Theatre Reviews
The Taming of the Shrew, Barbican review - different but still problematicFriday, 08 November 2019
This is one play by Shakespeare ripe for tinkering. It's well nigh impossible now to take it at face value and still find romance and fun in the bullying: the physical and psychological abuse as a supposedly problematic wife is "tamed" into submission. And there have been experiments. Read more... |
Shadows, Coronet Theatre review - talking heads in the voidThursday, 07 November 2019
In a flowering branch of London theatre, Norway comes to Notting Hill with what's becoming revelatory regularity, thanks to the cultural support of that admirable country. Two visionary-searing Ibsen productions are now joined by an off-piste piece of performance art from the techno-innovative Oslo-based company De Utvalgte. Read more... |
The Antipodes, National Theatre review - mysterious and gently momentousWednesday, 06 November 2019
The National Theatre is forging its own special relationship with American playwright Annie Baker, having now produced three of her plays within four years, all in their smallest Dorfman space. The result has allowed a gathering acquaintance with a genuinely sta... Read more... |
Sydney & the Old Girl, Park Theatre review - black comedy too melodramaticWednesday, 06 November 2019
Actor Miriam Margolyes is a phenomenon. Not only has this Dickensian starred in high-profile shows both here and in Australia, a country whose citizenship she took up in 2013, but she is also Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. And a familiar face from television. And a voice on radio. The programme lists her 12 major awards. Read more... |
Death of a Salesman, Piccadilly Theatre review - galvanising reinvention of Arthur Miller's classicTuesday, 05 November 2019
It is 70 years since Willy Loman first paced a Broadway stage; 70 years since audiences were sucked into the vortex of a man trying to live America’s capitalist dream only to see his life crash and burn around him. Read more... |
God's Dice, Soho Theatre review - overlong and overblownSunday, 03 November 2019
David Baddiel is a very fine comic, and over the past few years has become an acclaimed author of children's books. So I'm genuinely sad to say that his debut play at Soho Theatre really isn't very good. Read more... |
A Prayer for Wings, King's Head Theatre review - claustrophobic mother-daughter drama soarsSaturday, 02 November 2019
When Sean Mathias wrote A Prayer for Wings 35 years ago, the subject of young carers devoting their lives to parents with disabilities had just come as a revelation. Read more... |
Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre review - a beguiling journey into the beyondFriday, 01 November 2019
London’s latest new theatre opens with an appropriately otherworldly Halloween offering: American composer Dave Malloy’s teeming 2014 song cycle, which played at the Edinburgh Festival in 2016. Read more... |
As You Like It, Barbican review – uneven comedy lacks biteWednesday, 30 October 2019
Even the most ardent Bardophile has to admit that most of the time the Fool doesn’t shine in a Shakespeare production. Lamentable wordplay combined with philosophy limper than a dead capon means that with a few honourable exceptions, his interludes feel nasty, a tad brutish, and just not short enough. Read more... |
On Bear Ridge, Royal Court review - Rhys Ifans's tragicomic masterclassTuesday, 29 October 2019
Memory involves places, people, things and words, especially words. Read more... |
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★★★★★
‘A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.’
The Observer, Kate Kellaway
Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.
★★★★★
‘This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.’
The Times, Ann Treneman
Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.
Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.
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