FringeReview UK

1536

A stunning must-see debut.

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Alterations

We must be grateful for this compelling revival, and wait for more from the National’s Black archive.

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As Long As We Are Breathing

Do see this exceptional and brave piece of theatrical memory.

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Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens After The Act Royal Court Downstairs

Most of all this musical is necessary. With four outstanding multi-roling performers, a message both affirmative and defiant; and with a fierce joy that makes it a must-see.

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Birch Romans

The most absorbing play of the season so far.

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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.

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Darkie Armo Girl

A thrilling show, it’s the one-person blaze to catch before Christmas.

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David Lan The Land of the Living

The most moving and theatrically gripping new play I’ve seen for a long time, it’s also the most layered and completely realised. A world that invites ours to ask where on earth we come from.

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Forbidden Places

Tom Stoppard dying the day before recalled Leopoldstraat to many. No-one expected this harrowing slant successor. No wonder the audience were on their feet. Outstanding.

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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!

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Joel Tan Scenes from a Repatriation

A pocket epic play, huge in its reach.

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Lee

The play, like the art, compels itself, and shows why it had to be written.

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Lynn Nottage Intimate Apparel

Everything built up, like a corset, is unloosed. What we thought we knew we don’t. Outstanding.

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Mr Jones

Once you’ve seen Mr Jones, it will never leave you. Not just history, but the poignancy that shivers across survivors and leaves them buried, ceaselessly pulling them to the past.

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One Day When We Were Young

This grips anyone who can’t let first love go, anyone who stares homeward even now, wild with all regret. Unmissable.

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Outlying Islands

A first rate-revival of a small classic. Do seek out this rare, dream-like play.

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Ragdoll

Moar’s second play should follow Farm Hall into a West End transfer. Unmissable.

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Remember Your Lovers

An outstanding document.

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Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky The Gang of Three

The wittiest, wisest play I’ve seen this year, it deserves a long run, not least so we can absorb its lessons. Unmissable.

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Samuel Rees and Gabriele Uboldi Lessons on Revolution

It’s intersectional, it’s personal, it’s interactive: all great reasons to see this play: unless you’re a board member of BP, or the government.

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The Crucible

A unique, unforgettable revival.

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The Importance of Being Oscar

Alastair Whatley takes the joy of the sorrow, and makes it his own. Unmissable if you can squeeze in.

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The Line of Beauty

Not the most theatrical story, it’s a heady narrative. A dance to the music of a time that marred us, this still compels

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The Passenger

Essential theatre: a must-see.

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Tim Price Nye

Through choreographic sweep, Tim Price crafts a necessary, traditional warning. A must-see with the finest last line since Good.

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Timberlake Wertenbaker Little Brother

bsorbs and remains indelible. Stella Powell-Jones is helming a quietly radical shift in Jermyn Street. And she’s taking the audience with her.

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We Are the Lions, Mr Manager

At a time of racialised targeting – a distraction technique born of the very forces Jayaben Desai fought – Grunwick speaks with startling relevance.

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