Schaubühne, BerlinVirginia Woolf's promiscuous poet flits between the past and the present in this rousing and spectacularly elaborate show The titular character in Virginia Woolf's 1928 no…
Derby theatreSarah Brigham's revival of Richard Bean's brilliant and chaotic comedy hoodwinks the audience into its games, but lacks the original's taste for danger Such was the air of spont…
Orange Tree, LondonMaya Arad Yasur's complex play about the consequences of war is obscured by a series of comic games Amsterdam is billed as an "audacious thriller" and the mystery at its h…
Home, Manchester Created with prisoners at HMP Wandsworth and performed by a cast affected by the criminal justice system, Luke Barnes' play reminds us that people are more than their crimes…
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonWith a career-defining performance from Anjana Vasan, Tanika Gupta's production is moving, multilayered and intelligent Tanika Gupta has transposed Ibsen's seminal p…
Gary and David Clarke grew up in a community gutted by industrial decline. A new dance show, Wasteland, recreates the underground blowouts that gave a generation reason to dream David Clarke…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeWith modern-day parallels and an excellent ensemble, this play about two powerful women tests the limits of intolerance and compassion How refreshing to be plung…
Soho theatre, LondonFrom being spat at by male audience members to mum riding 'groin first' to the rescue, Mittal delivers an irreverent set When Aditi Mittal made her UK debut two years ago…
Comedian, TV presenter, pop star … the 'British Will Smith' was geared for Hollywood stardom until his life came crashing down. Now, in a powerful play about death in custody, he's making …
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughNaomi Petersen's turn is the icing on the cake of this time-bending drama from a writer who has lost none of his ingenuity Dramatists, from George S Kaufma…
The soul-baring comedian has turned his experience of being stalked into a gripping piece of theatre, Baby Reindeer It had all ended so well. When Richard Gadd won the Edinburgh Comedy award…
The industry remains dominated by privately educated standups who have the right connections and can afford all the risks of a career in comedy As a comedian, one of the first jokes I make w…
Forget trying to saw Debbie McGee in half " some conjurers are using their skills to help surgeons, refugee children and even imagine a better future What image does the word "magic" conjure…
Bush theatre, LondonLynette Linton's debut as artistic director is a musical revival of an undramatic piece about the dilemmas of four women The Bush, which has recently revived Winsome Pin…
The playwright behind A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, who has died aged 92, wrote deeply autobiographical plays that offered an image of modern Britain Peter Nichols, who has died aged 92, on…
A Very Expensive Poison, about the dissident's murder, shows how Putin and the Russian state twisted the truth The character is called Mr President. He's a fussy little man who walks briskly…
All his life, people have assumed the theatre director is mixed race " and he was happy to embrace that identity. Then he was accused of faking it Anthony Ekundayo Lennon remembers the momen…
Turbine, LondonMatthew Needham stars with tremulous assurance as the witty, sharp-tongued drag queen of Harvey Fierstein's 70s drama Theatre seems one of our crazy nation's few growth indust…
Sadler's Wells, LondonA hip-hop tribute to Alvin Ailey dazzles with its thrilling interpretation of African American livesThe shadow of Alvin Ailey has always stood over the company he found…
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,…
Royal and Derngate, NorthamptonThis fine revival of August Wilson's 1992 play finds seven people in 60s Pittsburgh struggling with a turbulent world Double Pulitzer prize-winning writer Augu…
Abbey, DublinOnly those with the most righteous anger will triumph, in this small-town play about wider societal issues. Sexist graffiti on a suburban wall provokes blazing confrontation in …
Finborough, LondonAfter a boy runs away, a Maori social worker is sent to investigate the parents in Emma Kinane's engaging if overlong New Zealand drama A young Maori social worker is sent …
Old Vic, London The twisted tale of the Russian dissident's death by radioactive poisoning employs songs, puppets and even Putin as an unreliable narrator Watching Lucy Prebble's fascinating…
Impressionist Jon Culshaw, playwright James Graham, comedian Bridget Christie and critic Mark Lawson on the prime minister's opening week in Westminster I've been doing Boris impressions eve…