sat 05/07/2025

theatre reviews, news & interviews

Intimate Apparel, Donmar Warehouse review - stirring story of Black survival in 1905 New York

Helen Hawkins

The corset is an unlikely star of the latest Lynn Nottage play to arrive at the Donmar Warehouse, 2003’s Intimate Apparel. After the more male-dominated Sweat and Clyde’s at the same address, this is a personal piece about the lot of Black women, inspired by Nottage’s discovery of an old photo of her great-grandmother Ethel.

Hercules, Theatre Royal Drury Lane review - new Disney stage musical is no 'Lion King'

Gary Naylor

Many years ago, reviewing pantomime for the first time, I recall looking around in the stalls. My brain was saying, “This is terrible, the jokes are lame, the acting execrable and the set garish.” My eyes were saying, “These kids are loving it, their parents are liking it enough, and the cast are having a great time.” There was joy everywhere in the house, so who was I to play The Grinch?

Showmanism, Hampstead Theatre review - lip-synced...

Gary Naylor

I think my problem is that when I should have been listening in school assemblies or RE lessons, I had the Tom Tom Club’s joyous “Wordy Rappinghood”...

4.48 Psychosis, Royal Court review - powerful but...

Aleks Sierz

Sarah Kane is the most celebrated new writer of the 1990s. Her work is provocative and innovative. So it seems oddly unimaginative to mark the 25th...

Joyceana around Bloomsday, Dublin review -...

David Nice

It amuses me that Dubliners dress up in Edwardian finery on 16 June. After all, this was the date in 1904 when James Joyce first walked out with Nora...

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Stereophonic, Duke of York's Theatre review - rich slice of creative life delivered by a 1970s rock band

Helen Hawkins

David Adjmi's clever and compelling hit play gets a crack London cast

North by Northwest, Alexandra Palace review - Hitchcock adaptation fails to fly

Gary Naylor

Emma Rice's storytelling at fault in misconceived production

Hamlet Hail to the Thief, RSC, Stratford review - Radiohead mark the Bard's card

Gary Naylor

An innovative take on a familiar play succeeds far more often than it fails

The King of Pangea, King's Head Theatre review - grief and hope, but no connection

Gary Naylor

Heart and soul proves insufficient in world premiere of therapeutic show

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bridge Theatre review - Nick Hytner's hit gender-bender returns refreshed

Helen Hawkins

This Dream is a great night out, especially for Shakespeare first-timers

Miss Myrtle’s Garden, Bush Theatre review - flowering talent, but needs weeding

Aleks Sierz

New play about loss, love, grief and gardening is humane, but flawed

Fiddler on the Roof, Barbican review - lean, muscular delivery ensures that every emotion rings true

Rachel Halliburton

This transfer from Regent's Park Open Air Theatre sustains its magic

In Praise of Love, Orange Tree Theatre review - subdued production of Rattigan's study of loving concealment

Heather Neill

Unspoken emotion flows through this late work

Letters from Max, Hampstead Theatre review - inventively staged tale of two friends fighting loss with poetry

Helen Hawkins

Sarah Ruhl turns her bond with a student into a lesson in how to love

Elephant, Menier Chocolate Factory review - subtle, humorous exploration of racial identity and music

Rachel Halliburton

Story of self-discovery through playing the piano resounds in Anoushka Lucas's solo show

This is My Family, Southwark Playhouse - London debut of 2013 Sheffield hit is feeling its age

Gary Naylor

Relatable or stereotyped - that's for you to decide

The Frogs, Southwark Playhouse review - great songs save updated Aristophanes comedy

Gary Naylor

Tone never settles, but Sondheim's genius carries the day

Mrs Warren's Profession, Garrick Theatre review - mother-daughter showdown keeps it in the family

Matt Wolf

Shaw's once-shocking play pairs Imelda Staunton with her real-life daughter

The Crucible, Shakespeare's Globe review - stirring account of paranoia and prejudice

Rachel Halliburton

Ince's fidelity to the language allows every nuance to be exposed

The Fifth Step, Soho Place review - wickedly funny two-hander about defeating alcoholism

