All stories by Laura De Lisle on BroadwayStars

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Passing, Park Theatre review - where do we go from here? by Laura De Lisle

A British-Indian family celebrate their first Diwali, with mixed results “It’s nothing like Christmas,” Rachel (Amy-Leigh Hickman) hisses at her brother David (Kishore Walker). She’…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:02PM
Wednesday, June 7, 2023

The Shape of Things, Park Theatre review - the shape of what, exactly? by Laura De Lisle

Revival of Neil La Bute's ruthless 2001 drama let down by clumsy writing It’s been more than 20 years since the premiere of The Shape of Things, Neil LaBute’s prickly drama about couples…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:49AM
Monday, May 22, 2023

F**cking Men, Waterloo East Theatre - sex and not much else by Laura De Lisle

Modern touch-up of Joe DiPietro's seminal gay play is rollicking but lacking “This audience is very diverse, isn’t it?” joked one of the audience members at Fucking Men at Waterloo Ea…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:06AM
Saturday, February 25, 2023

Grenfell: System Failure, Playground Theatre review - if this doesn't make you angry, nothing will by Laura De Lisle

Second instalment of urgent documentary drama condemns the system that let the tower burn It’s been five years since 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire in West London. Five years an…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:33AM
Friday, January 20, 2023

The Unfriend, Criterion Theatre review - dark comedy is (largely) audience-unfriendly by Laura De Lisle

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's collaboration somehow forgets about the laughs We all have that friend. The person you met on holiday and couldn’t shake off. You added each other on Facebo…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:42PM
Monday, December 19, 2022

Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - magical stories by candlelight by Laura De Lisle

Hannah Khalil's playful retelling of the 1001 Nights puts women centre stage Do you remember how the 1001 Nights ends? You know how it starts: Scheherazade has been married to a king who ki…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:06AM
Monday, December 12, 2022

Newsies, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre view - bombastic musical let down by its songs by Laura De Lisle

Backflipping newsboys take on press barons in this hyper-energised UK premiere of the Broadway hit What do you mean you haven’t heard of the newsboys’ strike of 1899? It’s a classic Da…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:32AM
Thursday, October 13, 2022

Good, Harold Pinter Theatre review - brilliant but half-baked by Laura De Lisle

David Tennant is a bone-chillingly affable Nazi in C P Taylor's uneven look at morality “The bands came in 1933.” So begins C J Taylor’s Good, a play that tries its hardest to resist b…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:37AM
Monday, October 10, 2022

The Doctor, Duke of York's Theatre review - Juliet Stevenson will see you now by Laura De Lisle

Robert Icke's whip-smart adaptation puts identity politics on the dissection table Robert Icke is an expert in corporate tragedy. I don’t mean that in a bad way - just that he has a pencha…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:25AM
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Bliss, Finborough Theatre review - bleak but tender by Laura De Lisle

Fraser Grace adapts a Russian story of love and survival in a world turned upside-down When Bliss, a new play adapted from an Andrei Platonov short story by Fraser Grace, made its debut in R…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:48AM
Friday, May 6, 2022

The Misfortune of the English, Orange Tree Theatre review - don't fret, boys, it's only death by Laura De Lisle

Pamela Carter’s slippery tale of a school trip to Nazi Germany explores the price of a stiff upper lip “We all make history, one way or another.” But some of us make more history than…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:24AM
Monday, April 18, 2022

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, Royal Court review - Black joy, pain, and beauty by Laura De Lisle

With boisterous lyricism, Ryan Calais Cameron explores what it means to be a Black man The title is so long that the Royal Court’s neon red lettering only renders the first three words, fo…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:36AM
Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Tom Fool, Orange Tree Theatre review - testing family values by Laura De Lisle

1970s German classic skewers capitalism, but leaves emotional depths unplumbed It’s not hard to see, watching Tom Fool at the Orange Tree Theatre, why Franz Xaver Kroetz is one of Germany…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 10:18AM
Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Steve, Seven Dials Playhouse review - everything’s charming, except the script by Laura De Lisle

Award-winning hymn to Stephen Sondheim leans too heavily on in-jokes Steven (David Ames) is having a birthday party. He’s invited his closest friends – two of whom have recently started …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:12AM
Thursday, February 24, 2022

Two Billion Beats, Orange Tree Theatre review - bursting with heart by Laura De Lisle

Sonali Bhattacharyya's new play explores sisterly love and Islamophobia with warmth and wit “You could read at home,” says Bettina (Anoushka Chadha), Year 10, her school uniform perfect…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:48AM
Friday, February 11, 2022

Wuthering Heights, National Theatre review - too much heat, not enough light by Laura De Lisle

