Riveting and exhilarating: Miss Julie, at Park90, reviewed
Some Demon by Laura Waldren is a gem of a play that examines the techniques of manipulation and bullying practised…
Hard to get to grips with: Marie Curie: The Musical reviewed
Marie Curie: The Musical is a history lesson combined with a chemistry seminar and it’s aimed at indignant feminists who…
Sorry Sunak can’t muster much of a fight in BBC interview
A clash of the razor-blades. That’s how it started. Nick Robinson’s grey jowls were dotted with stubble as he sat…
Eddie Izzard’s one-man Hamlet deserves top marks
Every Hamlet is a failure. It always feels that way because playgoers tend to compare what they’re seeing with a…
Amazingly sloppy: Romeo & Juliet, at Duke of York’s Theatre, reviewed
Romeo & Juliet is Shakespeare with power cuts. The lighting in Jamie Lloyd’s cheerless production keeps shutting down, perhaps deliberately.…
Admit it – Italian food is rubbish
Every year I’m summoned to a gathering which I strive to avoid. My first cousin, who loves a boozy party,…
Headed for the canon: Withnail and I, at the Birmingham Rep, reviewed
After nearly 40 years, Withnail has arrived on stage. Sean Foley directs Bruce Robinson’s adaptation, which starts with a live…
PMQs: we saw a glimpse of Labour in power
The party leaders conformed to type at PMQs. Rishi Sunak declared that Britain is experiencing an economic boom. ‘Inflation is…
Fawlty Towers – The Play is the best museum piece you’ll ever see
Fawlty Towers at the Apollo may be the best museum piece you’ll ever see. A full-length play has been carved…
There really is no hope for Rishi Sunak
Bad news for Rishi Sunak at PMQs. Caught out by Sir Keir Starmer, he handed Labour a wonderful soundbite for…
The Arts Council wastes money – and is bad news for art
‘You’re gay.’ That was the first tip I got from a friend who writes applications for Arts Council grants. He…
Minority Report is superficial pap – why on earth stage it?
Minority Report is a plodding bit of sci-fi based on a Steven Spielberg movie made more than two decades ago.…
Keir Starmer is ashamed of his party
Questions from backbenchers dominated PMQs. Sir Edward Leigh is keen to end unfettered immigration and he announced a way to…
An exquisitely funny sitcom that should be on the BBC
Agathe by Angela J. Davis follows the early phases of the Rwanda genocide 30 years ago. The subject, Agathe Uwilingiyimana,…
Is John Cleese right that the ‘literal minded’ have killed comedy?
John Cleese appeared in the West End this week. ‘I’ve got vertigo,’ he said as he walked on stage at…
Lindsay Hoyle is a hooligan
How does it feel to wake up and discover that you’re a socialist? We got the answer at PMQs where…
Cheesy remake of Our Mutual Friend: London Tide, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Our Mutual Friend has been turned into a musical with a new title, London Tide, which sounds duller and more…
Angela Rayner’s staggering admission at PMQs
Angela Rayner stood in for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, and she opened with fireworks. ‘They’re desperate to talk about my…
My (surprisingly) decent proposal
‘Like being chained to a lunatic.’ That’s how a man feels in relation to his libido. And the lunatic latches…
Player Kings proves that Shakespeare can be funny
Play-goers, beware. Director Robert Icke is back in town, and that means a turgid four-hour revival of a heavyweight classic…
Rishi gets witty at PMQs
Keir Starmer came to Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) with a spring in his step. He announced that he owned ‘a…
Why has the National engaged in this tedious act of defamation of the Brontës?
The Divine Mrs S is a backstage satire set in the year 1800, when flouncy costumes and elaborate English prose…
Exhilarating: MJ the Musical reviewed
If you’ve heard good reports about MJ the Musical, believe them all and multiply everything by a hundred. As a…