Helen Hawkins

David Ireland pits a sober AA sponsor against a livewire drinker, with engaging results

The Deep Blue Sea, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - Tamsin Greig honours Terence Rattigan

Matt Wolf

The 1952 classic lives to see another day in notably name-heavy revival

The Brightening Air, Old Vic review - Chekhov jostles Conor McPherson in writer-director's latest

Matt Wolf

The Irishman's first new play in over a decade is engaging but overstuffed

1536, Almeida Theatre review - fast and furious portrayal of women in Henry VIII's England

Rachel Halliburton

This wild, intelligent play is a tour de force till the doom-laden finale

The Comedy About Spies, Noel Coward Theatre review - 'Goes Wrong' team hit the spot again

Veronica Lee

More mayhem from the Mischief company

House of Games, Hampstead Theatre review - adapted Mamet screenplay entertains but is defanged

Helen Hawkins

Richard Bean has turned Mamet's steel trap into an amusing puzzle

Here We Are, National Theatre review - Sondheim's sensational swan song

Matt Wolf

The late composer bids farewell with a show made-to-order for now

Giant, Harold Pinter Theatre review - incendiary Roald Dahl drama with topical bite

Helen Hawkins

John Lithgow gives a masterclass in delivering a 'human booby trap'

Einkvan, Det Norske Teatret, The Coronet Theatre review - alienation times six

David Nice

Estranged father, mother and son each doubled in Jon Fosse’s mesmerising meditation

The Gang of Three, King's Head Theatre - three old Labour ghosts resurrected to entertain and educate

Gary Naylor

Beautifully written and equally well acted play resonates down the decades

Footnote: a brief history of British theatre

London theatre is the oldest and most famous theatreland in the world, with more than 100 theatres offering shows ranging from new plays in the subsidised venues such as the National Theatre and Royal Court to mass popular hits such as The Lion King in the West End and influential experimental crucibles like the Bush and Almeida theatres. There's much cross-fertilisation with Broadway, with London productions transferring to New York, and leading Hollywood film actors coming to the West End to star in live theatre. In regional British theatre, the creative energy of theatres like Alan Ayckbourn's Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, the Bristol Old Vic and the Sheffield theatre hub add to the richness of the landscape, while the many town theatres host circling tours of popular farces, crime theatre and musicals.

lion_kingThe first permanent theatre, the Red Lion, was built in Queen Elizabeth I's time, in 1576 in Shoreditch; Shakespeare spent 20 years in London with the Lord Chamberlain's Men, mainly performing at The Theatre, also in Shoreditch. A century later under the merry Charles II the first "West End" theatre was built on what is now Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and Restoration theatre evolved with a strong injection of political wit from Irish playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Catering for more populist tastes, Sadler's Wells theatre went up in 1765, and a lively mix of drama, comedy and working-class music-hall ensued. But by the mid-19th century London theatre was deplored for its low taste, its burlesque productions unfavourably contrasted with the aristocratic French theatre. Calls for a national theatre to do justice to Shakespeare resulted in the first "Shakespeare Memorial" theatre built in Stratford in 1879.

The Forties and Fifties saw a golden age of classic theatre, with Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud starring in world-acclaimed productions in the Old Vic company, and new British plays by Harold Pinter, John Osborne, Beckett and others erupting at the English Stage Company in the Royal Court. This momentum led in 1961 to the establishing of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, and in 1963 the launch of the National Theatre at The Old Vic, led by Olivier. In the late Sixties Britain broke the American stranglehold on large-scale modern musicals when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice launched their brilliant careers with first Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and then Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970, and never looked back. The British modern original musical tradition led on to Les Misérables, The Lion King and most recently Matilda.

The Arts Desk brings you the fastest overnight reviews and ticket booking links for last night's openings, as well as the most thoughtful close-up interviews with major creative figures, actors and playwrights. Our critics include Matt Wolf, Aleks Sierz, Alexandra Coghlan, Veronica Lee, Sam Marlowe, Hilary Whitney and James Woodall.

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