UK / West End Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 6

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 33 – TITANS OF BRITISH MUSIC, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - August 14, 2024

There has always been much conjecture over what it really means to be British – most recently, a group of self-proclaimed “patriots” got together and trashed libraries, independent businesses, and community hubs across the country in the name of supposedly getting their country back. This, of course...

Review: FARM HALL, Theatre Royal Haymarket
by Gary Naylor - August 14, 2024

Katherine Hoar's debut play makes a seamless and well-deserved transition to a major West End venue to challenge and intrigue a public who have enjoyed Oppenheimer at the cinema...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 31: ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER PLAYS BRAHMS, Royal Albert Hall
by Alexander Cohen - August 13, 2024

What is there to be said about the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra that hasn’t already been said? For twenty-five years it has united Arab and Israeli musicians under the baton of Jewish co-founder Daniel Barenboim (late Palestinian Critical Theorist Edward Said is the other co-founder); their declarat...

Review: EDINBURGH 2024: PENTHESILEA, The Lyceum
by Katie Kirkpatrick - August 11, 2024

Penthesilea is the queen of the Amazons, a race of warrior women who can only sleep with men they’ve defeated in battle. When she falls for the Greek warrior Achilles, an inevitable tragedy is set in motion. Arbo and the ITA Ensemble bring their version of the myth to the Edinburgh International Fes...

Review: THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, Theatre Royal Bath
by Cheryl Markosky - August 12, 2024

If you're after certainty, then you should certainly steer clear of the revival of Harold Pinter's unsettling The Birthday Party at the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath. However, if you're up for an intriguing evening of comic surrealism mixed with creepy horror – think the Coen brothers meet Wes ...

Review: YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, Opera Holland Park
by Franco Milazzo - August 08, 2024

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

Review: PERICLES, Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon
by Debbie Gilpin - August 08, 2024

'‘Tis time to fear when tyrants seems to kiss.” It’s true that most of Shakespeare’s most well-known works remain perpetually relevant, particularly in the difficult times that continue to afflict populations worldwide, but sometimes it’s worth shuffling the pack and pulling out a lesser played work...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 24: PURCELL'S THE FAIRY QUEEN, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - August 07, 2024

During the Restoration and beyond, there were numerous attempts at rewriting Shakespeare - one famous example being Romeo and Juliet changing to a happy ending. His work has also been adapted for slightly different kinds of staging, which is evident in Henry Purcell’s operatic composition; The Fairy...

Review Roundup: What Did The Critics Think of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF?
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 07, 2024

Jordan Fein's new production of Fiddler on the Roof is now open at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre....

Review: WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU, Park Theatre
by Josh Maughan - August 07, 2024

When I walked out of When It Happens to You, all I wanted to do was hug my sisters. Part of me had forgotten I had seen a show, the other part couldn’t stop thinking about the last twenty minutes of it. That’s the sign of good theatre. Theatre that lights a fire underneath you, theatre that gets ins...

Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - August 07, 2024

The production embraces Jewish representation and celebrates their religious rituals with refreshing openness. From Tevye’s personal relationship with God to the customs of his culture, there’s pride in Fein’s take. He imbues it with tradition, lifting the narrative to a universal story of love and ...

Review: MADWOMEN OF THE WEST, Riverside Studios
by Josh Maughan - August 06, 2024

Four acting icons. A mostly clever script. And enough gossip to last an entire theatre season. What more could you ask for from a summer’s evening at the theatre? Madwomen of the West transfers to Riverside Studios after seasons in New York and LA and, while a little clumsy at times, is a showcase o...

EDINBURGH 2024: Review: IS THE WIFI GOOD IN HELL, Underbelly Cowgate
by Abbie Grundy - August 05, 2024

Is The Wifi Good In Hell? is a coming-of-age story with heart....

EDINBURGH 2024: Review: I SELL WINDOWS, Assembly George Square Studios
by Abbie Grundy - August 05, 2024

I Sell Windows is a heartfelt and brutally honest production that dives into the messier side of grief and ambition....

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 21: THE SINFONIA OF LONDON AND JOHN WILSON
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 05, 2024

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have rightly earned a reputation for holding audiences rapt with their vivid realisations of music. Last night, you could have heard a pin drop in the majestic Royal Albert Hall, as they returned to The Proms for a victorious fourth consecutive appearance, cele...

Review: WORMHOLES, Omnibus Theatre
by Cheryl Markosky - August 05, 2024

You simply can't take your eyes off Victoria Yeates (Call the Midwife, Fantastic Beasts, Ben and Imo, The Crucible), who's completely captivating in Emily Jupp's one-woman play, Wormholes, at bijou Omnibus Theatre on London's Clapham Common. Her portrayal of a bubbly young woman broken by a controll...

Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! IN CONCERT, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
by Cindy Marcolina - August 06, 2024

In line with the trend of the moment, this is more than a concert and less than a full production. The set has been kept to a minimum, featuring only two heavy-looking wooden tables with chairs and banners with Tudor insignia, but there’s enough costumes and choreography to have a proper glimpse of ...

Review: POLICE COPS IN SPACE, Underbelly Cavendish Square
by Christiana Rose - August 02, 2024

Police Cops In Space is a space age comedy, creatively adapting the legacy of 80’s cult police and space films to joyous effect. The comedy showcases bold and dynamic trio Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson and Tom Roe, who honour the genre playfully, with their high-energy, fast-paced theatrical missio...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 18: SAM SMITH, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 03, 2024

Auntie had no need to be worried. For Smith's only UK appearance of 2024, they were joined the BBC Concert Orchestra and the LJ Singers for an excellent (and very professional) evening, celebrating Smith as a singer, rather than a controversialist....

Review: THE YEARS, Almeida Theatre
by Gary Naylor - August 02, 2024

Five actors + 80 years + a soupçon of French ennui = an evening that will spark many a conversation...

Review: A CHORUS LINE, Sadler's Wells
by Cindy Marcolina - August 03, 2024

The show is in itself show-stopping. The cast of accomplished triple-threats swaps tense competition for a jubilant celebration of form. In a post-pandemic industry that’s suffered cuts to the arts across all areas, it’s disheartening to see an artist’s quality of life hasn’t exactly progressed much...

Review: LIFE WITH A LITTLE 'L', Riverside Studios
by Gary Naylor - August 01, 2024

This heartfelt show would benefit from a tighter focus and a harder edge...

Review Roundup: What Did The Critics Think of Carrie Cracknell's Adaptation of THE GRAPES OF WRATH?
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 01, 2024

Carrie Cracknell (Julie, The Deep Blue Sea) directs Frank Galati’s award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, now open at the National Theatre....

Review: DEATH OF ENGLAND: DELROY, @sohoplace
by Alexander Cohen - July 31, 2024

Some actors can play a role. Sure. Only a handful can inhabit it living and breathing. Even fewer are so convincing that you can’t imagine anyone else in their shoes. Paapa Essiedu is the latter. Without a doubt. Not even a second of doubt....

Review: DEATH OF ENGLAND: MICHAEL, @sohoplace
by Alexander Cohen - July 31, 2024

The guns fire loud and sonorous for the opening salvos of Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’s Death of England trilogy. A staggered premiere over four years at The National Theatre from 2020, new kid on the theatreland block @sohoplace (it’s really called that) have collated the trilogy (Michael, Delroy, ...