All stories by Michael Billington on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Doctor Faustus review " off-with-your-kit Harington stars in Marlovian mish-mash by Michael Billington

Duke of York's, London The Game of Thrones actor gives us a sense of the scholar's flailing despair but Jamie Lloyd's excessive version of the tragedy comes with a trite messageChristopher M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:14AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 24, 2016

Guy Woolfenden obituary by Michael Billington

Composer and conductor who wrote music for RSC productions of all Shakespeare's playsIf music is now seen as an integral part of modern Shakespeare productions, the credit belongs to Guy Woo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM[SHARE]

Shakespeare Live! review " like an upmarket Royal Variety Show by Michael Billington

BBC2 The show perked up when it got round to the plays but tried to cram too much into one eveningIt is always worrying when an entertainment promises "something for everybody". That usually…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 22, 2016

Still got it " why Shakespeare lives on from Warsaw to Vegas by Michael Billington

As celebrations kick off around the world " including an immersive Romeo and Juliet in a Dubai mall " we look at why his plays are still staged 400 years after his deathOn Saturday the RSC m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The Flick review " echoes of Racine in a riveting play about love, lost souls and popcorn by Michael Billington

Dorfman theatre, London Astonishing New York hit goes behind the scenes at a cinema to expose the desperate longings of its three young protagonists Arnold Wesker in The Kitchen introduced u…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:58AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

My Mother Said I Never Should review " Lipman excels in a warm hymn to motherhood by Michael Billington

St James theatre, LondonPaul Robinson delivers an impeccable revival of Charlotte Keatley's 1987 play about the trials and tribulations of mothers and daughters Charlotte Keatley's play, fir…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 17, 2016

Another World review " compelling insights into Islamic State by Michael Billington

Temporary theatre at the National, LondonDrawing on interviews and first-hand accounts, Gillian Slovo's enlightening play puts the rise of Isis, and its appeal to young Europeans, in context…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 15, 2016

The Suicide review " Soviet satire is reworked beyond its sell-by date by Michael Billington

Lyttelton, LondonSuhayla El-Bushra brings Nikolai Erdman's 1928 social comedy into the modern day, but leaves its eccentricity and subversion behindThe National Theatre these days seems susp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 14, 2016

Deathwatch review " Genet's clammily powerful prison struggle by Michael Billington

Print Room at the Coronet, London Two prisoners and a condemned man vie for dominion of their cell in a well-executed production leavened by fantasy sequencesThis is Jean Genet's first play,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:09PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Hair | Theatre review by Michael Billington

Gielgud theatre, LondonHair is more than just a musical: it is a social and cultural phenomenon, a jubilant assertion of life and freedom and a cry of protest against politicians who, in the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:58PM[SHARE]

Arnold Wesker: the radical bard of working Britain by Michael Billington

With interrogations of class, labour and politics entwined around the lives of ordinary people " including plenty of well-written women " Arnold Wesker created plays that showed his endless …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:57AM[SHARE]

Boy review " jobcentres and loneliness in tale of a lost generation by Michael Billington

Almeida, LondonLeo Butler's play follows a teenager adrift in cold, modern London, but its compassion is sometimes overwhelmed by a restless productionLeo Butler has attempted something tric…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Arnold Wesker: food for thought by Michael Billington

As playwright Arnold Wesker turns 80, he talks about his early successes, his later battles " and the day he tried to flog his entire oeuvre for £10,000'I don't feel I'm known as a playwr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:04PM[SHARE]

The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie review " heartfelt paean to people power in China by Michael Billington

Arcola, London This compelling portrait of how the Maoist revolution gripped one particular village is a big, ambitious and thought-provoking playThere is a growing body of plays about China…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39PM[SHARE]

Titus Andronicus " review by Michael Billington

Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonNo one any longer has to make a case for this once-despised play. But, whether it is viewed as a neo-Senecan study in stoic acceptance of grief or a Tarantino-like e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:40PM[SHARE]
Monday, April 11, 2016

Cyprus Avenue: the most shocking and relevant play in London today by Michael Billington

David Ireland's story about a Belfast loyalist is a blackly comic examination of sectarian hatred " and a subversive drama that has never been more relevant Related: Cyprus Avenue review " c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:10AM[SHARE]

