Review: Garden Party – Truman Capote’s Black and White Celebration
Delightfully, Beautifully, Barkingly, Bonkers
Archives: Reviews 0
Reviews
Review: Rachel Morton-Young: Dutch Courage
A warm, sharp, inclusive stand-up hour about life between two cultures
Review: Find Me by Olwen Wymark
Another triumph for the young company dealing with difficulty in a subject that was difficult to watch, tough to hear, but delivered with great skill.
Review: 21 New Messages
An interesting take on how you decipher messages left in your deceased relative’s answering machine.
Review: The Naked Neds
The Full Monty inspires another group of men to strip for charity in a play with a strong message and loads of heart.
Review: Flick
Razor sharp writing and an impeccable performance. Gritty, witty, and quietly devastating.
Review: Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People
Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe Award Winner 2023 lives up to her reputation in this fast-paced and absurd character show.
Review: I Dream in Colour
A celebratory show from a young blind performer about the right to make one’s own decisions however tough the choices
Review: Troubled
A pacy, emotionally rich, disarmingly funny, and sometimes surreal piece of animated storytelling
Review: NORMAL
See NORMAL for its truth and community, its depiction of effort made beautiful, and its success in using a performance space to show us what sustainable practice might look like.
Review: This SH*T happens all the time
A stunning one woman show with a riveting actress and an important message.
Review: Seeking a Pen Pal for the End of the World
Natural storyteller Jen’s elegant drag character is realistic, fanciful and strong. Performed with sincerity and panache!
Review: 5 Mistakes That Changed History
A range of mistakes to delight even the most ardent history fan.
Review: A Gambler’s Guide to Dying.
A classic tale celebrates its tenth anniversary, and time has added even more depth,
Review: Atomic Cabaret
A musical, informative, revealing powerplay for nuclear awareness and activism.
Review: RIFT
A powerful call to our shared humanity to find a way forward beyond the politics of division
Review: Lily Phillips: Crying
Delivering double-punch jokes, Crying explores what happens when the birth of your child doesn’t quite match what Instagram promised.
Review: Paul Williams: Don’t Look at Me
Williams creates the intimacy required for exceptional comedy, a challenge given Roxy Upstairs’ leaning toward conventional plays and musicals.
Review: Super Mama
Lithuanian comedian makes her debut at the fringe with a story about almost forgetting yourself after becoming a mum.
Review: The Midnight Bell
An outstanding ballet by any standards. One that like its inspiration Patrick Hamilton will last.
Review: Paul Gregory Guitar Recital, St Nicholas Church, Brighton
An exhilarating recital, a true gem and above all tribute to the much-missed Richard Bowen.
Review: Short Plays 2025
Enough here to engage and make anyone who’s not yet ventured to NVT to keep coming back. Do see this collation of crazies.
Review: Heading Into Night – a clown ode…(forgetting)
Searching through fragments in a mind that is evaporating - one laugh at a time! Unforgettable!
Review: For Steve and Furtherfield – A Dance Showcase
The resplendent coil of the human condition - fragile, simple, beautiful...
Review: UnTethered
UnTethered could be outstanding and groundbreaking. What Tara Sirois does next could, and should, unnerve everyone; including herself.
Review: Extraordinary Women
For a bijou summer in a bottle, this can’t be beaten. Exquisite, painfully funny, and hinting at the depths Mackenzie found to his own chagrin. A gem.
Review: There is a Light and a Whistle For Attracting Attention
A relentess, powerful solo performance
Review: The Rubbish Puppets!
Trash Transformed! Getting out of bed can be uneventful but not for this teenager - prepare to see trash become treasure...Introducing 'The Rubbish Puppets.'
Review: Top Hat
The most joyous musical of the summer. And it has a summer heart that never cloys. A sizzling must-see.
Review: La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu
An engaging play about the manipulation of public opinion to satisfy the taste for war of a tiny elite
Review: Mercedes Gancedo and Quimey Urquiaga Soprano and Piano Recital St Nicholas Church, Brighton
A treasurable gem of a recital. But remember you can catch them on Friday at St Luke’s Brighton. Do go.
Review: La Femme des Sables
A dance piece investigating how pain becomes a catalyst for spiritual enlightenment
Review: A Man For All Seasons
A must-see, one of the very finest plays to have reached the theatre this year.
Review: Push and Pull
An extraordinary performance exploring the push and pull dynamic of a relationship touching deep emotional strings
Review: Formosa Viva
A catchy dance theatre performance displaying Taiwan's historical heritage through movement and dance
Review: Chiara Atik Poor Clare
Sassy yet profound, probing yet exuberant, it asks all of us: No, don’t look at me. Look at you. A quiet must-see this summer.
