John Mortimer creates a dazzling vehicle for a star, alongside one-dimensional supporting characters Like theatre itself, the law finds its voice in stories, performance and spectacle. Any …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:37AM[SHARE]Big-hearted and necessary play fails to deliver fully on its huge promise The Royal Court's collaboration with Access All Areas (AAA) may not be theatre's first explicit embrace of the neuro…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:25PM[SHARE]★★★ UNBELIEVABLE, CRITERION THEATRE Entertaining show, but short of a little magic in more senses than one Pantomime vibe undermines the unique frisson of the magicia…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:03AM[SHARE]★★ UNTITLED F*UCK M*SS S**GON PLAY, YOUNG VIC A gruelling watch, but message hits home Satirical comedy-drama labours its points across an uninterrupted two hours Seldom can a…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 02:25AM[SHARE]Â Austrian musical finally arrives in London to entertain, but not quite thrill There are times when it's best to know as little as possible before taking one's seat for a show " this new…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:25PM[SHARE]★★★ INFAMOUS, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Caroline and Rose Quentin perfectly cast in mother and daughter play A clever, sexy, confident woman woos the aristocracy but is diso…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:04AM[SHARE]★★★★ MAKESHIFTS AND REALITIES, FINBOROUGH THEATRE Three one act works revived with a beautiful attention to detail Plays that show that much may have changed for w…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:19AM[SHARE]Feelgood show acquires added poignancy on an emotional night Forty years ago, the world was very different for gay men. AIDS was devastating their communities around the world, especially …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:19AM[SHARE]★★ THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL, SOUTHBANK CENTRE Broadway show drowns in an unsympathetic venue, holed beneath the waterline by a lacklustre book and incoherent score Fine performan…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:19AM[SHARE]★★★ MACBETH, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Stripped back version has plenty of echoes of today's news, but lacks coherence and spectacle Matti Houghton shines as a grieving, accus…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:33AM[SHARE]★★ THE CROWN JEWELS, GARRICK THEATRE True story, dreadfully low on laughs and drama, in which the only successful heist comes at the box office Al Murray and Carrie Hope F…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:55AM[SHARE]★★★ ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LAVENDER THEATRE Corny book still has its problems,. but Irving Berlin's songs are as glorious as ever In fields of lavender flowers, an open ai…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:19AM[SHARE]★★ MODEST, KILN THEATRE A trans and queer celebration, but not a very good play Art, songs and a cabaret (indeed, Cabaret) vibe, but the story goes nowhere Whether you believ…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:04AM[SHARE]★★★★ STUMPED, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE A smart, funny, and beautifully staged new play An hour zips by in the company of two playwrights bickering on the boundary edge Mu…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:43AM[SHARE]★ ROBIN HOOD. THE LEGEND. RE-WRITTEN. REGENT'S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE Play with music lost in a forest of competing genres and tones New version of old story wastes talent and resources…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:04AM[SHARE]★★★★★ 42nd STREET, SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE Glorious entertainment led by a star in the making Old show sparkles in astonishing new production that dazzles fro…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:07AM[SHARE]★★★ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE - Hot button issues douse fiery passions MIchelle Terry steals the show as a Puck who brings a malevolent undertow to the…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:24AM[SHARE]★★★★ A BRIEF LIST OF EVERYONE WHO DIED, FINBOROUGH THEATRE New play that mines the bittersweet moments of a long life Jacob Marx Rice's new play mines the bitters…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:06AM[SHARE]★★★★ THE CIRCLE, ORANGE TREE THEATRE Acerbic reflections on the price paid for love Jane Asher leads an ensemble cast in Somerset Maugham's comedy of manners Tom Lit…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:18AM[SHARE]FlawBored's meta-theatrical show comforts and then goes in for the kill Just when you've relaxed a little, privileged duly checked and confident that you won't be guilt-tripped for nipping i…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:48AM[SHARE]Classy new stage adaptation of 1950s French novel proves intellectually rewarding It's apt that this new play, with characters moving in and out of Paris either side of World War I, is stag…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:42AM[SHARE]Frenetic take on Brecht's tale of doing good in a bad world loses focus As the UK undergoes yet another political convulsion, this time concerning the threshold for ministers being shitty to…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:54AM[SHARE]American show is lost in the West End with only the hits to save it Ain't Too Proud? Ain't too good either I'm afraid. Which is a shame as there's plenty of the raw material here that powers…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:06AM[SHARE]New production of the West End show based on the Alan Bennett film is perhaps near its sell-by date People can't find the food they want in the shops. Nobody has enough money. Public service…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:24AM[SHARE]A reprehensible man treats women badly, but the political magic is left entirely unexplored One wonders if Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan pondered long over their debut musical's title. S…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:42AM[SHARE]Evanna Lynch heads up wan troubles-themed dark comedy "Darkly comic thrillers" (as they like to say) set in Ireland tracking how families, or quasi-families, fall apart under pressure are ve…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:24AM[SHARE]Ambitious but misconceived take on musical theatre landmark outstays its welcome It is, perhaps, important to note that this production was first staged in London at the Young Vic, a venue …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 01:40AM[SHARE]★★★★ STANDING AT THE SKY'S EDGE, NT 60 years in one Sheffield flat tells our nation's story Chris Bush and Richard Hawley write a love letter to a friendly and fla…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:07PM[SHARE]★★★★ SYLVIA, THE OLD VIC Beverley Knight is compelling and complex in suffragette musical Sylvia Pankhurst suffers for her commitment to votes for women and to soc…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:16AM[SHARE]★★★★★ SMOKE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Kim Davies' 2014 play has only grown in relevance for the post #MeToo world The perils of navigating power relations whe…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 05:49AM[SHARE]★★ TITUS ANDRONICUS, SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE Gory play full of murders played with neither gore nor murders Tricksy staging distracts and disappoints If All's Well That…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 03:26AM[SHARE]
