The Royal Shakespeare Company has vowed to drill the Bard’s rhythms into its actors – but our alienation from his language runs deeper ‘Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced i…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:03AMThe former RSC director had a stellar career, seeing the depth in derided plays and restoring the Histories to their rightful stage I was saddened to hear of the death of Terry Hands at the …
Linked From The Guardian at 10:36AMFrom Rome to Paris to London, Uncle Vanya delivers fresh meanings wherever and whenever it’s performed Which is Chekhov’s greatest play? It tends to be the one you’ve seen most recentl…
Linked From The Guardian at 08:42AMRoyal and Derngate, NorthamptonAstrid Lindgren’s nine-year-old rebel is suitably anarchic and altruistic in a festive musical show that leaves you chuckling I’ve come late in life to Ast…
Linked From The Guardian at 11:42AMKatori Hall gave us a miracle, Caryl Churchill delivered a dark quartet and Tom Hiddleston astounded in Betrayal. But the year’s highlight was a breathtaking Ibsen with Hayley Atwell More …
Linked From The Guardian at 05:33AMSam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonElla Hickson’s Elizabeth I story vividly portrays her battles with men and a patriarchal system but doesn’t make a strong case for contemporary parallels E…
Linked From The Guardian at 06:54AMDonmar Warehouse, LondonMike Lew’s American update of Shakespeare, directed by Michael Longhurst, captures the king’s complexity Mike Lew’s relocation of Richard III to a US high schoo…
Linked From The Guardian at 10:48AMRoyal Court, London Race and relationships are the focus of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s deeply moving drama that presents an honest picture of multi-cultural Britain There’s a great story by …
Linked From The Guardian at 02:18PMLyttelton, LondonBuoyed by first-rate performances, this production transforms the Russian classic into an eye-opening account of the Biafran war Inua Ellams describes his new play, his firs…
Linked From The Guardian at 09:03AM11 December 1972: on the evidence of recent shows, the musical is in dead trouble: the more one watches dancers catapulting across the stage as if fired from a cannon and leading ladies bari…
Linked From The Guardian at 01:48AMWith shows such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Six and The Boy in the Dress, the musical is in rude health in this country – whether Broadway knows it or not Has the British musical…
Linked From The Guardian at 12:18PMPlayhouse, LondonVisual flummery and the famous nose are dispensed with in Martin Crimp’s modern take on Rostand’s proxy-wooing play This version of Edmond Rostand’s play, as adapted b…
Linked From The Guardian at 08:12PMHampstead theatre, LondonBoris Spassky and Bobby Fischer’s 1972 match is a proxy war in this intriguing but overcomplicated chess drama There has already been a musical, Chess, inspired by…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:12AMYoung Vic, London Directed by Nadia Latif, this Pulitzer prize-winning play by Jackie Sibblies Drury is definitely one to see – and argue over This play by Jackie Sibblies Drury is tricky …
Linked From The Guardian at 07:06PMMenier Chocolate Factory, LondonThis pitch-perfect revival of Sandy Wilson’s 1953 musical is a positive invitation to dance Time has been good to Sandy Wilson’s 1953 musical. Although se…
Linked From The Guardian at 01:54PMAs Michael Billington, the Guardian’s chief theatre critic, prepares to step down, he discusses what has changed – and what hasn’t – in his 48 years as a nightly aisle-squatter Ten o…
Linked From The Guardian at 01:54PMFinborough, LondonA Welsh teenager is hailed as the second coming in this fascinating revival of Emlyn Williams’ long-forgotten play This enterprising theatre struck gold in 2011 with its …
Linked From The Guardian at 09:48AMThe Guardian’s theatre critic was at the sketch group’s first show in 1960. It was the beginning of a friendship … and a satire boom that changed the world My first sighting of Jonatha…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:48PMRoyal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonA resplendent cast sing the praises of self-expression in Mark Ravenhill’s adaptation of the feelgood football novel The boy who defies tribal…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:48PMOrange Tree, Richmond upon ThamesThis production of George Bernard Shaw’s remarkable play about a poet and a priest in love with the same woman induces giddy delight Paul Miller is almost …
Linked From The Guardian at 08:18AMBush theatre, LondonBijan Sheibani’s writing debut about two half-Iranian brothers relies on a puzzling backstory, yet vivid staging and beautiful performances fill it with vitality You ca…
Linked From The Guardian at 09:36PMBridge theatre, LondonAslan is more substitute Churchill than surrogate Christ in Sally Cookson’s brilliantly inventive production of CS Lewis’s wartime fable The popularity of CS Lewis…
Linked From The Guardian at 09:12PMGate theatre, LondonDespite Temi Wilkey’s best efforts, including rolling in slime, Tue Biering’s play can’t decide whether it is a critique of utopianism or a message of reassurance …
Linked From The Guardian at 07:12AMShaftesbury theatre, LondonSongs of the prolific Swedish tunesmith are shoehorned into a silly Shakespeare-derived story for this misguided West End musical Romeo and Juliet, the starting po…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:03PMNoël Coward theatre, LondonSam Tutty shines as the lonely student who fabricates a friendship with a dead boy, but this award-winning musical has plot holes This musical arrives from the US…
Linked From The Guardian at 10:12PMDavid Greig’s survival-story adaptation has clawed its way to the West End – and it is a triumph of resolve and innovation When this adaptation of Joe Simpson’s mountaineering memoir, …
Linked From The Guardian at 07:33AMHampstead theatre, LondonChinonyerem Odimba’s subtle play is a celebration of female friendship, given an intimate production by Daniel Bailey There is much to admire in this play by Chin…
Linked From The Guardian at 04:03PMPrince Edward theatre, LondonZizi Strallen is excellent as the buoyant nanny in Eyre’s chippy and enduring show, which also calls on Julian Fellowes, Matthew Bourne and Petula Clark I was …
Linked From The Guardian at 09:12PMTheatre 503, LondonWriter John Webber shows edgy promise with this story of a woman’s contrasting encounters with two men Like many emerging dramatists, John Webber is an actor. He doesn…
Linked From The Guardian at 07:36AMAfter two incidents in six years, visitors may need reassurance before they return to the West End “Don’t clap too hard: it’s a very old building,” says Archie Rice in John Osborne…
Linked From The Guardian at 01:54PMThe Other Palace, London This new musical by Alick Glass carries its fight against 30s movie plagiarism with pleasant songs, but lacks the showbiz sparkle to land a killer punch This theatre…
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