Following sold-out runs at both Chichester Festival Theatre and the Menier Chocolate Factory, Laura Wade’s The Watsons transfers to the West End in 2020. The production opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 19 May, with previews from 8 May, and runs until 26 September. Public booking opens on 15 November, priority booking is open now. Directed by Samuel West, The … [Read more...]
Best Plays in London - New Plays in London
Here is our guide to plays in London. From long-running West End plays such as The Mousetrap and The Woman in Black to new plays opening soon. Book London theatre tickets online for plays – click one of the images or the link below which shows all listings of plays currently on sale.
All’s Well That Ends Well at Jermyn Street Theatre | Review
I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to see this production in Guildford as I always try to see everything that Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC) produce, but what a treat! I get to see it in the delightful Jermyn Street Theatre for GSC’s first London transfer. Most of the set is covered with dust sheets as we take our seats but enough is showing to see that … [Read more...]
Lest We Forget at Greenwich Theatre | Review
Army privates William (Gilbert Kyem Jnr) and Dave (Chris Anderson) are in a World War One trench somewhere on the Western Front, wondering when on earth they’re going to see some proper action instead of merely holding their positions. Lest We Forget is a little too successful in portraying the boredom of the frontline, though I suppose the audience’s patience is … [Read more...]
The Taming of the Shrew – Royal Shakespeare Company – The Barbican
Hilarious, brilliant and sumptuous - the RSC shows a mighty confidence to import all of Shakespeare’s genius whilst addressing the disquieting messages of this folio by employing the simple but perfect device of flipping its characters’ genders. No humour is sacrificed - in fact the mirth is enhanced. For example, the famous tussle between Catherine and Petrucio, (now … [Read more...]
Macbeth by William Shakespeare at Theatro Technis | Review
The Tragedy of Macbeth is an intrinsically thrilling and eerie play and it’s no bad thing to be reminded every now and then that that fellow William Shakespeare really could turn a phrase and hatch a plot. The Guardian’s Michael Billington, reflecting on nearly half-a-century of reviewing British theatre, recently noted that, whilst the nation’s theatre has never been … [Read more...]
Who They Were at the Etcetera Theatre | Review
As Florence (Adela Rajnović) and Eros (Lucy Abraham) engage in yet another petty argument (or maybe it was it the same one, but continued from where it was left off previously), Eros asserts that nobody is really special, and that the term ‘special’ has become overused. I can see where she is coming from - it reminded me of a café in Brighton I went to many years ago … [Read more...]
The Entertainer at Churchill Theatre, Bromley | Review
John Osborne wrote The Entertainer in 1957 after Laurence Olivier asked him to write a play about an angry, middle-aged man and the fading (and failing) music hall artist Archie Rice was born. It became one of the defining roles of Olivier’s illustrious career - he also starred in the 1960 film of the play and was nominated for an Oscar. Since then the part has been … [Read more...]
Death of a Salesman at the Piccadilly Theatre | Review
The set isn’t much to write home about in this production of Death of a Salesman, though there are some flourishes that bookend the play as miscellaneous items of furniture, fixtures and fittings suddenly adorn the stage. Otherwise, it’s largely very grey. Fortunately for this production, the blandness of the set contrasts with rather than complements the dialogue and … [Read more...]
Shook by Samuel Bailey at Southwark Playhouse | Review
Set in a run-down classroom at a young offender institution, three young men, Cain, Riyad and Jonjo, participate in weekly parental lessons with Grace from Family Link, but the chances of actually looking after their own children in the outside world becomes an increasingly unlikely prospect, as even the fate of their own futures seem unclear. Jasmine Swan’s … [Read more...]