3,491 stories from The Arts Desk
Saoirse Ronan makes her UK stage debut in Yaël Farber's testosterone-fest
Remembering the months of lockdown, I can't be the only person to thrill to this play's opening lines, "When sha…
The director on the renewed power of Martin McDonagh's 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane' 25 years on
The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a vicious, sad and extraordinary play. On the surface, Marti…
The author of 'Love and Other Acts of Violence' sets out her stall
As I write this, we've just had our final day in the rehearsal room and are going into tech onstage next week with my new …
A look back at the road to renown paved by the author of 'The Long Song'
The opening sentence of Andrea's 2010 historical novel The Long Song is in the voice of Thomas Kinsman, who is intro…
**THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT Mantel self-adapts, and eviscerates, her novel on stage
Third time round, Hilary Mantel self-adapts, and eviscerates, her novel on stage
The first two stage adapta…
Any figure in Roman mythology today would be at the pointy end of cancel culture
Ovid was exiled " or to put it in twenty-first century terms, 'no-platformed' " by an indignant Emperor Augus…
★★★★ WHAT IF IF ONLY Caryl Churchill's short play considers the despair of grief and the optimism of hope
A beautifully staged reflection on the pain of confronting l…
Youthful Elsinore reflects life in present-day London
It is a truism that every Hamlet is different, depending more than any other play on the casting of the lead. Each production moulds it…
Can a runaway slave help a black actress love the theatre more?
Jasmine Lee-Jones has a hard act to follow - namely, herself. Her award-winning 2019 debut play, seven methods of killing kyli…
Canadian writer Jordan Hall's exploration of modern relationships provokes without fully satisfying
Despite its painfully relevant title, How To Survive An Apocalypse was written in 2016. I…
Larry Kramer's modern AIDS classic retains all of its passionate glory
Hypocrisy. Is this the right word? I don't mean the play, but the audience. Of course, in the middle of the current COV…
This serpentine classic is perfectly placed in every sense
Lucy Bailey's production of Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, first staged at County Hall in 2017, has a few years to make up…
★★★★ BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL, ADELPHI THEATRE A spectacular West End show to delight fans old and new
Whether you've seen the movie ten times or never, thi…
Conor McPherson play from 2004 fumbles at the finish line
When Brendan Coyle, playing a modestly magnetic widower and sales rep called John in this revival of Conor McPherson's 2004 playÂ�…
★★★★ THE LAST FIVE YEARS, GARRICK THEATRE Jason Robert Brown's semi-autobiographical show gets a West End upgradeÂ
Flaws remain, but audiences will lap up the g…
Lecture-recital leaves more questions than answers about an interesting subject
The Wigmore Hall is a bastion of white musicians playing the music of white composers to a largely white audie…
★★★ BLITHE SPIRIT, HAROLD PINTER THEATRE Jennifer Saunders delights her fans in classic comedy
Jennifer Saunders delivers a fine turn as the celebrated Madame Arcati in …
Bess Wohl two-hander gets a superlative production
A stealthily powerful play gets the production of its dreams in Camp Siegfried, which marks a high-profile UK presence for the American wr…
Strong performances and a gorgeous set just about save a lacklustre script
The Coronet Theatre is a beautiful space " it's a listed Victorian building, and the bar's like something out of a …
Aleshea Harris's award-winning play is a thrillingly satirical mash up
God is a tricky one. Or should that be One? And definitely not a He. So when she says take revenge, then vengeance is …
An intriguing if flawed evening, boosted by ebullient ensemble work
Indecent is a play wrapped inside a news story about stigma. Playwright Paula Vogel was at Cornell University when she…
The former artistic director of the Gate Theatre moves his theatrical vision further west
Programming a theatre during a pandemic has been like trying to nail jelly to a set of constantly mo…
Sombre revival of Shelagh Stephenson's 1996 classic about three sisters
Memories are notoriously treacherous " this we know. I remember seeing Shelagh Stephenson's contemporary classic at th…
** LEOPARDS, KINGSTON When the trousers come off and the handcuffs go on, the climax is the sexual politics lecture Â
When the trousers come off and the handcuffs go on, the climax is the…
The stage version of the beloved animation looks set to become a West End staple
Let it snow! The Broadway musical adaptation of the Disney film behemoth Frozen premiered back in 2018 and no…
