With her brilliantly written play, The Niceties, Eleanor Burgess presents us with a situation that appears to be about two opposing points of view between an African-American college student, Zoe Reed (Moronkę Akinola), and her professor Janine Bosko (Janie Dee). The length and breadth of the play unfolds in Janine's office with a massive mahogany desk dominating … [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.
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...
Breaking The Code at the Tower Theatre | Review
The inevitable comparison is made between Breaking the Code and a motion picture called The Imitation Game, but it’s hardly a like-for-like comparison, given that the film wasn’t released until 2014 and the play premiered in the West End in 1986. Breaking the Code also has a much broader narrative, whilst not diminishing the importance of Alan Turing’s (1912-1954) … [Read more...]
A Taste of Honey at Richmond Theatre | Review
When A Taste Of Honey was first produced at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in May 1958, it caused a sensation and soon transferred to the West End. Written by nineteen-year-old Shelagh Delaney, it was her first attempt at writing a play and she soon got tagged an “angry young woman” (something she hated) and bracketed with the likes of John Osborn and Harold Pinter … [Read more...]
Human Issue – Written & Directed by Dean Moynihan | Review
Someone once said that 'Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.' It's a neat philosophy that doesn't work for those who can no longer bear the weight of a troubled existence. Writer/director Dean Moynihan's play, Human Issue, a one-man show, attempts to address the circumstances, such as social isolation, unemployment, and failed love relationships, … [Read more...]
Review of ONE at Battersea Arts Centre
The opening announcement that the “performance will be relaxed” and that audience members are free to move about immediately sets the tone involving a certain brand of theatre from performance-duo Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas. Theatregoers familiar with their work, particularly Palmyra and Eurohouse, that form a trilogy of politically engaged two-handers with … [Read more...]
Ghost Bell at the OSO Arts Centre | Review
As the team behind this production of Ghost Bell were keen to point out, the performance I attended was effectively a dress rehearsal rather than the planned opening night show, for reasons we need not bother going into here. I therefore feel obliged to set aside some minor stumbles in the delivery of the dialogue, as well as some work that needs to be done with the … [Read more...]
Review of Bipolar Me at the Etcetera Theatre
One of the enriching things about attending the theatre is that there’s much to be learned about a topic or theme that a production focuses on. I’d heard the term ‘bipolar disorder’ before, and even its predecessor term, ‘manic depression’, and at some point I recall coming across some of the terminology used by a psychiatrist (Mat Betteridge) who is assessing Katie … [Read more...]
The Luncheon at the Bread & Roses Theatre | Review
An unusual and quirky piece of theatre, one wonders, as miscellaneous props continue to fill the stage, whether The Luncheon has started or if the audience should otherwise wait patiently as a large table is steadily adorned with glasses, plates, condiments and other items. This is essentially a drama about drama, a production on stage about putting a production on … [Read more...]
My Beautiful Laundrette – Curve (Leicester) | Review
This theatrical adaptation of a ninety-seven-minute motion picture from the mid-Eighties takes just over two hours to tell essentially the same story (sixty-five minutes in the first half, sixty in the second). No wonder then, when ‘ninety minutes, no interval’ can even be found in the West End these days, that this version of My Beautiful Laundrette is just a little … [Read more...]