Jenna Russell in career-defining form as the widow of the title Although based on the 1958 Paul Gallico novel Mrs 'Arris Goes To Paris, this musical adaptation arrived much later. With a bo…
John Mortimer creates a dazzling vehicle for a star, alongside one-dimensional supporting characters Like theatre itself, the law finds its voice in stories, performance and spectacle. Any …
Big-hearted and necessary play fails to deliver fully on its huge promise The Royal Court's collaboration with Access All Areas (AAA) may not be theatre's first explicit embrace of the neuro…
Big Broadway show with a pleasing British accent The Sondheim gala show Old Friends is a must for fans of the master, naturally, but its quality would knock anybody who loves musical theatre…
★★★ UNBELIEVABLE, CRITERION THEATRE Entertaining show, but short of a little magic in more senses than one Pantomime vibe undermines the unique frisson of the magicia…
Ben Elton has written an odd musical-documentary, part comic-strip, part lecture The Biba dresses are way too colourful, the shop's interior about 10 times too bright… and did anybody real…
★★ UNTITLED F*UCK M*SS S**GON PLAY, YOUNG VIC A gruelling watch, but message hits home Satirical comedy-drama labours its points across an uninterrupted two hours Seldom can a…
Ian McKellen and Roger Allam as the lonely men who bond over their dogs Two elderly men meet in the park while walking their dogs, and become friends. Even when friendship turns to love, the…
New play about the relations between humans and other life forms has profound depths How many hearts does an octopus have? Answer: three. This pub quiz clincher is just one of the many fasci…
 Austrian musical finally arrives in London to entertain, but not quite thrill There are times when it's best to know as little as possible before taking one's seat for a show " this new…
Revival of Alan Brody's award-winning 2013 history play is solid but plodding Must science always be dominated by politics? This question is most urgent when the stakes are high " climate ch…
Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer have muddled aims for a tale of warring actors An impressive performance by Samuel West as one of two warring hams stuck on-set in a trailer over a not-so-d…
Lynn Nottage's 2018 play gets an exquisite staging with moving performances The work of the double Pulitzer-winning Black American dramatist Lynn Nottage has thankfully become a fixture in t…
★★★★THE WHITE FACTORY, MARYLEBONE THEATRE Dazzling treatment of a notorious moral betrayal Dazzling Russian production finds fresh relevance in the Lodz ghetto massac…
Patsy Ferran's vibrant Eliza Doolittle sparks Bertie Carvel's Henry Higgins into human life Many of us have perhaps grown too accustomed to the friendly face of My Fair Lady. George Bernard …
Lauren Gunderson's new play is timely, tantalising but doesn't quite hit its mark With more than 20 plays under her belt, San-Francisco based Lauren Gunderson is one of the most produced pla…
An original British musical delivers, and then some It's rare that a new musical or play opens in the West End with as much positive word-of-mouth as The Little Big Things. Social media has…
Indhu Rubasingham's sweeping production returns to the National From the moment that the blood-stained Nathuram Godse rises out of the floor of the National Theatre's Olivier stage and deman…
The affable American humourist proves death becomes him Few comedians are such good company that you never want them to stop. The young Billy Connolly was one such; affable American Mike Bi…
Revival of Polly Stenham's 2007 punk extravaganza stars Niamh Cusack Playwright Polly Stenham MBE had a meteoric rise with this play, her award-winning 2007 debut which she wrote aged 19 an…
★★★ INFAMOUS, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Caroline and Rose Quentin perfectly cast in mother and daughter play A clever, sexy, confident woman woos the aristocracy but is diso…
Mature actors bring style and poignancy to Coward's brittle comedy There is a grainy piece of black and white film on YouTube featuring Noel Coward as the celebrity guest on a 1964 edition …
Yasmin Reza's savage study of the middle-classes becomes a farce lacking in danger Yasmin Reza's God of Carnage (2008), like her British megahit, 1994's ART, is not strictly a comedy. The Fr…
A production that feels as if it could erupt into cabaret at any moment To proclaim that you're playing gender games with Shakespeare's As You Like It seems a little like announcing that you…
Twin miseries of bipolar disorder and grief are given an unusual treatment The journey from off-Broadway to central London has taken 15 years, but the multi-award-winning musical Next to…