All stories by David Jays on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Michaela DePrince obituary by David Jays

American ballerina who defied the odds of her early childhood in wartorn Sierra Leone to perform with top dance companies This was the making of a ballerina. “When I was four years old, a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PM
Thursday, August 15, 2024

Peanut Butter and Blueberries review – politics complicates student romance by David Jays

Kiln theatre, London A familiar romcom isn’t an option for these two young British Muslims, who can’t shut out Islamophobia and public paranoia from their love story The title? It’s a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AM
Monday, July 29, 2024

‘It’s the talent pipeline’: inside the National Theatre’s hit-making hothouse by David Jays

Where does the National send up-and-coming playwrights to have their ideas honed, pulled apart, rebuilt – and turned into dramatic dynamite? Our writer is granted rare access to the hallow…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24AM
Thursday, July 25, 2024

As You Like It review – the RSC’s garden party is altogether too ordinary by David Jays

Holloway Garden theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonGender games, rebirth and affection remain in this 80-minute slash of the Shakespeare romcom, which is stylish but short on invention You expect g…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AM
Thursday, July 18, 2024

The Baker’s Wife review – Stephen Schwartz’s lip-smacking musical has a soggy derriere by David Jays

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonClive Rowe and Lucie Jones star in Schwartz and Joseph Stein’s tale of a French bakery, given a chamber setting Life should be sweet as our asparagus and ap…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Monday, July 15, 2024

The Trumpeter review – a vital dispatch from the siege of Mariupol by David Jays

Finborough theatre, LondonThe last surviving member of a military band shelters from Russian bombardment in Inna Goncharova’s valiant attempt to capture the terrible essence of war As the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Wednesday, July 10, 2024

The Children’s Inquiry review – exhilarating political musical about kids in care by David Jays

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonSoulful anthems with hard-knock lyrics cover 150 years of British care system history in a sophisticated show from Lung theatre company We’re a long way…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Kiss Me, Kate review – glorious music, falderol frivolity and Adrian Dunbar by David Jays

Barbican, London Cole Porter’s musical variation on The Taming of the Shrew gets an exhilarating revival, even if the Line of Duty star’s singing is less than sensational Cole…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32PM

‘If you slip, it hurts your soul’: the stressed ballerina who asked a sports psychologist for help by David Jays

Huge audiences and even larger livestreams are putting a whole new type of pressure on dancers. Yasmine Haghdi, principal of the Royal Ballet, tell us how Britt Tajet-Foxell fixed more than …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2024

The Deep Blue Sea review – Tamsin Greig adds bite to Terence Rattigan by David Jays

Ustinov, BathAs a woman who has left her husband for a dissolute younger man in postwar London, Greig’s quiet despair compels The torch song Stormy Weather sobs between scenes in this revi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Laughing Boy review – Connor Sparrowhawk’s story told with love and fury by David Jays

Jermyn Street theatre, LondonSara Ryan’s book about justice for her son, who died in an NHS unit aged 18, has been turned into a play with campaigning passion In a church down the road fro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM
Monday, April 22, 2024

‘We still haven’t cracked it!’ How much does a play change during previews? by David Jays

It is a fraught time of cuts, rewrites – and alcohol. Our writer goes behind the scenes at The Divine Mrs S just as the official opening night looms and not everyone’s ready to face the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Friday, March 8, 2024

Julie review – Rebecca Frecknall’s sensational take on Strindberg by David Jays

ITA, AmsterdamThe British director of Cabaret and A Streetcar Named Desire makes a gripping debut with the acclaimed Dutch company Julie wobbles into the kitchen, hiding from her own 21st bi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM
Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Nachtland review – a provocative plunge into art history by David Jays

Young Vic, LondonThe discovery of what could be a painting by Hitler leads to a moral quagmire in Patrick Marber’s punchy staging of Marius von Mayenburg’s play Arrive early, and you’l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Friday, February 16, 2024

Festival of New Choreography review – the Royal Ballet spreads its wings by David Jays

Royal Opera House, LondonImpressive new work from Joshua Junker and Mthuthuzeli November pushes dancers well beyond the classical repertoire Ballet is a heritage art form that craves renewal…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18PM

Nelken review – new generation restores the bloom of Pina Bausch’s classic by David Jays

Sadler’s Wells, LondonOn a stage covered in thousands of silk carnations, a beguiling cast of 20 explore fear, fun, control, bunny-hopping and onions, ending ultimately in hope Nelken was …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32AM
Thursday, February 8, 2024

