favourite version?Where to start? The modern theatre loves The Winter's Tale, most recently seen…
Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonLaudable performances and stage design save the RSC's contemporary makeover of this 16th-century true-crime dramaMuch as I welcome the idea of a Swan season …
The 2001 staging at Shakespeare's Globe, with Mark Rylance tackling a trio of roles, gave clarity to this convoluted playNot a play for rationalists. Dr Johnson wrote of its "unresistin…
This once-unloved play has become both a study of asylum seekers and a show for kids. It still has a potent theatrical magicBen Jonson thought Pericles "a mouldy tale", and few hav…
Laurence Olivier on stage and Ralph Fiennes on film are Michael Billington's favourite versions of this magnificent playI've loved this play ever since I was a revolting Roman citizen in a p…
Nicholas Hytner's production in 2012 turned this unfashionable play into a bitter fable about our credit cultureTimon, wrote Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail, "tends to be dismissed as o…
Judi Dench and Anthony Hopkins impressed as lovers embroiled in the sex and politics of this play. But which other double acts have ruled as Shakespeare's power couple?I've been accused of n…
Paul Scofield, Derek Jacobi and John Wood all excelled in what Kenneth Tynan called a "flawed pyramid of a play". Which other actors have been every inch a king?I have a confession to make. …
From Willard White to Adrian Lester, modern theatre has yielded some terrific Othellos but none more so than Chiwetel EjioforWho should play Othello? In Britain, the last white men to do so…
Once regarded as salacious, Shakespeare's tale of seduction and the abuse of power has proved a natural fit for modern timesThere was a time when this play was considered too indecent for mo…
Finborough, LondonJean-Jacques Bernard's exquisitely poignant tale of a summer romance in the French countryside is brilliantly performed by Hannah Murray and Barnaby Sax"The theatre is…
The tale of a poor physician's daughter who cures a king and claims a husband as reward sits well with modern gender politics. Here are my favourite stagingsThis supposedly unloved comedy of…
Wyndham's, LondonAndrei Konchalovsky's use of film and sexually explicit gestures doesn't always work well on stage, but there are compelling performances in this Russian double bill Andrei …