Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Smart and powerful new play about fear, terror and prejudice runs out of steamIt’s the stuff of nightmares. There’s a massive explosion, the sound of smashing glass, falling debris and p…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:32PMMonday, June 11, 2018
New comedy about a celebrity chef sometimes sizzles, but leaves a bad taste Forget about dark alleys, deserted parks and slippery slopes: the most dangerous place in the world is likely to b…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:32PMTuesday, June 5, 2018
Sympathetic new play about a migrant's death is well staged, but imperfectly writtenRegular air travel is a hassle. All that queuing, all that security, all those hot halls, and then th…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:04PMFriday, June 1, 2018
Frantic Assembly’s take on the crisis of masculinity is theatrically exciting but banalMasculinity, whether toxic or in crisis (but never ever problem-free), is a hardy perennial subject f…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:42PMTuesday, May 8, 2018
Sad and intimate play about rural life gets a bit lost in this large theatrePlaywright Barney Norris is as prolific as he is talented. Barely out of his twenties, he has written a series of …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:42PMWednesday, May 2, 2018
Joe ‘Sunny Afternoon’ Penhall’s triumphant new play about the music industry really rocksPlaywright Joe Penhall and the music biz? Well, they have history. When he was writing the book…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:54PMMonday, April 30, 2018
New comedy about a West-Indian wake is lively, but a bit undercookedThe good news about so-called black drama on British stages is that it has broken out of its gangland violence ghetto and …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:42PMThursday, April 26, 2018
Energetic revival of Rodney Ackland’s best play exposes many of its faults Rodney Ackland must be the most well-known forgotten man in postwar British theatre. His legend goes like this: A…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:54AMWednesday, April 25, 2018
New two-hander about sex is wise and funny, but fails to achieve a climax Playwright Anthony Neilson has always been fascinated by sex. I mean, who isn’t? But he has made it a central part…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:18PMSaturday, April 14, 2018
New sci-fi drama about suburban perfection lacks the necessary human touch There’s a whole universe which British theatre has yet to explore properly – it’s called the sci-fi imaginati…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:59PMTuesday, April 3, 2018
Documentary drama about the weather on the eve of D-Day is a successThere are few things more British than talking about the weather. What makes this play about a meteorologist interesting, …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:32PMThursday, March 22, 2018
Yorkshire hikers reclaim the English countryside - and their identitiesIn the same week that Arinzé Kene’s Misty, a play that passionately questions the clichés of plays about black Brit…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:01PMMonday, March 19, 2018
Brilliant, and epic, new thriller about Japanese citizens abducted by North KoreaYou could call it an absence of yellow. Until very recently British theatre has been pretty poor at represent…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:20PMTuesday, March 13, 2018
★★★★ HUMBLE BOY, ORANGE TREE Spirited revival of Charlotte Jones's 2001 hit buzzes with funSpirited revival of Charlotte Jones's 2001 hit buzzes with funGood programming is an a…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:20AMMonday, March 12, 2018
Spirited revival of Charlotte Jones's 2001 hit buzzes with funGood programming is an art, and Paul Miller – artistic director of the Orange Tree Theatre – is clearly on a continuous…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:20PMTuesday, March 6, 2018
★★★ THE BEST MAN, PLAYHOUSE THEATRE Martin Shaw and Maureen Lipman fail to heat up chilly political thrillerMartin Shaw and Maureen Lipman fail to heat up chilly political thriller Is …
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:01PMMartin Shaw and Maureen Lipman fail to heat up chilly political thriller Is it possible to get too much of American politics? With Donald Trump’s daily tweets invading our digital space, a…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:01PMWednesday, February 21, 2018
★★★★ FROZEN, HAYMARKET THEATRE Suranne Jones, Jason Watkins and Nina Sosanya examine human darknessSuranne Jones, Jason Watkins and Nina Sosanya convincingly examine human darknessWh…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:45AMTuesday, February 20, 2018
Suranne Jones, Jason Watkins and Nina Sosanya convincingly examine human darknessWhatever the weather, this week is Frozen. On Broadway, the Disney musical of that name begins previews, but …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:59PMSaturday, February 17, 2018
★★★★ ANGRY, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Six monologues about extreme emotions offer trips to outer space and dystopiaSix monologues about extreme emotions offer trips to outer space and dyst…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:30AMFriday, February 16, 2018
Six monologues about extreme emotions offer trips to outer space and dystopiaMonologues are very much the flavour of the start of this theatrical year. At the Royal Court, we have Carey Mull…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:30PMDennis Kelly’s remarkable new monologue is a terrific experienceThis is Carey Mulligan week. She appears, improbably enough, as a hard-nosed cop in David Hare’s BBC thriller Collateral, …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:59AM★★★★★ GIRLS & BOYS, ROYAL COURT Carey Mulligan is stunningly brilliantDennis Kelly’s remarkable new monologue is a terrific experienceThis is Carey Mulligan week. She ap…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:59AMThursday, February 8, 2018
★★ THE DIVIDE, OLD VIC Alan Ayckbourn’s overblown dystopiaEpic, very long satire on religion and sexual segregation prefers comedy to tragedyPlaywright Alan Ayckbourn basically comes i…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:51AMEpic, very long satire on religion and sexual segregation prefers comedy to tragedyPlaywright Alan Ayckbourn basically comes in two flavours: suburban comedies of embarrassment and sci-fi fa…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:31AMWednesday, February 7, 2018
New misery fest about rural life is symbolic, but lacks drama and resonanceFirst the goats, and now the sheep – has this venue become an urban farm? Rural life, which was once so central t…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:05PMNew misery fest about rural life is symbolic, but lacks drama and resonanceFirst the goats, and now the sheep – has this venue become an urban farm? Rural life, which was once so central t…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:05PMMonday, February 5, 2018
Three-piece repertory is well staged, but the short-play formula doesn’t really workHype is a dangerous thing. It often raises expectations beyond the reasonable, and disappointment inevit…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:01AMPAINES PLOUGH ROUNDABOUT, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Too brief to really rockThree-piece repertory is well staged, but the short-play formula doesn’t really workHype is a dangerous thing. It ofte…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 02:01AMSaturday, January 27, 2018
★★★ THE BELIEVERS ARE BUT BROTHERS, BUSH THEATRE One-man show about political extremism on the internet occasionally disturbsOne-man show about political extremism on the internet occa…
SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:00AMFriday, January 26, 2018
One-man show about political extremism on the internet occasionally disturbs Do boys never leave the playground? Just when I was reasonably sure that the crisis of masculinity was an old-fas…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:01PM 
