Franco Milazzo

Word on the street is that there’s a new murder mystery adventure in town so, after putting on my metaphorical deerstalker and hoicking the collar of my coat up, I took a walk down to the mean streets of, er, Canary Wharf.

In a vigorous virtuoso performance that demands to be seen, Jack Holden brings to exhilarating life a true-life crime story from half a century ago.

AI and ChatGPT are yesterday’s news but artificial general intelligence - and the very existential threat it presents - may very well be tomorrow’s.

Set in a corporate building’s executive ladies’ room in Seattle and with its tagline promising us a story of “holding on, letting go and everything in between”, Liesl Wilke’s new musical Stalled makes its world premiere at Kings Head Theatre.

If you wander down to the junction of ventriloquism and improv, there’s a chance you’ll meet Nina Conti standing there with her new show.

After Gandini Jugglers went all retro on us last year by bringing back their classic outing Smashed, the sine qua non of British circus return with a brand new show Heka.

Three years in the making, Dimanche comes to London as part of MimeLondon 2025 and tackles the climate crisis with savage mockery and tender tragedy using life-size puppets, exquisite clowning and heartfelt writing.

With life-size puppets and cinematic stylings, Plexus Polaire’s Moby Dick is a dark and immersive plunge into Herman Melville’s epic story.

If sacred cows make the best burgers, Underbelly Soho could soon become the most popular fast food joint around. One Man Musical’s latest outing is quickly becoming something of a word-of-mouth must-see and, while the marketing is understandably coy about who the “one man” is, it becomes clear early on that cabaret duo Flo & Joan have come not to praise Andrew Lloyd Webber but to hilariously bury him in his own faintly ridiculous history.

A spectacular that puts the “fun” into funeral, Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo is their finest London outing in over a decade. 

Fusing together puppetry, live music and projections, MimeLondon’s opener La Manékine brings to vivid life one of the more gruesome of the Brothers Grimm’s tales.

There's no doubt that 2025 will another fascinating year for immersive theatre, the fastest-growing art form around. There's more choice than ever to jump into a different world, whether it is diving into the Titanic, joining the crew of a spaceship, meeting the crazy characters of a cyberpunk Wild West town or solving a puzzling murder aboard a moving train.

And so yet another Fascinating Aïda tour comes to a close. Having already dipped into their latest extended jaunt around the UK a couple of times already, one thing has become abundantly clear: the second best thing about going to see this celebrated cabaret outfit has been experiencing the reactions of those around the room. Whether it’s a furiously fast number about dogging, a song about plastic surgery sung through barely-open lips or a gentle refrain about encouraging your aging mother to take a one-way trip to Switzerland, the responses are as enjoyable as anything coming off the stage.

When I first saw The Nutcracker, I was convinced one of these things must be true: either someone had spiked my drink, the cast were all on drugs or we were all in some kind of baffling nightmare. No other explanation seemed plausible to my young mind.

Writing stage reviews is an adventure I have yet to tire of. This year, I sat in the dark and scribbled hieroglyphics into my notebook in a dark room as I watched opera, cabaret, dance, circus, comedy, clowns, musicals, concert films, buckets of immersive shows (theatre, dining, even panto) and even some theatre.

In 2024, the immersive genre in London and beyond grew and grew and grew, with the independent sector overshadowing the biggest names.

There’s something about the London Community Gospel Choir that will get any place - even one as large and grand as the Royal Albert Hall - up on their feet, dancing, clapping and singing along as if their entire Christmas was rolled into this one night.

Somewhere in that creative space between cinema and live drama, Please Right Back looks at family, fantasy and the place fiction plays in difficult times.

With enough vim and vigour to light up the nearby town hall, Revel Puck Circus brings The Ruckus back to their hometown of Walthamstow as part of their Winter Festival.

If you’re feeling more 'Bah humbug!' than 'Jingle bells!' this season, a visit to the Royal Albert Hall during its annual Christmas concert series might be just the thing to spark some holiday cheer.