Cymbeline, Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon by Michael Billington

Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonAlan Bennett makes a shrewd point in his Diaries. Attending a performance by Complicite, he remarks that some theatre companies have become like rock groups attracti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:45AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 8, 2016

Laila the Musical review " clumsily modernised tale of star-crossed lovers by Michael Billington

Watford Palace theatreThe team behind Britain's Got Bhangra can't smooth over the thorny issue of arranged marriages with song and dance in this musical based on a 12th-century forerunner of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:11AM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Caretaker review " Pinter given renewed zest by Warchus and Spall by Michael Billington

Old Vic, LondonFollowing the current trend of not treating Harold Pinter with pause-ridden reverence, Matthew Warchus transforms the writer's first big hit into a wild comedy of deluded misf…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

X review " pressure builds on crew marooned in space by Michael Billington

Royal Court, LondonCharacters hear strange voices and time itself starts to dissolve in Alistair McDowall's new play, set in a research base on PlutoAlistair McDowall has quickly built a rep…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM[SHARE]
Monday, April 4, 2016

Sunset Boulevard review " imperious Glenn Close gives show new lease of life by Michael Billington

Coliseum, LondonSemi-staged performance brings us closer to Billy Wilder's film than Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1993 version Billy Wilder, on emerging from the original 1993 staging of Andrew Llo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:38PM[SHARE]
Sunday, April 3, 2016

The Fifth Column review " Hemingway's hero shows lust but lacks life by Michael Billington

Southwark Playhouse, London There are good performances in this finely staged revival, but Hemingway's autobiographical drama set during the Spanish civil war is a rambling affairErnest Hemi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AM[SHARE]
Friday, April 1, 2016

How the Other Half Loves review " hilarious Ayckbourn, fresh and fighting by Michael Billington

Theatre Royal, Haymarket, LondonAlan Ayckbourn's vintage comedy about adultery and male bullying is shockingly up to dateTheatrical snobs still patronise Alan Ayckbourn. Alan Strachan's clev…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:30AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 31, 2016

Les Blancs review " a near-perfect production of an imperfect play by Michael Billington

National Theatre, LondonWhite liberalism and postcolonial freedom-fighting clash in Yaël Farber's sensuous production, but Lorraine Hansberry's play is a product of its timeThis play has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:31AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Long Day's Journey Into Night review " Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville shine with sexual passion and rage by Michael Billington

Bristol Old VicRichard Eyre rushes through Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece but gets to the heart of the tortured love of the Tyrones, played mesmerisingly by his leadsRichard Eyre famously dire…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:52AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 28, 2016

My bruising love affair with the Royal Court by Michael Billington

For 60 turbulent years, the Royal Court has thrilled and outraged audiences and critics alike. Michael Billington, who was once cuffed by an angry playwright there, celebrates " and picks 10…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 25, 2016

Reasons to Be Happy review " Neil LaBute loses his bite by Michael Billington

Hampstead theatre, LondonThe American playwright edges away from his usual bilious comic antagonism with this drama about romantic crisesNeil LaBute's new play uses the same set of character…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:20AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 24, 2016

All That Fall review " Beckett's best play brought to life for blindfolded audience by Michael Billington

Wilton's Music Hall, LondonBy keeping its audience's eyes covered, this vivid production heightens the wistful evocation and graveyard wit of Samuel Beckett's long-ignored piece Samuel Becke…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:31PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Hamlet review " Paapa Essiedu is a graffiti prince in RSC's bright tragedy by Michael Billington

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon With this heartening production, director Simon Godwin and a largely black ensemble make you feel like you are seeing the play anewThere is som…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:16AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 21, 2016

Hedda Gabler review " Ibsen's ice maiden is wild at heart by Michael Billington

Salisbury PlayhouseKirsty Bushell adheres to Hedda's destructiveness but invests her with humour and sexual allure in this bracingly intelligent revivalIbsen's Hedda is often described as th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM[SHARE]
Saturday, March 19, 2016

Caroline, or Change, National, London by Michael Billington

National, LondonThe National Theatre used to bring us Broadway's golden oldies. Now it imports something original: a remarkable musical, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and music by Jea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PM[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