Review: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Sean Holmes has conjured the most intelligently re-thought Merry Wives of recent years with a convincing take on Mistress Ford. The last few gestures in this show change everything that might follow.
Review: Amour Utopique
A solo clown circus show with the potential to grow into something more refined and impactful
Review: Ivan Hovorun Piano Recital St Nicholas Church, Brighton
An exceptionally musical as well as virtuosic climax to a recital alerting is to another world-class pianist.
Review: Blanc de Blanc
A poetic solo mime performance rich in visual symbolism, drawing us into the depths of an artist’s unconscious.
Review: Chez Lui
A superb solo mime and clown show taking the audience into the intimate and mad world of its protagonist
Review: James Inverne That Bastard, Puccini!
With such a script, cast and production values, this is a sure-fire hit, a gem deserving of longer runs too. Don’t let this be a one-run wonder!
Review: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by Candelight Sussex String Quartet
Come for the music, if you can afford the ticket. That, and the context framing it will leave you so much richer, despite the weight of your pocket.
Review: Lynn Nottage Intimate Apparel
Everything built up, like a corset, is unloosed. What we thought we knew we don’t. Outstanding.
Review: Sean Daniels The White Chip
The most entertaining life-saver you’ll see, whether you need it or not.
Review: #1 Clown Comedy with Victor and Priscilla
Cross-dressing clown siblings Victor and Priscilla entertain with song, dance, wordplay, slapstick, drag and puppets
Review: Tim Price Nye
Through choreographic sweep, Tim Price crafts a necessary, traditional warning. A must-see with the finest last line since Good.
Review: Emily Jennings and Cassandra Mathews Song and Guitar Recital St Nicholas Church, Brighton
Outstanding. And again at such short notice. Quite the most exhilarating song recital in months.
Review: Girl from the North Country
Girl from the North Country freights a world in a steam whistle. The sheer punch of talent doesn’t come much greater than this.
Review: Ghost Stories
Pure scary, not horror. There’s reasons Ghost Stories is on its second tour out of the West End. Here’s a convenient (and reasonable) way to see why.
Review: Justice For Maurice Henry Carter
A true story of friendship, faith, equity, activism, and miscarriage of justice.
Review: Kwanita Lau and Charles Tam Violin/Piano Recital St Nicholas Church, Brighton
Outstanding. And at such short notice
Review: Claire Dowie H to He (I’m Turning into a man) Finborough
A must-see for anyone who loves breakthrough: genre-defying, then genre-defining theatre.
Review: 4.48 Psychosis
Sold out at the Court (you might queue for returns), but worth any pilgrimage to Stratford for.
Review: Claire Dowie See Primark and Die Finborough
There’s more than a touch of Ken (even more, Daisy) Campbell about the way Dowie structures her circular storytelling. Here it’s at its most consummate, most artful and repays re-reading to catch Dowie at your throat.
Review: Sheridan The Rivals
This company re-thinks Sheridan in his spirit: clear and steady as lead-crystal struck through with sun. The inventiveness of filleting the text to guy the fact of a five-strong cast is part of their distinction. It’s a must-see.
Review: Regent Wind Quintet Recital St Nicholas Church, Brighton
An outstanding debut in Brighton for an ensemble already invited to return.
Review: Cruel Intentions
If ever you’ve been crossed in love, double-crossed yourself, or just crossing through, then this is for you. It’s June’s sizzle, all the way to Six, this September.
Review: Sarah Ruhl Eurydice
Sam Chittenden 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: La Ultima Muñeca: A Theatrical Quinceañera
Profoundly beautiful immersive theatrical work about the end of girlhood
Review: Tolstoy/Phillip Breen Anna Karenina
Potentially a revelation, perhaps a classic: a fully-articulated world around Anna, and not just her ghost.
Review: Joan Littlewood Oh What a Lovely War
The Merry Roosters forget who they are and come together, awed by the transcendent theatre they’ve invoked. See it.
Review: Claire Dowie Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt?
If you see one Claire Dowie, this might be it.
Review: Claire Dowie Adult Child/Dead Child Finborough
Claire Dowie’s never mellowed, and remains essential: taut, inordinate, alone, unreconciled. In other words, see it.
Review: Mario Banushi Taverna Miresia
Not even the world theatre powerhouse of the Coronet has hosted anything like this. Mario Banushi must be seen.
