Monday, November 3, 2025
★★★★ MACBETH, RSC STRATFORD Feuding Thanes rut, with echoes of Glasgow and BelfastÂ
Sam Heughan's Macbeth cannot quite find a home in a mobster pub
It's hard to…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:48PMTuesday, October 28, 2025
★★★★★ HEDDA, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Plenty of liberties taken, but it sure pays off
Scandinavian masterpiece transplanted into a London reeling from the ravages…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:02AMFriday, October 10, 2025
★ TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, GLOBE THEATRE Hard to understand and even harder to watchÂ
Raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible
The Globe's authenticity is its U…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:54PMThursday, October 9, 2025
★★ CLARKSTON, TRAFALGAR THEATRE Star casting puts pounds on prices but adds little to moribund play Â
Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:06PMWednesday, October 8, 2025
★★★ GHOST STORIES, PEACOCK THEATRE Resurrected horror show might be best left buried
Impressive spectacle saves an ageing show in an unsuitable venue
In the framing dev…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:54PMFriday, October 3, 2025
★★★ LEE, PARK THEATRE Earnest treatment of a substantial artist lacks excitementÂ
Informative and interesting, the play's format limits its potential
Like fellow New …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:54PMThursday, October 2, 2025
★★★★★ MEASURE FOR MEASURE, RSC STRATFORD Crystal clear storytelling in a (surely) landmark production
Shakespeare, in this adaptation, is at his most percept…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:12PMTuesday, September 30, 2025
★★★★ GET DOWN TONIGHT, CHARING CROSS THEATRE KC and the Sunshine State
If you love the songs of KC and the Sunshine Band, Please Do Go!
In a fair few bars around t…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:54PMThursday, September 25, 2025
★★★ 50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL, THE OTHER PALACE Forgettable, but comforting
Date movie about repeating dates inspires date musical
About halfway through this world …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:42PMWednesday, September 24, 2025
★★★★★ THE HARDER THEY COME, STRATFORD EAST Great story, songs and performances
Natey Jones and Madeline Charlemagne lead a perfectly realised adaptation of t…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:36AMThursday, September 18, 2025
★★★ REUNION, KILN THEATRE New play brings a family's old enmities to the surface
Beautifully acted, but desperately grim drama
If you ever wanted to know what a mash up…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:18PMTuesday, September 16, 2025
★★★★ THE PRODUCERS, GARRICK THEATRE Musical mayhem in Mel Brooks' meisterwerk
You probably know what's coming, but it's such great fun!
Unexpectedly, there's a sly…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:12AMThursday, August 28, 2025
★★★★ FAT HAM, RSC A raucous, raunchy Pulitzer Prize-winning re-imagining for our times
An entertaining, positive and contemporary blast!
$8.2B. That's what can ha…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:54AMWednesday, 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…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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
Af…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 th…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 i…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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
T…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:18PMTuesday, June 24, 2025
★★ SHOWMANSHIP, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Dickie Beau's one-man show is lost in too large a venueÂ
Technically accomplished production with Dickie Beau never settles into a coheren…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 togeth…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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
…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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
The…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 crowdpleas…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 pre…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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 th…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk 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…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:03PM 
