Genre: Drama
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.
Review: Bindweed
Laura Hanna is outstanding in a play that ought to establish itself and playwright Martha Loader; and should enjoy a much longer run.
Review: All’s Well That Ends Well
Don’t go expecting searing insights, but do go for a crack ensemble who will surely turn many to Shakespeare. An endearing and uplifting enterprise.
Review: Alma Mater
Kendall Feaver’s very integrity might not satisfy those who enjoy outcomes dispelled in light. But that’s the point.
Review: Mnemonic
Mnemonic is treasurable, eloquent, a rare passport. It remembers what hope, connectedness and peace smelt like. It’s worth remembering that.
Review: The Constituent
This extremely fine play is even more prescient than Penhall and Warchus intended, with an earlier election. The Constituent though, will survive it till August.
Review: Some Demon
A superbly uncomfortable edge-of-seat revelation. Groundbreaking, it’s also definitive on something we often see far too dimly.
Review: Constellations
This superb revival suggests Constellations will certainly travel for a long time.
Review: The Caretaker
Three remarkable performances edge The Caretaker to new ground. Justin Audibert’s directorial debut at Chichester proves both thrilling and prescient.
Review: The Bible in Early Modern Drama: Robert Owen The History of Purgatory
Dr Will Tosh leads a discussion The Bible in Early Modern Drama. Absorbing.
Review: Heart’s Desire/L’Amore Del Cuore
Anyone admiring Churchill, ferocious comedy or excited by a rare UK foray into Italian theatre must see this.
Review: The Hills of California
For nearly any other playwright, this would count as something of a masterpiece.
Review: The Kite Runner
Spellbindingly translated to the stage and here with more power even than before. Don’t miss it.
Review: As You Like It
A first-rate outdoor revival, and easily rivalling what the Globe have to offer.
Review: Suite in Three Keys
A once-in-a-generation masterpiece of revival. This is what we’ve been missing.
Review: Geneva Convention
As this gets quieter, it shouts more loudly. Exciting as this is, it will devastate when it finds its arc. This might ascend into something crucial.
Review: That Witch Helen
An absorbing retelling. Whatever Ridewood and Sibyl Theatre tackles next will be worth waiting for.
Review: Women’s Writes
We’ve been lucky to sit in on the first stage of a very promising conversation collaboration, and theatre piece.