Emma Rice's punk-rock reworking of the classic is brilliant - when it's good “If you want romance,” the cast of Emma Rice’s new version of Wuthering Heights say in unison just after t…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:54AM
Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Conundrum, Young Vic review - inscrutable and ungraspable by Laura De Lisle

Aptly-named new play from Paul Anthony Morris shows the effects of racism on one man’s psyche Conundrum is a tricky play. Written and directed by Paul Anthony Morris, founder of Crying in …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 08:18AM
Friday, November 19, 2021

The Wife of Willesden, Kiln Theatre review - a saucy ode to Brent by Laura De Lisle

Zadie Smith's updated Chaucerian tale has a spring in its step and a twinkle in its eye Zadie Smith might not be the only writer who can rhyme "tandem" with "galdem", but she’s the only o…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:54AM
Saturday, November 6, 2021

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Duke of York's Theatre review - pure theatrical magic by Laura De Lisle

Spellbinding adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel reminds us of the terror and beauty of childhood This show has been a long time coming. Neil Gaiman had the first inklings of The Ocean at the…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:24AM
Thursday, November 4, 2021

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of), Criterion Theatre review - bursting with wit, verve, and love by Laura De Lisle

Bombastic karaoke adaption of Jane Austen classic gives the spotlight to the servants “We haven’t started yet!” Hannah-Jarrett Scott, dressed in Doc Martens under a 19th-century shift…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:42AM
Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Grenfell: Value Engineering, The Tabernacle review - bruising, necessary theatre by Laura De Lisle

Edited Inquiry transcripts expose the hypocrisy and incompetence behind the tragedy Grenfell: Value Engineering isn’t actually a play. It’s an edited version of the testimony heard by t…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:18AM
Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Rice, Orange Tree Theatre review - whip-smart, but unsure where it stands by Laura De Lisle

Race and belonging are interrogated unevenly in this Australian drama “Careful, there’s a hole in the floor.” The warning’s an unusual one, passed along conscientiously by the stewa…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 04:24AM
Sunday, October 3, 2021

How to Survive an Apocalypse, Finborough Theatre review - millenarian millennials by Laura De Lisle

Canadian writer Jordan Hall’s exploration of modern relationships provokes without fully satisfying Despite its painfully relevant title, How To Survive An Apocalypse was written in 2016.…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 11:36PM
Tuesday, September 21, 2021

The Lodger, Coronet Theatre review - underdeveloped family drama by Laura De Lisle

Strong performances and a gorgeous set just about save a lacklustre script The Coronet Theatre is a beautiful space – it’s a listed Victorian building, and the bar’s like something out…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:18AM
Friday, August 13, 2021

Paradise, National Theatre review - war, woe, and a glimmer of hope by Laura De Lisle

Kae Tempest’s urgent new adaptation of Sophocles puts women centre-stage Philoctetes, Odysseus, Neoptolemus: the men’s names in Sophocles’ Philoctetes are all unnecessarily long and …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:54AM
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's Globe review - foot-stompingly good fun by Laura De Lisle

Michelle Terry is gunning for a second Olivier with her first Viola The greatest version of Twelfth Night is not called Twelfth Night. It is, of course, the 2006 masterpiece She’s the Man…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:03AM
Tuesday, July 20, 2021

ANNA X, Harold Pinter Theatre review - lacking in substance by Laura De Lisle

Emma Corrin and Nabhaan Rizwan perk up one-dimensional drama about a Russian conwoman There just isn’t enough there, with ANNA X. Daniel Raggett’s production is the third and final of th…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 03:54AM
Saturday, July 17, 2021

Last Easter, Orange Tree Theatre review - over-performative and strangely off-putting by Laura De Lisle

The lighting's gorgeous, but Bryony Lavery's drama about theatre friendships never quite clicks Last Easter has become a lot more relatable since it was forced to postpone this run at the Or…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 06:12AM
Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Invisible Hand, Kiln Theatre review - balanced on a knife edge by Laura De Lisle

Scott Karim soars in taut revival of Ayad Akhtar’s political thriller A lot’s changed since Kiln Theatre boss Indhu Rubasingham directed The Invisible Hand’s first UK outing in 2016, …

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 05:54AM
Friday, July 2, 2021

Constellations, Vaudeville Theatre review - a starry revival by Laura De Lisle

Atim and Jeremiah flare bright, Wanamaker and Capaldi burn slow A cosmologist and a beekeeper walk into a barbecue. Or a wedding. The beekeeper is in a relationship, or married, or just out…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 07:24AM
Monday, May 3, 2021

Being Mr Wickham, Original Theatre Company online review - an uncontroversial apologia by Laura De Lisle

Adrian Lukis proves himself far better at portraying Austen's rake than he is at writing him It wasn’t Jane Austen’s subtlest move, naming her roguish soldier George Wickham. As countle…

SOURCE: theartsdesk.com at 09:33PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards