Humble Boy is a play about life and about families, about how nothing can be certain no matter how hard we try. Not all our ambitions and hopes will be rewarded with stars and recognition. A…
So, I'm sorry to say that the starry Olivier-platformed NT production of Macbeth is a dull disappointment. For me, I couldn't find a single element that worked.
So, there's promise, for sure. But the fact that I can condense much of what the creative arts has explicitly offered on depression into one short blog means that there is still much more we…
There's this terrible balance between keeping the list short enough to hold attention but making sure great shows get shared. Hence why I've been defeated here, yet again, and we have a top …
Dust is an extremely good production " fresh, original and with a potent spirit. One that leaves a scar, for sure.
Now, straight off the bat, this isn't a dig at Rufus. No, that's not what this blog is about. Rather, it's some comparably small suggestions that I think could bring about real meaningful ch…
The fact that we still have men today who think male violence is "a complex issue" shows that Dennis Kelly's play Girls & Boys " with men firmly in its sights " remains desperately need…
Like many others, I have my hopes, even expectations, on the change that women may bring. But this is not for me to burden women creatives with. They already have enough of a challenge as it…
Paines Plough has taken up residency at the Orange Tree Theatre this month with three plays running in rep. I caught up with two of the plays, Elinor Cook's Out of Love and Brad Birch's Blac…
There is nothing about Gundog at the Royal Cout that will make you feel good about where we are today. It is a dark and disturbing tale about the state of play in modern rural Britain. That …
Look, I appreciate it's never rainbows and sunshine in Hedda Gabler but, even by Ibsen's standards, this National Theatre production is intense and deeply morose.
Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties at the Southwark Playhouse was as funny, uplifting and as life-reaffirming as I'd hoped " a glorious blend of cabaret, drag and theatre that, alone, w…
Well, we're truly into 2018 now and there's plenty to see. From anarchic punk riot to classic mysteries, from Shakespeare to Dylan, and from troubled masculinity to a woman's battle with dep…
There is so much to admire in this revival that it's hard to know where to start first. Let's go with Lucian Msamati. I maintain that he was cruelly robbed of at least acknowledgement and no…
Lia Williams and Juliet Stevenson are both extraordinary in Mary Stuart at the Duke of York's Theatre, but the level of sexualisation, sexual violence and assault in the depiction of these t…
I was completely swept up in the curious little world of John at the National's Dorfman Theatre. In Annie Baker's rich, multi-layered, intricate writing.
David Eldridge's Beginning at the Ambassadors Theatre is one of the best productions on in London, right now, and such an uplifting, life-reaffirming play that will lift even the gloomiest o…
Woman Before a Glass at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, places the focus on Peggy Guggenheim " a pivotal figure in the 20th century art scene " and is a hugely enjoyable show that demonstrate…
For me, it's this ongoing decision to keep Rita, Sue and Bob Too performed as a comedy more than a drama that is at the heart of its problem. This should be a play of tiny tragedies.
This play brims with warmth and humour by focusing more on resilience and acceptance, than abandonment and loss.
There is much to enjoy in this close quarters examination of one short-lived relationship from the highs of its beginning, to the regrets and recriminations that marks its end.
Hypatia Tarleton (Marli Siu) is a young woman in demand. She's beautiful and intelligent, spirited and a little fiery. And her father is also filthy rich.
So, how was your Christmas then? If you're like me, your thoughts will already be turning to 2018 and all those good intentions you're going to put into practice.
I'm not usually crazy about rankings and hierarchy in the creative arts so, please, see this as more of a summary of all the shows that really shook me. Except for the Number One. I'm all ab…
The play is performed in The Site, round the back at the Royal Court, a place you enter after walking through various staged abstract scenes " a lot filled with Christmas trees, a run-down g…