Ellie Kurttz

Review: APEX PREDATOR, Hampstead Theatre
by Debbie Gilpin - Apr 1, 2025

It finally feels like the world is waking up to the epidemic of violence perpetrated by men towards women and girls, but John Donnelly’s new play has come up with a new way of countering this: vampirism! Clearly this is a supernatural ‘what if?’, but it raises some interesting questions and lays bare some unpleasant truths - in society at large, and even in the audience.

Review: PLAYHOUSE CREATURES, Orange Tree Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - Mar 26, 2025

It is said that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before. In April De Angelis's Playhouse Creatures, she celebrates five women who were clever innovators and brave pioneers of the stage at a time when female actors were openly objectified, judged and derided.

Photos: Anna Chancellor, Katherine Kingsley and More in PLAYHOUSE CREATURES
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Mar 21, 2025

You can now get a first look at production images for Playhouse Creatures at the Orange Tree ahead of opening night tonight. Learn more about the production and see how to purchase tickets.

Photos: PLAYHOUSE CREATURES In Rehearsal At Orange Tree Theatre
by A.A. Cristi - Mar 13, 2025

Orange Tree Theatre has released photos from inside rehearsal for its upcoming revival of April De Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures directed by Michael Oakley.

Review: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, London Coliseum
by Aliya Al-Hassan - Feb 17, 2025

And so to the final new production of English National Opera’s season; Mary, Queen of Scots, directed by Stewart Laing and conducted by Joana Carneiro. Scottish composer Thea Musgrave’s opera was last heard in London at Sadler’s Wells back in 1980, after premiering in Edinburgh in 1977, with Musgrave herself conducting.

Review: PLAY ON!, Lyric Hammersmith
by Aliya Al-Hassan - Feb 3, 2025

During these dark and cold nights, something magical is happening on stage at the Lyric Hammersmith. Play On! was originally created by director Sheldon Epps and writer Cheryl L. West back in 1997, transferring from San Diego to Broadway. Talawa theatre company have stripped the show back and have created a truly joyful production to delight the most curmudgeonly of audiences.

Review: HAIRSPRAY, Kings Theatre Glasgow
by Mary Baillie - Jan 28, 2025

Hairspray returns with charm to the Kings Theatre in Glasgow this week. The classic musical follows Tracy Turnblad, an ambitious teen with big dreams of dancing on TV and tackling racial segregation in 1960s Baltimore.

Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL, Shakespeare’s Globe
by Cindy Marcolina - Dec 6, 2024

Though we admit that venturing as far as saying that the witch looks like a mix of Margaret Thatcher and the old Queen might be just us being fastidious with our interpretative vein, the links are there to see and analyse. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy and adults playing children is always slightly jarring, but it’s also a prime example of how we can navigate world politics with your kids.

Review: TWELFTH NIGHT, Orange Tree Theatre
by Gary Naylor - Dec 1, 2024

Superb performances from a cast entirely at ease with themselves and their director make this show a must-see

Review: A FACE IN THE CROWD, Young Vic
by Cindy Marcolina - Sep 21, 2024

“I love you like Mary Shelley loved her monster.” Being in the right place at the right time can change your life. So, when young producer Marcia Jeffries stumbles upon a drunken Larry Rhodes while she’s recording a radio segment somewhere in the southern States, it seems like it’s fate. A gifted singer songwriter with a charming bluntness to him, Rhodes is immediately offered a slot on her show and his rise to stardom begins. Based on the 1957 film that launched Andy Griffith’s career, A Face in the Crowd is now only a creaky musical with an attractive cast. Written by Elvis Costello and Sara Ruhl, it’s Kwame Kwei-Armah’s swansong as Artistic Director of the Young Vic.

Review: MY ENGLISH PERSIAN KITCHEN, Soho Theatre
by Katie Kirkpatrick - Sep 19, 2024

On the press night for My English Persian Kitchen, the smell of chopped onion, mint, and garlic wafts down the stairs of Soho Theatre. Hannah Khalil’s atmospheric play, combining true storytelling and live cooking, turns these scents into stories rooted in real life. Fresh from the Traverse programme at Edinburgh Fringe, the show comes to Soho for its London run.

Photos: In Rehearsal for the UK Premiere of New Shakespeare-Inspired Musical, PLAY ON!
by A.A. Cristi - Sep 7, 2024

See photos from inside rehearsal for the UK premiere of Play On!, the jazz-fuelled, Twelfth Night-inspired musical that will tour the UK from September 2024 – February 2025.

Photos: Young Vic's A FACE IN THE CROWD Starring Karimloo and Lucas in Rehearsal
by Blair Ingenthron - Aug 24, 2024

Check out rehearsal photos from A Face in the Crowd at Young Vic Theatre, starring Ramin Karimloo, with original music from Elvis Costello, and a book by Sarah Ruhl, here!

Review: ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, Shakespeare's Globe
by Debbie Gilpin - Aug 15, 2024

'Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety.' Aside from a couple of Horrible Histories songs, most people probably know Cleopatra for her unique manner of death - almost certainly an apocryphal story (it's far more likely that she simply poisoned herself), but that and her ill-fated relationship with Mark Antony clearly piqued William Shakespeare's interest.

Review: YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, Opera Holland Park
by Franco Milazzo - Aug 8, 2024

Opera Holland Park close out another acclaimed season with a rollicking Yeomen Of The Guard.

Review: SOME DEMON, Arcola Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - Jun 20, 2024

Laura Waldren lifts the veil off an eating disorder unit. While the characters try hard to cope with an alienating structure that fails many of its patients, Waldren examines institutional callousness and human failure. Chosen from a staggering 1,468 scripts, Some Demon it’s an excellent pick. Though far away from an easy watch, it’s rife with urgent necessity.

Review: LIFE OF PI, Theatre Royal, Glasgow
by Natalie O'Donoghue - Jun 19, 2024

After conquering the West End and Broadway, the 5 star ‘theatrical phenomenon’ embarks on its biggest adventure yet. Don’t miss the West End and Broadway spectacle on its first ever UK tour.

Review: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Shakespeare's Globe
by Alexander Cohen - Jun 19, 2024

Jude Christian's new production playfully inverts Shakespeare's misogyny

Review: THE TRIALS AND PASSIONS OF UNFAMOUS WOMEN, Brixton House Theatre
by Niamh Jones - Jun 18, 2024

A courtroom is a place of tradition, of cold reason rather than emotional responses. This is a fact which is highlighted in The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women, a new play produced by LIFT, Brixton House and Clean Break, a company which works to bring the stories of women who are criminalised to a wider audience. The play takes us on an exploration of the court system through the eyes of women, fluctuating between classical stories of female trials and modern testimonies.

Photos: First Look at SOME DEMON at the Arcola Theatre
by Stephi Wild - Jun 17, 2024

All new photos have been released from Some Demon at the Arcola Theatre which opens tonight. Check out the photos here!