88 stories by "The Tyro Theatre Critic"
After their gobsmackingly brilliant "A Midsummer Night's Dream", I came dashing back for Iris Theatre's "Die Fledermaus". Despite many of the cast's best efforts I came away rather disappoin…
Film-to-stage musicals have seldom come with such theatrically vivid productions. Matthew Warchus and his team have put together a staging of some brilliance. It's a pity the musical itself …
Insanely smart tutor terrifying students. It's like a flash-back to the worst bits of my time at university. Simon Gray's superb "Butley" is a play whose humour only disguises the sadness at…
An adaptation of Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" performed entirely in Arabic. I can see why this wasn't a hot ticket. A pity really as Shiber Hur's production is terrific. In some regards its…
I haven't been more bemused since "Xanadu". "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" is a relentless wave of outrageous costumes, sets and jokes. The score is a pile up of pop hits from the 60s, 70s…
With virtually zero advertising I very nearly missed the National's latest trendy venture: "Double Feature in the Paintframe". It's lucky I didn't as having caught the first preview of the f…
Wet to the bone and shivering, I should have hated every minute of this. Outdoor promenade theatre is always a gamble but no matter what the weather (and believe me, I struck the worst of it…
Closing off their season The Royal Opera have managed to make all that came before instantly forgotten. "Tosca" as sung by Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel under the baton of…
The return of Hofesh Shechter's Political Mother is something to be cherished. Especially since the piece has come back leaner and meaner but with a bit more warmth. A tidal wave of vivid mo…
The National Theatre describe "A Woman Killed with Kindness" as "Fast-moving, frightening and erotic: a major play in a radical production". It is none of these things. It's quite slow, not …
When Wayne Sleep playing a nine year old in an unfeasibly over the top manner is the highlight of the evening you've got to worry a bit. Especially when the lead couple are the virtually pee…
To make a great "Madama Butterfly" you need more than just a great Butterfly, you need two great leading men. The Royal Opera's latest revival of their, let's be honest, rather turgid produc…
Take one semi-obscure classic, perform in dark, grim, shadowy sets with gorgeous costumes and evocative lighting. It's hard not to see the Donmar Warehouse as just a little formulaic. It's a…
"London Road" could well be described as a musical about prostitute murders. It really isn't though. It's a piece of theatre about community, both its strengths and weaknesses. A triumph of …
An Operatic murder-mystery? All credit to everyone behind "Two Boys": in the world of contemporary opera, it really is a bit different. A Metropolitan opera commission given its premiere at …
Magic. Pure Magic. To round out what can only be described as a pretty mixed season the Royal Opera have delivered something of a triumph. Stellar casting, a production of pure delight and a…
Back on home soil and down to Glyndebourne for that most delightful of operatic champagnes "L'Elisir d'amore". As a production it isn't the most exciting, a fairly generic updating with only…
Verdi's "Otello" from the Opéra National de Paris in the Opéra Bastille with a cast including Renee Fleming couldn't have looked better on paper. The reality was altogether different. A di…
"Emperor and Galilean" is in a great many ways exactly the sort of drama the National Theatre should be attempting. A totally uncommercial classic that would never have been seen without the…
Mike Bartlett's "Earthquakes in London" thrilled but lost its full message somewhere in the epic sprawl. "Love, Love, Love" is on the face of it a far simpler tale, a focused family drama, t…
As the curtain rises the audience are blinded by the light of a car's headlights. The car stops, the stage darkens and our eyes gradually accustom to the gloomy, deeply atmospheric design fo…
"Manon" is always a favourite of mine and with Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg in the lead roles this performance was up with the best I've ever seen. I haven't see nearly enough of the pai…
Sit in the front row at your peril: prepare to be ruffled, prodded and generally gawked at. Still, one might describe it as being brushed by greatness. For Kathryn Hunter's Monkey is somethi…
The Rattigan revival has been one of my theatre highlights for the last year or so and "Flare Path" fits right in. Though I wouldn't rank it with either "After the Dance" or "Cause Célèbre…
Unintentional hilarity is not how I really see Macbeth. Reviving Phyllida Lloyd's comically po-faced production seems like one of the dafter choices of the Royal Opera's season. As an entire…
