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The evening succeeds because it abounds with infectious, unfaked delight, above all in We Go Together, which has the amiable delinquents building a dance sequence – all flapping hands and yanking motions – in response to each other; it’s silly and sweetly affecting. Read more
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It’s an old cliché with a show like this, or indeed any adaptation of Christie’s work, to say “you know what you’re getting.” For my part, The Mousetrap was what I expected, except that I did not expect to enjoy it so much. To the many who have dismissed it as a creaky old tourist trap,... Read more
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Credit where credit is due. For a brand new musical, Eugenius! has managed the seriously impressive feat of finding itself a hugely enthusiastic cult audience, one that clamoured for a return after a run at The Other Palace earlier this year, and who have now been rewarded with a slightly retooled,... Read more
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It comes as no surprise that Classic Spring Company Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole chose to round off his first season with Oscar Wilde’s ever-present The Importance of Being Earnest. An undeniable crowd-pleaser, especially amongst the white-haired patrons of the Vaudeville, you could argue... Read more
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Rock musicals are apparently very “in”, with fan-cult phenomenon Bat Out of Hell and a new UK tour of Rock of Ages booking up fast. It comes as no surprise, then, that Jennifer Marsden’s Knights of the Rose could appeal. Sadly, the faux Game of Thrones-esque dud of a show falls short. It’s... Read more
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Has there ever been a more appealing combination than Michael Grandage, Martin McDonagh and Aidan Turner? The revival of this 1994 dark comedy may not serve the same purpose as it did on its premiere in 2001, but the rumbling undertones of male volatility and infectious violence are as pertinent as... Read more
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After a Tony Award-winning stint on Broadway, Bartlett Sher’s revival of glorious Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I settles into the London Palladium, cementing its staying power amongst the greatest musicals of all time. There’s much to celebrate with this Broadway transfer,... Read more
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Politicians, business people and entire nations - even the mightiest can fall. After Julius Caesar’s assassination, Rome is in disarray and leaders jostle for power. Nobody knows who sides with who and with the constant threat of civilian revolt, there is a risk the empire will collapse. One... Read more
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A mash-up musical that combines typical tropes of musical theatre and opera with a good old bit of Shakespeare, Kiss Me, Kate is Cole Porter’s 1948 work that delves into the backstage of a touring show, as a divorced couple perform as the sparring lead roles in the Bard’s The Taming of the... Read more
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Although Greece is credited as the birthplace of democracy, Ancient Rome further developed the political system and modern-day government is more similar to the Romans than the Greeks. Imperium I: Conspirator is the the first of Mike Poulton’s two-part adaptation of Robert Harris’ Cicero... Read more
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There’s clearly a reason why the same plays are revived again and again, and why scripts such as Tracy Letts’ dark thriller Killer Joe are lesser-known. Despite offering gripping moments and some genuinely good acting, Letts’ play predominantly feels like a sledgehammer blindly bashing its... Read more
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Kitty and Ed have just had their first child. Life is blissful for them and their friends, who often pop round for drinks and a smoke. They joke about work and sex, and make light of the court cases they encounter in their day-to-day work as barristers. All is well. But then loyalty crumbles,... Read more
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I was a bit unconvinced for the first fifteen or so minutes of Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel’s production of Peter Pan, as the drab and depressing Great War hospital scene of nurses tending to wounded soldiers was a far cry from the realm of jolly pirates, mystical mermaids and Lost Boys I... Read more
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John Logan’s Red was first seen in London in 2009, in a Michael Grandage production at the Donmar Warehouse which went on to transfer to Broadway to huge acclaim, winning six Tonys. Nine years down the line, it returns to the West End to the Wyndham’s with original star Alfred Molina once again... Read more
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There's been mild controversy surrounding Dominic Dromgoole's Oscar Wilde season at the Vaudeville Theatre. Do we really need a whole year of middle-class plays taking up a West End venue? Unfortunately, Dromgoole's latest offering of one of Wilde's later and lesser-known plays An Ideal Husband... Read more
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When I entered the auditorium of the Bridge Theatre, my eyes were immediately drawn to the large pipe-like structure cutting its way across the back of the stage. I knew the basic premise of Nightfall and that it was set in the countryside on a family farm, so the way the industrial oil pipe and... Read more
