UK / West End Theater Reviews

Review: HUGH PANARO: THE MAN WITHOUT THE MASK, Crazy Coqs
by Mica Blackwell - September 09, 2024

Possessing a booming yet silky tenor voice and a natural charm, it’s clear why Panaro’s career has been so successful. Even when accustomed to performing in thousand-seater theatres and working with heavyweights like Barbra Streisand and Elton John, his humbleness shines in this concert as he regale...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 65: HANDEL'S MESSIAH, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - September 09, 2024

The climax to the Proms' Choral Day could only be George Frideric Handel's majestic Messiah. This 1789 arrangement by Mozart was performed by The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, joined by an incredible six (yes six) choirs, conducted by an ebullient John Butt....

Review: LA TRAVIATA, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Alexander Cohen - September 09, 2024

Heavily reliant on strong vocals...

Review: OLIVER LEITH: WRITTEN IN SWAMP AND GOLD, Bold Tendencies
by Matthew Paluch - September 09, 2024

“Visionary British composer Oliver Leith makes music that brings people together” seems like a very good place to start. Judging by the massive crowd at Bold Tendencies on September 7 he does just that....

Review: ZOONATION: THE MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Matthew Paluch - September 09, 2024

It's not often one comes across theatre that's transformative; but when you do, you know. Case in point: ZooNation’s The Mad Hatter's Tea Party....

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 62: RATTLE CONDUCTS MAHLER'S 6TH, Royal Albert Hall
by Louise Penn - September 08, 2024

There were no phone screens, no sotto voce conversations, no fidgeting, as a packed Hall watched the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in rapt appreciation. Each instrument had its moment. The dual harps added a cool clarity, the double basses a morose touch, the trombones a sweet elegance. This wa...

Review: THE SILVER CORD, Finborough Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - September 06, 2024

There is a sharply observed and darkly comedic play inside this production, but it is stymied by overlong, melodramatic monologues and meandering subjects....

Review: FRANK'S CLOSET, Wilton's Music Hall
by Michael Higgs - September 06, 2024

Frank’s Closet is a paean to queerness. With a variety of beautifully performed earworms and a never–ending stream of jokes, it’s a tongue–in–cheek show that may not glitter with a steamy plot, but still enchants with its musical numbers....

Review: VITAMIN D, Soho Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - September 06, 2024

Having to move back with your parents after a failed marriage is raising all types of questions that Larki can’t or doesn’t want to answer. Aunties and fake friends are all up in her business while her life is crumbling around her. Saher Shah’s playwriting debut is a bittersweet look into individual...

Review: THE REAL THING, The Old Vic
by Gary Naylor - September 04, 2024

Hard going with characters largely bereft of sympathetic virtues, delivering dialogue long on ideas, but short on heart...

Review: SPIES ARE FOREVER: THE WEST END CONCERT, Gillian Lynne Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - September 06, 2024

As a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Tin Can Bros, the group finally brought one of their most popular shows, Spies Are Forver, to London in a new format with a new cast. Spies Are Forever: The West End Concert, a one-night-only performance, took place on 3 September at the Gillian Lynne Thea...

Film Review: THE CRITIC
by Cindy Marcolina - September 09, 2024

The Irish writer Brendan Behan described critics as “eunuchs in a harem; they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do it themselves”. Quite a damning characterisation. Anand Tucker introduces an ageing critic, Jimmy Erskine, whose name and ruthlessness are the st...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 58 – MÄKELÄ CONDUCTS SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - September 04, 2024

“Can you tell me what it is, this capacity for emotion, this force of suffering that is wearing me out?” The focal point of Prom 58 was Hector Berlioz’s 49-minute “Episode in the Life of an Artist”, his Symphonie fantastique; written while he was still in his twenties and at the mercy of his infatua...

Review: THE MAGNETIC FIELDS: 69 LOVE SONGS, Barbican Hall
by Franco Milazzo - September 03, 2024

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of American metal band Goatwhore, Stephin Merritt and his Magnetic Fields bandmates arrived in London last weekend to celebrate the 25th anniversary of genre-blending 69 Love Songs....

Review: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Royal Ballet and Opera
by Gary Naylor - September 03, 2024

Mozart, music and mayhem in a tale of an outfoxed aristocrat brought down to earth...

Review: WING CHUN, Sadler's Wells
by Franco Milazzo - September 02, 2024

Presented as a side-by-side narrative by the Shenzen Opera and Dance company, Wing Chun tells the story of kung fu grandmaster and Bruce Lee mentor Yip Man as well as that of a film crew making a movie about his life....

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 54: BEETHOVEN FOR THREE, Royal Albert Hall
by Kat Mokrynski - September 02, 2024

With soloists Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma on violin, piano and cello respectively coming together to form a mighty trio of classical musicians, audiences are in for a treat, regardless of what is being played. Indeed, I found myself thinking that the musicians could have just performe...

Review: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, Shakespeare's Globe
by Abbie Grundy - August 30, 2024

Chaos and confusion reign in this laughter-filled production....

Review: G, Royal Court Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - September 01, 2024

Magical realism is hard to come by in the theatre. Playwright Tife Kusoro dips into urban legends and creepypasta to deliver a fascinating coming-of-age piece. With stunning direction by Monique Touko, G is a brilliant supernatural cautionary tale - a description that’s, admittedly, not entirely acc...

Review: A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN THE MUSICAL, Peacock Theatre
by Franco Milazzo - August 29, 2024

Who wouldn’t want to spend a night with Janis Joplin? Despite barely hitting the charts on this side of the pond, the American singer still symbolises the best (and worst) of the Sixties over fifty years before she joined the 27 Club. Not that you would know from this show....

Review: DEATH OF ENGLAND: CLOSING TIME, @sohoplace
by Alexander Cohen - August 29, 2024

It only premiered last October, but Death of England: Closing Time, the final chapter in Roy Williams and Clint Dyer’s state of the nation triptych, not only retains its spine-frosting freshness, but feels more dangerous than ever....

Review: THE FIFTH STEP, Pavilion Theatre
by Natalie O'Donoghue - August 29, 2024

Thirty something Luka is new to Alcoholics Anonymous and looking for a sponsor.  James is older, has been in the programme for years, surely he’s the perfect person to shepherd the younger man through each of the twelve steps on the road to recovery. Or maybe life just isn’t that simple....

Review: THE LITTLE DEATH, King's Head Theatre
by Christiana Rose - August 29, 2024

**** THE LITTLE DEATH at Kings Head Theatre unveils and encourages shamelessness, this is a bold play concerned with the relentless pursuit of seeking pleasure @littledeathshow @grimlittleberry @justin.atkins...

Review: STATE BALLET OF GEORGIA'S SWAN LAKE, London Coliseum
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 29, 2024

It's a significant cultural moment for the State Ballet of Georgia, who come to London for the first time in their 175 year history to perform the iconic Swan Lake....

Review: THE HISTORY BOYS, Theatre Royal Bath
by Cheryl Markosky - August 29, 2024

What is the purpose of education? Is it to get a place at a hallowed university to ensure a high-paying job and successful future? Or to expand minds and acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake?...