Theatre
The art of the panto dame
There is nothing more panto than a dame. The grandmother of today’s dames is Dan Leno (1860–1904), a champion clog…
The acting rescues it: National Theatre’s Othello reviewed
Crude eccentricities damage the potential brilliance of Othello at the National. Some of the visual gestures seem to have been…
An unexpected heartbreaker: Elf the Musical, at the Dominion Theatre, reviewed
Elf opens with an unbelievable premise. Buddy was abandoned as a baby and adopted by Santa’s elves and he spent…
Wordy, overwritten flop – perfect for the BBC: Noor, at Southwark Playhouse, reviewed
A heroic Asian woman parachutes into occupied France to work for the resistance and help overthrow the Nazis. This sounds…
Rebecca Humphries is dynamite – pity about the play: Blackout Songs, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Viewers watching a good romcom need to fall in love with three things. The boy, the girl and the affair…
The UK Drill Project, at The Pit, reviewed
The UK Drill Project is a cabaret show that celebrates greed, criminality and drug-taking among black males in London. It…
The dialogue ripples with energy: King Hamlin, at the Park Theatre, reviewed
King Hamlin is a shock-horror drama about gang crime in London. Hamlin, aged 17, has left school without learning any…
Kids will enjoy this new show at the West End's newest theatre more than adults: Marvellous, @sohoplace, reviewed
London has a brand-new theatre – yet again. Last summer, a cabaret venue opened in the Haymarket for the first…
This production needs more dosh: Good, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Good, starring David Tennant, needs more dosh spent on it. The former Doctor Who plays John, a literary academic living…
Mirthless, artless farrago of jabber: The Doctor, at Duke of York's, reviewed
The Doctor is an acclaimed drama from the pen of writer-director Robert Icke. We’re in a hospital run by a…
A show for politicians: John Gabriel Borkman, at the Bridge Theatre, reviewed
Clunk, clunk, clunk. John Gabriel Borkman opens with the obsessive footfalls of a disgraced banker as he prowls the attic…
Worthy of Wilde: Eureka Day, at the Old Vic, reviewed
Eureka Day is a topical satire set in a woke school in America. An outbreak of mumps has led to…
A masterpiece: P Word, at Park Theatre, reviewed
Look at this line. ‘I’m 80 years old. I find that unforgivable.’ Could an actor get a laugh on ‘unforgivable’?…
A tremendous show that will attract serious attention from the West End: Rehab – The Musical reviewed
Rehab: The Musical opens with a boyband star, Kid Pop, getting busted for possession of cocaine. The judge sentences him…
Rhapsodic banalities: I, Joan, at the Globe, reviewed
‘Trans people are sacred. We are divine.’ The first line of I, Joan at the Globe establishes the tone of…
Our prison culture is more barbaric than it was in 1823: Elizabeth Fry ‘The Angel of Prisons’ reviewed
The Angel of Prisons dramatises the life of the penal reformer Elizabeth Fry, who lived near Canning Town. She married…
The show works a treat: Globe's The Tempest reviewed
Southwark Playhouse has a reputation for small musicals with big ambitions. Tasting Notes is set in a wine bar run…
The Dane gets an interpretive dance makeover: Ian McKellan's Hamlet reviewed
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet is the highlight of Edinburgh’s opening week. In this experimental ballet, Sir Ian speaks roughly 5 per…
I can't recommend this Cole Porter musical highly enough: Anything Goes, at the Barbican, reviewed
The Barbican’s big summer show is billed on the website as ‘the sold-out musical sensation, Anything Goes’. The term ‘sold-out’…
Stupendously good: Much Ado About Nothing, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Simon Godwin’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in a steamy Italian holiday resort, the Hotel Messina, in the 1920s.…
An entertaining display, clearly destined for Netflix: Patriots, at Almeida Theatre, reviewed
Patriots, by Peter Morgan, is a drama documentary about recent Russian history. And though it’s a topical show it’s not…
Hytner hits the bull's eye: The Southbury Child, at the Bridge Theatre, reviewed
The Southbury Child is a comedy drama set in east Devon featuring a distressed vicar, Fr David, with a complex…
Right play, wrong place: The Fellowship, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Roy Williams’s new play is a wonky beast. It has two dense and cumbersome storylines that aren’t properly developed. Dawn…
If you see this show you’ll want to see it again – directed properly: The Glass Menagerie, at the Duke of York's Theatre, reviewed
The Glass Menagerie directed by Jeremy Herrin is a bit of an eyeball-scrambler. The action takes place on a huge…
Bloated waffle: Jitney at the Old Vic reviewed
The Old Vic’s new show, Jitney, has a mystifying YouTube advert which gives no information about the play or the…
