Leeds Playhouse; Stratford East; Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonOliver is both deaf and poor in a sign-language version of Dickens's tale that speaks to 21st-century London. And Frantic Asse…
Bridge; Olivier, London; Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonCloned siblings cast fleeting shadows in a vivid Caryl Churchill revival, while Lesley Manville dazzles in an unwieldy revenge drama…
Wyndham's; Dorfman; Donmar Warehouse, LondonTom Stoppard explores his Jewish heritage in what may be his final play; Rafe Spall delivers a career-changing study in rage; and Caryl Churchill'…
Harold Pinter, London; Leeds Playhouse; Lyric Hammersmith, LondonToby Jones and Rosalind Eleazar make light work of Ian Rickson's overfreighted new Chekhov. Plus, wall-to-wall zombie horror …
There was fearless new work, revelatory sound design and a seismic shift in the tussle between Chekhov and Ibsen. The Observer's theatre critic introduces her 10 best shows of the year My to…
Dorfman; Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; Donmar Warehouse, LondonA Neil Gaiman adaptation delivers spooky childhood spectacle; and the teenage years of Elizabeth I and Richard III Sometimes it is n…
Playhouse; Almeida; Lyttelton, LondonGone is the big nose, while the fighting's a poetry slam in Martin Crimp's ingenious new rapping Cyrano. Plus, The Duchess of Malfi reimagined, and Three…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Bush; Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonA new musical adaptation of David Walliams's book scores on all counts; director Bijan Sheibani makes an …
Noël Coward; Duke of York's; Arcola, LondonA dazzling West End debut lights up a newly arrived Broadway hit, while Joe Simpson's Andes ordeal is all too real on stage, and a jailed report…
Boulevard; Turbine; Kiln, LondonTwo recently opened London theatres make their mark, with love and loss round the camp fire, and a sparky reworking of High Fidelity that just needs a few goo…
Royal Exchange, Manchester; Dorfman; Hampstead, LondonSarah Frankcom signs off in Manchester with elegiac Simon Stephens and a little bit of Jarvis Cocker. Plus, Annie Baker's latest and the…
Donmar Warehouse; Old Vic; Almeida, LondonAlice Birch searches for hope in the criminal justice system, Claire Foy and Matt Smith bring wit to eco angst, and Siobhan Redmond makes a fine Gor…
Leeds Playhouse; Lyric Hammersmith; Royal Court, LondonA powerful verbatim portrayal of women's lives during the Yorkshire Ripper years; a sci-fi classic reborn; and a musical imperialism pr…
Lyttelton; Young Vic, London; Chichester Festival theatreAthol Fugard's masterly apartheid drama still shocks, while compatriot Yaël Farber is transfixed by Marina Carr's lyrical Irish Lo…
Royal Court, London; Curve, LeicesterCaryl Churchill conjures four short, sharp, unconnected plays that add up to one remarkable whole. And a new spin on an 80s film classic What a rapt, int…
Dorfman; Hampstead; Bush, LondonAusterity bites at the National in Alexander Zeldin's intense community centre drama, while a Chinese whistleblowing thriller is lost for words Alexander Zeld…
Old Vic; Lyric Hammersmith, London; Minerva, Chichester Lucy Prebble's take on the Litvinenko murder swivels brilliantly between tragedy and farce, while Ibsen's women still have much to say…
Lyttelton; Duke of York's; Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonAlex Jennings and Lindsay Duncan snipe to perfection as an 80s Tory MP and his wife in a debut play that isn't quite so sharp. Plus,…
Wyndham's; Donmar Warehouse, London; Queen's theatre, HornchurchPhoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag returns in singularly brilliant fashion. Plus, more electrifying drama from Branden Jacob-Jenki…
Almeida, London; Festival theatre, EdinburghRobert Icke concludes his dazzling run at the Almeida with another masterstroke. Plus, Stephen Fry's one-man Greek myths Robert Icke's time as ass…
Two star performances breathe life into Tennessee Williams, Vanessa Redgrave's memories could do with an edit, while Jasmine Lee-Jones is someone to watchTennessee Williams can make the stag…
Manchester international festival; Olivier, LondonTree is less exciting than the row about its authorship, Lolita Chakrabarti works wonders with Italo Calvino's tricky text, and David Hare g…
Donmar Warehouse; Royal Court, London; Curve, LeicesterDavid Greig's play on continental movement still resonates, while the makers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can't summon the magi…
Almeida; Old Vic; Barbican, LondonYoung performers shine in a riveting adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's film about a falsely accused teacher. And Andrew Scott is a Noël Coward natural It…
Garrick; Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire; Bush, LondonJohn Malkovich cannot save David Mamet's lame post-Weinstein satire. Thank heavens for Giffords' groovy circus spectacular Any sex play by …