Wednesday, August 13, 2025
★★★ THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, RSC, STRATFORD Youth-oriented version of youthful play
Shakespeare trying out lots of ideas that were to bear fruit in the future
I have two guilty se…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:48PMFriday, August 1, 2025
★★★★ TOP HAT, CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE Lovely to look at, but don't think too much
Glitz and glamour in revived dance show based on Fred and Ginger's movie
After 76 years, you�…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:12AMTuesday, July 29, 2025
★★ MAIDEN VOYAGE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE All women crew sail around the world, singing, grouching and bonding
Pleasant tunes well sung and a good story, but not a good show
As the nation b…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:42PMMonday, July 28, 2025
★★★★★ BRIXTON CALLING, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE The story of two men & one venue is a delight
Nostalgic, but the message is bang up to date
What a delight it is to see the direct…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:32PM★★★ THE WINTER'S TALE, RSC, STRATFORD Bleak production that skewers male jealousy
Strong women have the last laugh, but the play's bizarre structure overwhelms everything
There’s a d…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:32PMMonday, July 21, 2025
★★★★ DON'T ROCK THE BOAT, THE MILL AT SONNING Sound of shared laughter excuses flaws
Great fun, if more 20th century than 21st
Now 45 years in the past, its dazzling star gone a deca…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:18PMThursday, July 17, 2025
★★★★ POOR CLARE, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Chira Atik's award-winning comedy packs a punch
Funny and clever show illuminated by a dazzling debut from Arsema Thomas
What am I, a philosophic…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:12PMThursday, July 10, 2025
★★★ GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, OLD VIC Conor McPherson's smash hit is looking dated already
Fragmented, cliched story rescued by tremendous acting, singing and music
Well, I wasn’t…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48AMFriday, June 27, 2025
★★★ HERCULES, THEATRE ROYAL Show aimed at a family audience delivers enough, but no more
Big West End crowdpleaser lacks punch and poignancy with join-the-dots plotting and cookie-cut…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:18PMTuesday, June 24, 2025
★★ SHOWMANSHIP, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Dickie Beau's one-man show is lost in too large a venue
Technically accomplished production with Dickie Beau never settles into a coherent whole
I th…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:36AMSunday, June 15, 2025
★ NORTH BY NORTHWEST, ALEXANDRA PALACE Too small a show in too large a venue
Emma Rice's storytelling at fault in misconceived production
Older readers may recall the cobbled together, ra…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:24PMFriday, June 13, 2025
★★★★ HAMLET HAIL TO THE THIEF, RSC Music drives the prince to madness in spectacular show
An innovative take on a familiar play succeeds far more often than it fails
The safe transfe…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMThursday, June 12, 2025
★★ THE KING OF PANGEA, KING'S HEAD THEATRE - Highly personal American musical fails to land in London
Heart and soul proves insufficient in world premiere of therapeutic show
There’s a…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMThursday, May 29, 2025
★★★ THIS IS MY FAMILY, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Play with music engenders a familiar warmth
Relatable or stereotyped - that's for you to decide
MOR. Twee. Unashamedly crowdpleasing. Are suc…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:02PMWednesday, May 28, 2025
★★★ THE FROGS, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Pantomimeish adaptation of classic play
Tone never settles, but Sondheim's genius carries the day
As a regular theatregoer, you learn pretty quickly …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:32AMWednesday, May 7, 2025
★★★★★ THE GANG OF THREE, KING'S HEAD THEATRE The big beasts banter 50 years ago
Beautifully written and equally well acted play resonates down the decades
There was a time when the…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:54PM★★ CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX, PARK THEATRE Nudity, but nothing new in UK debut
Award-winning Irish play fails to reach a memorable climax
In Dublin, a city that has changed more than most …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:24AMMonday, April 28, 2025
★★★★ MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, RSC, STRATFORD Medieval court's mores translates uncomfortably well to modern football
Garish and gossipy, this new production packs a punch between the…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:03PMThursday, April 17, 2025
★★★★★ GHOSTS, LYRIC HAMMERSMITH - Ibsen screams into 2025 in this perfect reimagining
Ten years on, Gary Owen and Rachel O'Riordan top their triumphant Iphigenia in Splott
A singl…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:18PMSaturday, April 12, 2025
★ MIDNIGHT COWBOY, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Ambitious project overwhelmed by challenges
Two misfits misfire in misconceived show
It seems a bizarre idea. Take a pivotal film in American cult…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:03PMWednesday, April 2, 2025
★★★★ THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR, JERMYN STREET THEATRE One man play from 1960 given a compelling revival
Alastair Whatley honours his subject in a quietly powerful performance
It�…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:48PMTuesday, April 1, 2025
★★★★ STILETTO, CHARING CROSS THEATRE Castrato finds comfort by the canals
Quirky, operatic show won't please everyone, but will delight many
That friend you have who hates musicals…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:42PMFriday, March 28, 2025
★★★ ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - THE MUSICAL, THEATRE ROYAL BATH Ambitious new musical isn't slaying 'em in the aisles
1950s America feels a lot like 2020s America in this portmantea…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:54PMSunday, March 9, 2025
★★★★ EDWARD II, SWAN THEATRE Rapid and racy adaptation draws on its writer's legend
Putsch in the palace brings down a king who chose the wrong person to love
“Don’t put your c…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:06PMWednesday, February 19, 2025
★★★★★ HAMLET, ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE Rupert Goold's staging lends a gnawing, troubling, transatlantic relevance
The iceberg cometh
The date, projected behind the stage before …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMThursday, February 13, 2025
★★★★★ THREE SISTERS, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Souls dissected in brilliantly conceived and executed production
Russia - but also here, there and everywhere
Russia.
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:48PMWednesday, February 5, 2025
★ MRS PRESIDENT, CHARING CROSS THEATRE A widow, a photographer but no soul
Curious play that fails to mobilise theatre's unique ability to tell a story
The phenomenal global success of Si…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:42AMTuesday, February 4, 2025
★★★ SECOND BEST, RIVERSIDE STUDIOS First-class performance in a second-class play
Martin is not Harry Potter in the movies, then might be in real life, but proves to be the boy who sur…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:06PMSunday, February 2, 2025
★★★★★ PLAY ON!, LYRIC HAMMERSMITH The Bard and The Duke in perfect harmony!
Super performances deliver magnificent entertainment
If you saw Upstart Crow on television or on stage i…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:54PMFriday, January 24, 2025
★★★ AN INTERROGATION, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Detective gets her man, but at what cost?
Rosie Sheehy and Jamie Ballard shine in Edinburgh Festival import
In a dingy room with dilapidated fu…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:42PM★★★ CYMBELINE, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Patriarchy defeated!
A new, if not as radical as once it were, take on Shakespeare's cross-dressing call to arms
There’s not much point in ha…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:42AM 
