Review: Twelfth Night
Tom Littler again brings an intimate, wintry music to middle Shakespeare: it’s his unique gift. Never sour, never sweet without salt, and with very few reservations, a definitive close-up Twelfth Night.
Genre: Drama
Review: Ruari Conaghan Lies Where It Falls
Ruari Conaghan has nowhere to hide in every sense. He exudes the charismatic of 100 watts cosplaying a glowing 40, then hits you between the eyes
Review: Women Who Blow on Knots
As fine a realisation as anyone could manage. The immediacy, cries, reveals are inherently theatrical and precious. A must-see.
Review: Burnt-Up Love
One of the very finest three-handers I’ve seen for a long time, Burnt-Up Love refuses to judge and nor will anyone left reeling after seeing this. Stunning.
Review: 1984
This is the fleetest most theatrical version I’ve seen for some time. Telegraphic in its conveying a nightmare world, it nevertheless does so by lightning strokes.
Review: The Welkin
The sheer acting catches fire: not a weak link. With their most ambitious production ID triumph. There’s nothing like them at full stretch.
Review: The Ungodly
The Ungodly which playwright Joanna Carrick also directs is different, and special. No wonder it transfers to Off-Broadway next spring. An outstanding piece of theatre.
Review: Autumn
This is a partially bewitching production and it might send you back to the novel or quartet
Review: The Wild Duck
This production carries one truth that refreshes: strip all the directors’ concepts and editing, and for once truth will set Ibsen, and ourselves as free as it imprisons its characters. Outstanding.
Review: Gigi & Dar
Compelling and unanswerable, it’s more humane than recent history in several parts of the world allow. Setting it in 2016, Josh Azouz knows history itself has been overtaken. Highly recommended.
Review: Salomé
Dramatically this is the most creative response I’ve seen live. Here, a director’s reach should exceed their grasp, or what’s a production for.
Review: Eurydice
Stella Powell-Jones coaxes provisional miracles from her cast and space. The medium’s playful, even fun. The message though is bleak; and love is still in the letting go.
Review: Meet Me at Dawn
An aching, unflinching look at what we might face. Yet few seek to live through such a pact as bestowed here. A Greek gift. Unmissable in the south east.
Review: The Cat and the Canary
An exceptional ensemble delivering a delirious twist on a tale that truly deserves it. Unmissable.
Review: Giant
Giant is both a magisterial debut and a landmark work for braving a terrain littered with - as Tom says - "booby traps... And surprise surprise - boom."
Review: Coriolanus
Certainly a Coriolanus blazing with extrinsic relevance, it brings clarity to a play that can seem an unmitigated grey
Review: Stoppard The Real Inspector Hound; Bartlett Contractions
As ever it’s a more worthwhile production than several professional ones we’re likely to see.
Review: Gareth Strachan Project M.E. The Rock Inn Pub
Strachan proves he can pull together serious talent who believe in his work. It’s a step up in all directions
Review: 23.5 Hours
A worthy successor to Never Not Once, almost from the other side of the glass, it makes Crim one of the most visible and exciting of US dramatists.
Review: Greenhouse Festival LAMDA Festival New Directors in association with Orange Tree
Every one of these productions could enjoy a run at the Orange Tree: they’re exciting and accomplished.
Review: The Comedy of Errors
The most intelligent Comedy of Errors I’ve seen since the NT production of 2012 and truer to the play’s temper.
Review: The Silver Cord
A darkly thrilling masterpiece, given what might be its finest UK revival. All are outstanding and Alix Dunmore, and certainly Sophie Ward, should be up for some glittering prizes.
Review: The Real Thing
The Real Thing is infinitely more stimulating than many popular comedies, and though it doesn’t quite ache as it should, James McArdle bestrides this production like a hopeful monster who’s got lucky.
Review: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
This desperate elegy of betrayal, straight from Le Carré’s own hurt, will haunt you with the truth of its despair.
Review: The Unlikely Secret Agent
How it ends I urge you to discover in this sizzling paean to humanity.
