UK / West End Theater Reviews

Review: ROMEO AND JULIET, Sadler's Wells
by Vikki Jane Vile - May 30, 2024

Leeds based Northern Ballet always pack a punch when they visit London every May, and this time was no different, with Massimo Moricone’s slick and captivating Romeo and Juliet. This year’s touring production held extra poignancy, with the costumes and set requiring full restoration and repair from ...

Review: IZZARD HAMLET at Riverside Studios
by Cheryl Markosky - May 29, 2024

What did our critic think of IZZARD HAMLET at Riverside Studios?...

Review: HEATHERS THE MUSICAL, @sohoplace
by Abbie Grundy - May 29, 2024

A remarkably fresh take on the cult-classic musical....

Review: TOSCA, Opera Holland Park
by Gary Naylor - May 29, 2024

Opera Holland Park open the season with a faithful revival of a much loved classic...

Review: BLUETS, Royal Court
by Alexander Cohen - May 27, 2024

Katie Mitchell returns to the Royal Court with a curious but dense adaption of Maggie Nelson's poetry...

Review: BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEW: SUMMONING SONDHEIM at Bar Broadway, Brighton
by Caroline Cronin - May 26, 2024

Have you ever wished that you could bring your favourite musical composer back from the dead for just one day by means of a spooky musical seance? If so, then Summoning Sondheim is right up your street....

Review: EMERGING DANCER 2024, Sadler's Wells
by Vikki Jane Vile - May 25, 2024

English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer award returned to Sadler’s Wells after a two year absence, with a unique opportunity for the most junior members of the company to shine. With his feet now firmly under the desk, Artistic Director Aaron S. Watkin hosted the evening, the first of his tenure, ...

Review: PERFECT SHOW FOR RACHEL, Barbican Pit
by Louise Penn - May 25, 2024

Produced by Zoo Co and Improbable, this is not your show, or like any show you might have seen before. Perfect Show for Rachel is just what it says, a perfect show directed by Rachel O'Mahony, who is learning disabled, living in a care home, and exploring her creativity. So anything can happen, and ...

Review: INDIANA JONES & RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK IN CONCERT, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 26, 2024

In 1973 George Lucas wrote a story titled “The Adventures of Indiana Smith”, inspired by the adventure films of the 1930s and 1940s. While on holiday with Steven Spielberg, Lucas pitched his story, and convinced him to direct a trilogy of films. Spielberg suggested that the surname was changed to Jo...

Review: THE HARMONY TEST, Hampstead Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - May 24, 2024

Good writing doesn’t have to explode off the stage, but can gently lull you with buckets of charm and laser point focus....

Review: ROMEO & JULIET, Duke Of York's Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - May 24, 2024

Director Jamie Lloyd has taken on the challenge of Shakespeare’s iconic Romeo & Juliet, bringing his trademark style of theatre to the Duke of York’s theatre this summer. Starring Tom Holland as Romeo and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet, this production brings us into the world of Verona as the ...

Review: PIECE OF ME, Camden People's Theatre
by Olivia Woods - May 23, 2024

After a long standing estrangement, BabyFaceBland is back and ready with all your favourite hits; This time with a sharp political remix. Piece of Me, Claire Gaydon’s newest well crafted and thought provoking production, explores mass surveillance through the lens of mega fame....

Review: PIECES OF A WOMAN, Battersea Arts Centre
by Alice Cope - May 23, 2024

Pieces of a Woman from Writer Kata Wéber and Director Kornél Mundruczó is presented for the first time in UK, produced by TR Warszawa....

Review: LADY DEALER, Bush Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 23, 2024

After a successful run at the Fringe, Martha Watson Allpress’ lyrically poignant show Lady Dealer now comes to the Bush theatre. Dealing with loneliness, loss and mental health, it's a captivating and immersive watch....

Review: JERRY'S GIRLS, Menier Chocolate Factory
by Louise Penn - May 23, 2024

Deeply mining the scores of four musicals Jerry Herman is best known for (Hello, Dolly, Mame, Mack & Mabel, La Cage Aux Folles), with a handful from others like Dear World and Parade, this will appeal to Herman devotees and musical generalists alike....

Review: RICHARD III, Shakespeare's Globe
by Alexander Cohen - May 22, 2024

Terry’s Richard is a hyper masculine misogynist grunting, lumbering, and bruising his way to the throne....

Review: MAY B - COMPAGNIE MAGUY MARIN, Sadler's Wells
by Matthew Paluch - May 22, 2024

Marin is regarded as a major force in French modern dance, and one can understand why when appreciating the work's overall accomplished structuring…but that doesn't mean it will be an unequivocally enjoyable experience for all....

Review: THE BOOK OF GRACE, Arcola Theatre
by Abbie Grundy - May 21, 2024

Political and punchy, the Book Grace is an incredibly powerful piece of theatre....

Review: THE COLOUR OF DINOSAURS, Polka Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - May 20, 2024

The Colour of Dinosaurs, devised and performed by Dom Coyote, Lloyd Coleman, Jakob Vinther, Victoria Oruwari, Harry Miller and Roxana Vilk, has arrived at the Polka Theatre. The show explores how a palaeontologist, Dr. Jakob Vinther, used melanin to discover what the colours of dinosaurs actually we...

Review: NOW, I SEE, Stratford East
by Olivia Woods - May 17, 2024

In this second installment of Lanre Malaolu’s trilogy (following SAMSKARA, The Yard Theatre), Now, I  See shines a light on how the physical body holds grief and the ways in which this manifests in the lives of black British men. As two brothers reunite at their late sibling’s celebration of remembr...

Review: DAVE HILL: CAVEMAN IN A SPACESHIP, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - May 20, 2024

Dave Hill: Caveman in a Spaceship begins with Hill bursting through the door of Soho Theatre Upstairs on a bicycle, circling around the stage as music blasts and the audience cheers. A smoke machine goes off, covering the stage in fog, as another machine blows out snow-like confetti, with Hill going...

Review: AVITAL ASH: WORKSHOPS HER SUICIDE NOTE, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - May 17, 2024

The story of Avital Ash: Workshops Her Suicide Note begins with some context for the audience. Ash’s mother committed suicide when Ash was only an infant and her father remarried, never telling his daughter that her mother was not actually her birth mother. ...

Review: FAWLTY TOWERS THE PLAY, Apollo Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 16, 2024

For a sitcom that only lasted for 12 episodes, Fawlty Towers left an indelible mark on British comedy. Discourteous hotel owner Basil Fawlty and his shrewish wife Sybil became legends, along with long-suffering chambermaid Polly and hapless waiter Manuel. Previously staged in Australia, this nostalg...

Review: BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY, Hampstead Theatre
by Franco Milazzo - May 14, 2024

Walter Washington is stuck. Stuck in his recently deceased wife’s wheelchair. Stuck in “a rent-controlled palace ruled by a grieving despot king” that he can ill afford. Stuck waiting for City Hall to pay him what he considers his due after a thirty year-long cop career ended in a shooting incident....

Review: L'OLIMPIADE, Royal Opera House
by Gary Naylor - May 14, 2024

Irish National Opera bring a touring production to London in what might prove to be a show for the purists...