There’s been some discussion recently about high theatre ticket prices: I am of the view that it’s purely a commercial equation - if Hamilton producers can get £250 a ticket then they will. And it’s sold out every night. On the other hand, on any given evening, there are about a hundred affordable shows all over London, in small fringe venues, pubs, vaults and railway … [Read more...]
London Theatre Reviews | London West End and Off West End
If you are planning to visit London to see a musical, play, dance, drama or comedy on stage at one of the West End theatres, or a production in one of the many Off West End or Fringe venues, then maybe our London theatre reviews section can be of help? Read one of the latest reviews or use the search button to find and view one of our previous reviews. We use a star rating system on our site. In terms of coverage, our top reviews are often quoted online and on posters. We also review national touring productions. If you would like your production reviewed please follow and message us on Twitter or Facebook, or send us an email.
King Lear by William Shakespeare at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre
This is a good way of presenting Shakespeare to a contemporary audience. Purists will be purists and there isn’t much that can be done about them, taking umbrage with a production like this because it isn’t in a three-storey, open-air amphitheatre. For some regular theatregoers, the recent production of King Lear in the West End in the summer and autumn of 2018 (a … [Read more...]
My White Best Friend and Other Letters Left Unsaid at The Bunker
"Straight, white, able-bodied males to the back, queer, ethnic minority females front and centre." The first line of the show. Later on class was used to arrange the audience too and so, as a straight, white, middle-class female, I found myself on the fringes of the audience from the get-go and that is where I stayed both physically and metaphorically for the rest of … [Read more...]
PIAF: The Legend featuring Mandy Meadows at Crazy Coqs
Piaf: The Legend is not so much a tribute act - more an act of tribute. Mandy Meadows, who was raised on a sheep farm in New Zealand, had a wash, and arrived at the Brasserie Zedel’s wonderful Crazy Coqs cabaret space, is, as she herself confesses, nothing like Edith Piaf - “the Little Sparrow” - in stature, shape, deportment or lifestyle. But boy, can she sing. … [Read more...]
The Phil Willmott Company’s Shakespeare’s Othello | Review
Is every woman a ‘strumpet’ (that is, whore) in this production of Othello? Certainly not, but all are at some point accused of being one, sometimes several times in the same breath. Otherwise, this is a very faithful rendering, especially given the specific setting used in this production, India at the time of the ‘British Raj’ (1858-1947), and the removal of a few … [Read more...]
The Bay at Nice at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Set in mid-20th century Soviet Russia, David Hare’s The Bay at Nice is a strong and important one-act play about whether freedom and happiness can co-exist and at what human cost. Menier Chocolate Factory Artistic Director, David Babani, makes an apt and well-timed choice in bringing us the first revival since the work premiered at the National Theatre some 33 years … [Read more...]
Goodbye Norma Jeane by Liam Burke at Above The Stag Theatre
For someone as in love with musical theatre as I claim to be, I have to hang my head in shame that until last night, I had never heard the name Jack Cole. And if you, like me, are not sure who this man is, well I can now tell you that he was one of the most influential choreographers of his day, inventing the idiom of American show dancing known as "theatrical jazz … [Read more...]
Never Trust a Man Bun at Stockwell Playhouse
Lucy, the protagonist of Katherine Thomas’ one-act comedy of modern manners (also played by Katherine Thomas), extols the delights of Gogglebox viewed in familiar comfort with an old friend. Unfortunately, the story-telling and comic delivery of Never Trust a Man Bun pale compared to Channel 4’s now famous low-budget clip-show. As a performer-playwright making her … [Read more...]
The Rubenstein Kiss at Southwark Playhouse
The Rubenstein Kiss eventually becomes something of a Cold War thriller, but there’s a lot of backstory to be muddled through before FBI Agent Paul Cranmer (Stephen Billington) gets to question Jakob Rubenstein (Henry Proffit), Jakob’s wife Esther (Ruby Bentall), and Esther’s brother David Girshfeld (Sean Rigby). The interrogator comes across as someone somewhat … [Read more...]
In Basildon by David Eldridge at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Every so often, a joke about the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch being ‘a few stops beyond Barking’ (that is, on the eastbound District line coming up from central London) does the rounds. And then a play like In Basildon comes along, where most of the characters are working class – grafters, if you will. Never mind The Only Way is Essex, the reality television series … [Read more...]
Acts of Disunion by Alex Hayward at the White Bear Theatre
Two short plays comprise Acts of Disunion, neither of which assert anything positive about the future. In the first, Button, Julia (Zari Lewis) has the final say over whether a large red button should be pressed. The population, or what remains of it, live in underground bunkers because some disaster or other has occurred which makes ‘the surface’ uninhabitable. There … [Read more...]
Russell Maliphant & Vangelis – The Thread at Sadler’s Wells
The ending was thrilling, the dancers' bodies had become whirling tumblers on precipices thrown by Michael Hulls' clever lighting as Vangelis’s music brought a compulsive frenzy of rhythm and tune still resonating when walking away through the dark streets of Islington. Finally, the work was moving, the choreography was exciting, the dancing stunning but it turned out … [Read more...]