Wilko review – the life and riffs of a pub rock pioneer, with a stonking star turn by David Jays

Queen’s theatre, HornchurchJonathan Maitland’s drama about the Dr Feelgood guitarist, played by Johnson Willis, is a nostalgic celebration of an Essex legend ‘It’s not a jukebox musi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

The King and I review – Helen George stars in staid Rodgers and Hammerstein revival by David Jays

Dominion theatre, LondonBartlett Sher’s gingerly feminist take on the problematic mid-century musical has superb dancing but is ponderously paced ‘Stories of the east have seldom reached…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12PM
Thursday, January 25, 2024

The Most Precious of Goods review – a stark fairytale set against the Holocaust by David Jays

Marylebone theatre, LondonSamantha Spiro conducts listeners urgently through this horrifying story of a baby thrown in desperation from an Auschwitz train If writing a poem after Auschwitz i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Don’t Destroy Me review – war is not over for fractured Jewish family by David Jays

Arcola, LondonTimely revival of Michael Hastings’ unsettling 1956 play that examines the legacy of war on immigrants in postwar London It’s just over a decade since the second world war …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Friday, December 15, 2023

Indhu Rubasingham’s National Theatre in-tray: lure megastars, deal with crises and define an era by David Jays

The incoming artistic director at the NT must lead the institution and the industry, while choosing plays new and old for three stages. The job is a test of nerve and integrity In 1978, Juli…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

The Fair Maid of the West review – songs, silliness and a musical ham by David Jays

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonIsobel McArthur gives a giddy fresh spin to Thomas Heywood’s 16th-century romp which sends a Cornish landlady, in her repurposed bar, to sea ‘Not everyth…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Friday, November 17, 2023

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) review – charming romcom is a treat by David Jays

Kiln theatre, LondonTwo-hander musical matches its wide-eyed hero and sardonic heroine with just the right mix of sugar and sour Here’s a little tale of the Big Apple. Dougal arrives from …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Thursday, November 9, 2023

‘You could beat someone to death with that!’ Great theatre wigs – and their miraculous creators by David Jays

Few things in theatre are more transformative than a wig. But who makes them? Can they really be worth thousands? And what looks best on a beheaded tyrant? We meet the hairpiece heroes and t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03AM
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Clyde’s review – crunchy kitchen drama is a dish to be savoured by David Jays

Donmar Warehouse, LondonClyde runs a mean sandwich shop, while Montrellous is the sensei of sourdough, in Lynn Nottage’s mouthwatering play Lynn Nottage’s mouthwatering, gloriously perf…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:13AM
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons: the cult play about words becomes a ballet by David Jays

When a principal at the Royal Ballet asked to adapt his drama about imposed verbal limits, playwright Sam Steiner was all in. ‘There are things dance does better,’ he says ‘Why don’t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:07PM
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

What It Means review – how a gay American writer came out fighting by David Jays

Wilton’s Music Hall, LondonRichard Cant is superb as Merle Miller who takes a stand against homophobia in this clever retelling of his landmark essay Merle Miller, a distinguished mid-cent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:37AM
Sunday, October 8, 2023

Flowers for Mrs Harris review – sweetly unassuming musical with dreams of chic by David Jays

Riverside Studios, LondonJenna Russell gives a shining performance of quiet resolve in this musical adaptation of Paul Gallico’s novel about a widowed cleaner in gloomy postwar London who …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:19AM
Thursday, September 28, 2023

Michael Gambon: an actor who let his heart and soul crack open by David Jays

A star with incredible presence, Gambon – who has died at the age of 82 – brought heft and delicacy, mischief and feeling, to the stage and screen • Star of Harry Potter and The Singin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM
Sunday, September 24, 2023

Beautiful Thing review – 90s teens navigating tough times in a tender-hearted triumph by David Jays

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonJonathan Harvey’s breakthrough play still blazes with a stubborn utopian impulse thanks to finely pitched performances and delicately balanced banter Ev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:13PM
Friday, September 1, 2023

Farewell Mr Haffmann review – Nazi drama has weirdly comic overtones by David Jays

Ustinov Studio, BathThe English-language premiere of Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s award-winning play hampers its seasoned cast with a complicated plot – bordering on farcical – about a Jew…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
TBA: Titanic