All stories by David Jays on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Don't Destroy Me review " war is not over for fractured Jewish family by David Jays

Arcola, LondonTimely revival of Michael Hastings' unsettling 1956 play that examines the legacy of war on immigrants in postwar London It's just over a decade since the second world war ende…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 15, 2023

Indhu Rubasingham's National Theatre in-tray: lure megastars, deal with crises and define an era by David Jays

The incoming artistic director at the NT must lead the institution and the industry, while choosing plays new and old for three stages. The job is a test of nerve and integrity In 1978, Juli…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

The Fair Maid of the West review " songs, silliness and a musical ham by David Jays

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonIsobel McArthur gives a giddy fresh spin to Thomas Heywood's 16th-century romp which sends a Cornish landlady, in her repurposed bar, to sea 'Not everything …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 17, 2023

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) review " charming romcom is a treat by David Jays

Kiln theatre, LondonTwo-hander musical matches its wide-eyed hero and sardonic heroine with just the right mix of sugar and sour Here's a little tale of the Big Apple. Dougal arrives from En…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 9, 2023

'You could beat someone to death with that!' Great theatre wigs " and their miraculous creators by David Jays

Few things in theatre are more transformative than a wig. But who makes them? Can they really be worth thousands? And what looks best on a beheaded tyrant? We meet the hairpiece heroes and t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Clyde's review " crunchy kitchen drama is a dish to be savoured by David Jays

Donmar Warehouse, LondonClyde runs a mean sandwich shop, while Montrellous is the sensei of sourdough, in Lynn Nottage's mouthwatering play Lynn Nottage's mouthwatering, gloriously performe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:13AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons: the cult play about words becomes a ballet by David Jays

When a principal at the Royal Ballet asked to adapt his drama about imposed verbal limits, playwright Sam Steiner was all in. 'There are things dance does better,' he says 'Why don't you sta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:07PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

What It Means review " how a gay American writer came out fighting by David Jays

Wilton's Music Hall, LondonRichard Cant is superb as Merle Miller who takes a stand against homophobia in this clever retelling of his landmark essay Merle Miller, a distinguished mid-centur…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:37AM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 8, 2023

Flowers for Mrs Harris review " sweetly unassuming musical with dreams of chic by David Jays

Riverside Studios, LondonJenna Russell gives a shining performance of quiet resolve in this musical adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel about a widowed cleaner in gloomy postwar London who se…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:19AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 28, 2023

Michael Gambon: an actor who let his heart and soul crack open by David Jays

A star with incredible presence, Gambon " who has died at the age of 82 " brought heft and delicacy, mischief and feeling, to the stage and screen ' Star of Harry Potter and The Singing Dete…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 24, 2023

Beautiful Thing review " 90s teens navigating tough times in a tender-hearted triumph by David Jays

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonJonathan Harvey's breakthrough play still blazes with a stubborn utopian impulse thanks to finely pitched performances and delicately balanced banter Ever…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, September 1, 2023

Farewell Mr Haffmann review " Nazi drama has weirdly comic overtones by David Jays

Ustinov Studio, BathThe English-language premiere of Jean-Philippe Daguerre's award-winning play hampers its seasoned cast with a complicated plot " bordering on farcical " about a Jewish je…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Falkland Sound review " the RSC's history play tells the islanders' story by David Jays

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonBrad Birch's drama aims to explain how it felt to be the centre of the world's attention in the war but being narrated at becomes tiring When the RSC invited…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:07AM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 10, 2023

Woodhill review " astonishing portrait of Britain's failing prison system by David Jays

Summerhall, EdinburghMatt Woodhead's urgent drama focuses on the deaths of three real prisoners with mental health issues " and their families' fight for justice Campaigning theatre is reima…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:25AM[SHARE]

Ageless review " dances of experience and grace from over-60s by David Jays

Assembly @ Dance Base, EdinburghScotland's leading company for older dancers offers statuesque personality and sprightly disco in a show that defies sentimentality My neighbour at this show…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:19AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Kyiv City Ballet review " slender love stories mix farce and flirting by David Jays

Assembly Hall, EdinburghThe company is understandably seeking 'good stories with happy endings' but the best results come in a brief folk-dance Perhaps it isn't surprising that there's a ret…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AM[SHARE]

