UK / West End Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 12

Review: THE BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF, National Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 30, 2024

It's not a seamless transition from screen to stage, but it works well enough and, sadly, it still resonates with a truth albeit in a very different world...

Review: MAY 35TH, Southwark Playhouse Elephant
by Cindy Marcolina - May 31, 2024

It’s a sophisticated manifestation of human activism that’s unafraid to display shared trauma and address the threat of authoritarianism. An ode to dissidents and a celebration of the legacy of those who were brutally murdered during the demonstrations and whose deaths have been weaponised to furthe...

Review: STRATEGIC LOVE PLAY, Soho Theatre
by Franco Milazzo - May 30, 2024

Miriam Battye’s hilariously brutal and dark dissection of modern relationships - from tentative beginnings over a pint to their varied ends - returns to Soho Theatre for its second run in less than a year. ...

Review: ROMEO AND JULIET, Sadler's Wells
by Vikki Jane Vile - May 30, 2024

Leeds based Northern Ballet always pack a punch when they visit London every May, and this time was no different, with Massimo Moricone’s slick and captivating Romeo and Juliet. This year’s touring production held extra poignancy, with the costumes and set requiring full restoration and repair from ...

Review: FANNY, Watermill Theatre
by Mica Blackwell - May 31, 2024

With a captivating performance from Charlie Russell leading a fantastic ensemble and a well crafted script by Calum Finlay, this should mark your next visit to the Watermill Theatre in its amazing summer season....

Review: IZZARD HAMLET, Riverside Studios
by Cheryl Markosky - May 29, 2024

What did our critic think of IZZARD HAMLET at Riverside Studios?...

Review: HEATHERS THE MUSICAL, @sohoplace
by Abbie Grundy - May 29, 2024

A remarkably fresh take on the cult-classic musical....

Review: TOSCA, Opera Holland Park
by Gary Naylor - May 29, 2024

Opera Holland Park open the season with a faithful revival of a much loved classic...

Review: BLUETS, Royal Court
by Alexander Cohen - May 27, 2024

Katie Mitchell returns to the Royal Court with a curious but dense adaption of Maggie Nelson's poetry...

Brighton Fringe Review: BOY BAND, Presuming Ed's
by Kat Mokrynski - June 07, 2024

'Boy Band takes audiences into a meeting of the titular group, defined in the show’s description as “a top secret club where boys of any age, gender, and orientation meet in top secret to work on choreo and sing songs of unrequited longing, a celebration of all things squishy.”'...

Brighton Fringe Review: YES ANDERSON: TALES FROM THE TENT, Bleach
by Kat Mokrynski - June 06, 2024

Yes Anderson: Tales From the Tent, performed by the improv group Tiny Dynamite, is a show in which audiencces are invited into the world of the films of Wes Anderson, with the performers creating “an anthology of linked character portraits and story fragments” based on audience suggestions....

Brighton Fringe Review: A CIRCUS SIZED GAME SHOW, The Vault @ Fool's Paradise
by Kat Mokrynski - June 06, 2024

'A Circus Sized Game Show is exactly what it says it is - a giant game show. But, there’s a twist - the audience members are the ones determining how it will go! We are introduced to Morgan James, who is going to be performing his one-man circus - with a little help from us!'...

Review: DAVE BIBBY: BABY DINOSAUR, The Caxton Arms
by Kat Mokrynski - June 06, 2024

Dave Bibby: Baby Dinosaur starts with a simple concept - Dave Bibby is going to do a one-man show of the film Jurassic Park, putting on a mini movie for audience members. But, even when planning for a show, life finds a way, and Bibby finds himself unable to write the show due to the birth of his so...

Review: BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEW: SUMMONING SONDHEIM at Bar Broadway, Brighton
by Caroline Cronin - May 26, 2024

Have you ever wished that you could bring your favourite musical composer back from the dead for just one day by means of a spooky musical seance? If so, then Summoning Sondheim is right up your street....

Review: GODZ, The Vault @ Fool's Paradise
by Kat Mokrynski - June 05, 2024

Judging from the content warnings alone, you can tell that you are in for a show with GODZ - audience interaction, strong language, nudity, haze/smoke effects, depictions and references to violence . . . The list goes on!...

Brighton Fringe Review: JOHN HINTON: WELL WELL WELL . . ., Komeida Studio
by Kat Mokrynski - June 05, 2024

John Hinton: Well Well Well . . . is a musical show that has Hinton using songs and the story of his own life to explore the science behind cancer, as he was recently diagnosed with diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma....

Review: EMERGING DANCER 2024, Sadler's Wells
by Vikki Jane Vile - May 25, 2024

English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer award returned to Sadler’s Wells after a two year absence, with a unique opportunity for the most junior members of the company to shine. With his feet now firmly under the desk, Artistic Director Aaron S. Watkin hosted the evening, the first of his tenure, ...

Review: CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD: SCARY TIMES, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - June 05, 2024

Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Scary Times begins with Macarthur-Boyd telling us about a terrible gig he had recently, a charity gig in Glasgow for Freedom from Torture. For some, this might be a shocking way to begin a comedy show. But, as Macarthur-Boyd himself admits, we’re in London - it takes a lo...

Review: PERFECT SHOW FOR RACHEL, Barbican Pit
by Louise Penn - May 25, 2024

Produced by Zoo Co and Improbable, this is not your show, or like any show you might have seen before. Perfect Show for Rachel is just what it says, a perfect show directed by Rachel O'Mahony, who is learning disabled, living in a care home, and exploring her creativity. So anything can happen, and ...

Review: INDIANA JONES & RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK IN CONCERT, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 26, 2024

In 1973 George Lucas wrote a story titled “The Adventures of Indiana Smith”, inspired by the adventure films of the 1930s and 1940s. While on holiday with Steven Spielberg, Lucas pitched his story, and convinced him to direct a trilogy of films. Spielberg suggested that the surname was changed to Jo...

Review: THE HARMONY TEST, Hampstead Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - May 24, 2024

Good writing doesn’t have to explode off the stage, but can gently lull you with buckets of charm and laser point focus....

Review: ROMEO & JULIET, Duke Of York's Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - May 24, 2024

Director Jamie Lloyd has taken on the challenge of Shakespeare’s iconic Romeo & Juliet, bringing his trademark style of theatre to the Duke of York’s theatre this summer. Starring Tom Holland as Romeo and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet, this production brings us into the world of Verona as the ...

Review: PIECE OF ME, Camden People's Theatre
by Olivia Woods - May 23, 2024

After a long standing estrangement, BabyFaceBland is back and ready with all your favourite hits; This time with a sharp political remix. Piece of Me, Claire Gaydon’s newest well crafted and thought provoking production, explores mass surveillance through the lens of mega fame....

Review: PIECES OF A WOMAN, Battersea Arts Centre
by Alice Cope - May 23, 2024

Pieces of a Woman from Writer Kata Wéber and Director Kornél Mundruczó is presented for the first time in UK, produced by TR Warszawa....

Review: TOM LAWRINSON: HUBBA HUBBA, Soho Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - June 05, 2024

Tom Lawrinson: Hubba Hubba begins with Lawrinson emerging from behind the curtains, acting shy towards the audience and hiding his face behind his jacket. This act is quickly dropped, however, and it is revealed that Lawrinson is anything but shy...