Theatre Reviews
Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre review - Ralph Fiennes in marvellous throttleThursday, 27 September 2018
You always wonder about those final scenes of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Are they really needed dramatically; do they work? We understand, of course, that a closing exhalation may add impact to high passions just witnessed. Read more... |
Twelfth Night, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh - a touch too sweetThursday, 27 September 2018
“Well, that was really sweet,” one young audience member in front of me remarked on his way out of Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre. Read more... |
Poet in da Corner, Royal Court review - mind-blowing energy plus plus plusWednesday, 26 September 2018
There was once a time when grime music was very angry, and very threatening, but that seems a long time ago now. Today, Dizzee Rascal is less a herald of riot and revolt, and more of a national treasure, exuding charm from every pore, even if his music has become increasing predictable and safe. Read more... |
Eyam, Shakespeare's Globe review - plague drama, dark and looseSaturday, 22 September 2018
The end-of-season contemporary writing slot at the Globe must be a proposal as full of promise for playwrights as it is perhaps intimidating. Read more... |
Henry V, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol review - the pity of warFriday, 21 September 2018
Henry V is a play shot through with martial energy and the terrible chaos of war. Read more... |
The Outsider, Print Room at the Coronet review - power in restraintThursday, 20 September 2018
As the Syrian conflict enters its final convulsions, renewing memories of how the Sykes-Picot agreement – between an Englishman and a Frenchman – would cause more than a century of political resentment in the Arab world, The Outsider seems particularly piquant. Read more... |
Heathers The Musical, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - a sardonic take on teen angstThursday, 20 September 2018
This London premiere of Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe’s 2010 musical (based on Daniel Waters’ oh-so-Eighties cult classic movie, starring Christian Slater and Winona Ryder) had a development period at The Other Palace – no critics allowed – before cruising into the... Read more... |
The Human Voice, Gate Theatre review - unrelenting and sadWednesday, 19 September 2018
It’s night, and the woman (Leanne Best) is waiting for a phone call. She’s desperate for the voice of her lover – or rather ex-lover: they split three nights ago. Both have secrets they will disclose over the course of their final conversation. Both have positions to defend. The scene is set for a coupling of melodrama and banality. Read more... |
The Prisoner, National Theatre review - Peter Brook's latest falls sadly flatTuesday, 18 September 2018
Of the Edinburgh International Festival’s three productions by 2018’s resident company, Paris’s Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, The Prisoner is the most gnomic, the most baffling, and, frankly, the most disappointing. Read more... |
An Adventure, Bush Theatre review - epic but flawedSaturday, 15 September 2018
Director Madani Younis, who since 2011 has transformed the Bush Theatre in West London into one of London's most outstanding Off-West End venues, is leaving in December, on his way to becoming the creative director of the Southbank Centre. Read more... |
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Advertising feature
★★★★★
‘A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.’
The Observer, Kate Kellaway
Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.
★★★★★
‘This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.’
The Times, Ann Treneman
Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.
Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.
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