Lady Dealer review " drugs, couplets and a blaze of Beastie Boys by David Jays

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghAlexa Davies' performance as Charly, a rhyming drug dealer who is falling apart, is the gleaming heart of this production 'I am a trailblazer," declares Cha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:07AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Thrown review " backhold wrestling tale tackles Scottish identity by David Jays

Traverse theatre, EdinburghNat McCleary's play brings five women together through a Highland Games that does not always make them welcome Backhold wrestling, a folk sport that thrives in Sco…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:25AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 6, 2023

Beneatha's Place review " the future of Black America and the shadows of colonialism by David Jays

Young Vic, LondonKwame Kwei-Armah's play takes a character from Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun on a journey to Africa A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's landmark 1959 play, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 23, 2023

Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? review " an affecting memoir of a thwarted playwright by David Jays

Minerva, ChichesterRakie Ayola is superb in a story about the exploitation of a Black female playwright by the great and the greedy of London's theatreland It's quite a title. Adrienne Kenn…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:49AM[SHARE]
Sunday, June 11, 2023

Royal Ballet triple bill review " a fascinatingly icy Wayne McGregor premiere by David Jays

Royal Opera House, LondonLaura Morera takes her final bow as Anastasia in a night that also includes Christopher Wheeldon's winningly athletic Olympian ballet and McGregor's Untitled, 2023 T…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 9, 2023

All of It review " Alistair McDowall's extraordinary tales of ordinary life by David Jays

Royal Court, London Three audacious monologues by McDowall, dazzlingly performed by Kate O'Flynn, open vivid windows on to day-to-day existence Alistair McDowall's plays are portals to the e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:25AM[SHARE]
Monday, May 29, 2023

Encore! Surefire shows returning for the Edinburgh festival in 2023 by Chris Wiegand, Anya Ryan, Brian Logan, Mark Fisher, Kate Wyver, Arifa Akbar and David Jays

In the run-up to the festival, our writers will choose new productions that have caught their eye " but here's a selection of those we've already reviewed Richard Marsh has clearly seen Die …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 18, 2023

Once on This Island review " stirring Little Mermaid musical in colonial Haiti by David Jays

Regent's Park Open Air theatre, LondonA young woman offers her life to save an unworthy aristocrat in a passionately sung fable of Caribbean history A tragic tale rollicking with positive en…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 7, 2023

The Circle review " love, tears and tender truths when Jane Asher comes to call by David Jays

Orange Tree, Richmond Strong emotions rule in a candid and well-judged Somerset Maugham comedy twisting romantic fates across generations of squabbling society Elizabeth (Olivia Vinall), the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The Book of Will review " friends fight to save Shakespeare's plays by David Jays

Queen's theatre, HornchurchFearing the playwright's works will be lost to history, former colleagues enact a rescue plan in Lauren Gunderson's generous-hearted comedy Less giddy than Shakesp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 2, 2023

'It's Shakespeare " as important as any modern piece of work': Derek Jarman's Blue comes to the stage by David Jays

Russell Tovey, Simon Fisher Turner, Travis Alabanza and Neil Bartlett are teaming up to reimagine the director's final film " a narrated meditation over a static blue screen " as a 'thank yo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 13, 2023

'I'm no white man in a toga': Thalissa Teixeira on having a stab at Brutus by David Jays

The actor, better known as a TV cop, is portraying Julius Caesar's assassin in a first for the RSC. She reveals why she's been studying revolutionaries, from Mexican Zapatistas to Welsh nati…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 23, 2023

Grenfell: System Failure review " sobering unpicking of a tragedy by David Jays

Playground theatre, LondonWriter Richard Norton-Taylor and director Nicolas Kent's almost anti-theatrical play uses residents' testimonies and gives the bereaved a much-needed voice Staged a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:01PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

'Is it antisemitic? Yes': how Jewish actors and directors tackle The Merchant of Venice by David Jays

Tracy-Ann Oberman's Shylock, who has been relocated to 1930s Britain, is inspired by her tough great grandma " while Henry Goodman felt shame after losing himself in Shakespeare's most notor…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:28PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 17, 2023

Duet for One review " Kempinski's combative probe into parental tensions by David Jays

Orange Tree theatre, LondonTara Fitzgerald plays the former violinist in a restaging of Tom Kempinski's play that pits patient against doctor in a furious battle of wills Change one element …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:55AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off