Review: Shower Chair
We meet some people's deepest revelations through performance here, actors finding themselves becoming vulnerable through theatre, getting naked.
Review: You Deserve It
It is a play which is undeniably a laugh while attempting to highlight some of the realities of a life in the spotlight.
Review: Hardly Working
She is performed confidently by Lily Simpkiss, really coming into her own towards the end of the play.
Review: Pride and Prejudice
An unalloyed delight, compressing the story but revealing things even those who know the novel will take back to it.
Review: Flat 2
The uses of sound throughout are incredibly effective, adding something different to the portrayal.
Review: Son of a Bitch
Captured by social media at the worst moment in her life a mother’s frantic attempt to hold on to what matters most
Review: Ever Yours
Played by Alex Wanebo, Olivia is beautifully portrayed, her pain feeling tangible throughout.
Review: A Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem
Ibraheem is an eloquent story-teller, easily going through narrative gears and the message of the production is strong and urgent.
Review: Rebels and Patriots
A fascinating and complicated drama following four teenagers who end up in the Israeli Defence Force at a time of conflict.
Review: Letters From My Dad (Who is Dead)
Youthful company’s dramatization of growing up in the shadow of a lost parent.
Review: Via Dolorosa by David Hare
Through many voices, playwright David Hare has penned an Israel-Palestine story that could have been written today. It is dramatic, powerful, and moving.
Review: Diary of a Gay Disaster
A musical force of nature which charts an awakening of desire thanks to a couple of angels and a diary.
Review: Agatha Christie’s the Rats
A pleasant hour in the company of a cast playing hard to match the script from a genius of the form
Review: The Last Bantam
A moving tribute to the forgotten soldiers of World War I and a masterclass in storytelling
Review: The Ghost of Alexander Blackwood
A dramatic and emotional account from a deaf company of a founding father of deaf language and culture in Edinburgh
Review: Weathergirl
Screwball comedy taking the fast car on the highway to climate change hell as California wildfires roar near
Review: Playfight
A taut, well acted new play that does not hold back about emergent female sexual activity
Review: Alice Diamond And The Forty Elephants
The scope and ambition of this production was beyond admirable, as boundless energy filled the room.
Review: How I Learned to Swim
A poetic and witty soul searching solo show melding words and soundscape to frame a journey through grief.
Review: Hedda Gabler
A lovely piece of drama performed by a young company managing to capture the essence of the piece and add something new.
Review: Oran
Theatre as it ought to be – exciting, visceral, challenging and filled with entertainment.
Review: 2018: Launch on Warning
A well-crafted piece on the angst of teenagers caught in the midst of real threat of the end of mankind.
Review: One Man Poe: The Black Cat and The Raven
These classic Poe tales are told with nuance and striking ability by Smith
Review: The Last Incel
A fantastically executed complex drama which negotiates a dangerous topic with creative skill.
Review: Every Brilliant Thing
The dichotomy of innocence and suicide is fascinating, dealth with much nuance, without falling into cliches or stereotypes.
Review: The Years
This production reminds us it’s often the least theatrical, least tractable works that break boundaries, glow with an authority that changes the order of things.
Review: The Grapes of Wrath
Absorbing and essential, Grapes of Wrath is here as complete as you could wish.
Review: Gloria’s Gift
In a world where we're all so connected, how can we be more disconnected than we've ever been?
Review: The Promise
Clare Burt’s Wilkinson, racking asthmatically across the play, is indelible, crowning the evening in an arc of sacrifice, Essential theatre-going, an education.
Review: John Fowles adapted Mark Healy The French Lieutenant’s Woman
This is BLT. How they manage it might stupefy a newcomer. A must-see.
Review: After Sex
Deservedly hugely popular. With uber-smart dialogue, Dromgoole ensures that under the brittle wrap, there’s an ache and overriding desire for connection.
Review: Oliver!
There’s not a moment in this two-hours-40 where you’re not at the edge of your seat. The best musical revival this year. Don’t wait till it transfers to the West End.
Review: The Hot Wing King
Hall, following Nottage in particular, emerges as one of the most exciting US dramatists.
