Walking through a seemingly less busy than usual central London towards The London Library in St James’s Square, there apparently was one thing on everyone’s mind - the coronavirus. Hoping that a couple of hours or so watching a site-specific, promenade, immersive version of H G Wells’ 1895 novella The Time Machine would give us a chance to forget about what was happening in the real world was soon removed as writer Jonathan Holloway had done his homework and although he wrote the piece last … [Read more...]
Reviews of Plays in London West End and Off West End
If you are planning to visit London to see a play at one of the West End theatres, or a play in one of the many Off West End or Fringe venues, then maybe our 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.
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Small Island adapted by Helen Edmundson at the Olivier Theatre
After the recent Windrush Generation government scandal, this National Theatre production of Small Island couldn’t have come at a better time. Based on Andrea Levy’s 2004 novel and adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, it tells the stories of two families, one white and one black leading up to the arrival of immigrant workers from the Caribbean on the Empire Windrush in 1948. Read the full review...
One Jewish Boy by Stephen Laughton at Trafalgar Studios | Review
One Jewish Boy, set mostly in London and New York, concerns Jesse, a thirty-year-old (or thereabouts) from North London who is unable to mentally recover from the trauma of an antisemitic attack on him, and Alex, the mixed heritage woman he falls in love with. Even though the attack took place in 2013, and the play is set in 2020, and though Alex has, certainly at first, more patience and understanding than anyone has a right to expect, we see their relationship careering in many directions, … [Read more...]
Delivery by Andy Walker at Chiswick Playhouse | Review
There aren’t many plays like Delivery, which successfully navigates through some very serious subjects whilst eliciting laugh out loud laughter from the audience - and without leaving theatregoers feeling even slightly guilty about chortling away at something they’ve just witnessed. Joseph (Alex Walton) is one of those friendly people, a cheeky chappie if you will, who might not have done very well academically but is streetwise and practical. Getting a decent job, however, is not easy … [Read more...]
39 Degrees by RedBellyBlack Theatre at the Vault Festival | Review
Thursday 25th July 2019 was the day I recall sitting in the office, melting as the mercury hit something close to forty degrees Celsius (I think in the end it was somewhere around 38.5 degrees). An ice-cream van close by was chiming away rather vigorously, but clearly was getting very little, if any, trade: getting an ice cream would involve going outside, which hardly anybody was prepared to do in the middle of the day. But that was one day in London, and by the following morning, the … [Read more...]
When We Died by Alexandra Donnachie at the Vault Festival | Review
Various characters are introduced in When We Died, including Kerry, Rachel’s (Alexandra Donnachie) senior colleague, Adam, Gail, Fred, Sara and Sinead, the last of these being the wife of a recently deceased man. Rachel works for a funeral director - it would seem, anyway: she doesn’t state so specifically, but who else would embalm corpses? The critical incident in the show involves the deceased - and therefore it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the narrative is being told in retrospect. … [Read more...]