All stories by Michael Billington on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Children's Hour - review by Michael Billington

Comedy Theatre, LondonThere's only one question to which everyone wants the answer: can Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss cut the mustard? The short answer is that they prove as potent a co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:22AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 18, 2015

Les Liaisons Dangereuses review " Dominic West on love's battlefield by Michael Billington

Donmar Warehouse, LondonJosie Rourke directs a fine revival of Christopher Hampton's adaptation, where two jealousy-fuelled aristocrats stumble into the confusions of true loveHas there ever…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:21AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 17, 2015

Dr Seuss's The Lorax review " the best family show since Matilda by Michael Billington

Old Vic, LondonDavid Greig's anarchic take on the ecological analogy " where greed increases the need for 'thneeds' " is full of verbal wit and social purpose Related: How the Lorax saved Ch…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:21AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Dazzle review " Andrew Scott is hypnotic in disturbing tale of eccentricity by Michael Billington

Found 111 theatre, LondonThis story of two society brothers turned recluses is an extraordinary real-life American gothic " but the underlying message is quietly troublingThere's a long hist…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:30AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 14, 2015

Forget Me Not review " intensely powerful child-migrant drama by Michael Billington

Bush theatre, LondonAn unremittingly emotional play focuses on a family torn apart by the British empire's practice of shipping UK children abroad to cover labour shortagesTom Holloway's pla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:45AM[SHARE]

Michael Billington's top 10 theatre of 2015 by Michael Billington

Imelda Staunton bustled brilliantly through Gypsy and Shaw's Superman soared. But it's a celebrity hangman who tops our theatre critic's pick of this year's best showsMartin McDonagh's play,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:45AM[SHARE]

Michael Billington's top 10 theatre of 2015 by Michael Billington

Imelda Staunton bustled brilliantly through Gypsy and Shaw's Superman soared. But it's a celebrity hangman who tops our theatre critic's pick of this year's best shows Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:08AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 10, 2015

Black or white? Casting can be a grey area by Michael Billington

Let's have more black Hamlets and white Othellos - not to mention some Queen Lears.Patrick Stewart does Othello in Jude Kelly's "photo-negative" production in Washington. Photograp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:46PM[SHARE]

Hapgood review " spy drama infiltrates hearts and minds by Michael Billington

Hampstead theatre, LondonTom Stoppard's science-meets-espionage thriller makes for an excellent revival, as public savvy catches up with its testing dual structureAttention must be paid to T…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 9, 2015

You for Me for You review " rich and startling North Korean escape epic by Michael Billington

Royal Court Upstairs, LondonTwo starving sisters flee across the border with very different results in this brilliantly designed, superbly disorientating dramaLike Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:09AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A Better Woman review " internet dating's tangled web by Michael Billington

Marlowe, Canterbury Simon Mendes da Costa's lively comedy has fun exploring the etiquette of modern dating for dithering middle-aged men and sexually assertive divorceesHaving undergone a ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM[SHARE]
Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dick Whittington and His Cat review " deliciously traditional cockney panto by Michael Billington

Wilton's Music Hall, London Roy Hudd plays his first pantomime dame " amid a medley of time-tested jokes and cockney standards " in this witty, warm, unadulterated delightIt comes as a surpr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:56AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 4, 2015

Luc Bondy obituary by Michael Billington

Director whose opera and theatre work was enriched by a broad European outlook and interest in new dramaIn an age when mainland European directors are often judged by the extravagance of the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:57PM[SHARE]

Macbeth review " pounding electro and hurly-burly as witches storm the stage by Michael Billington

Young Vic, LondonAnna Maxwell Martin is a cool Lady Macbeth to John Heffernan's neurotic hero, but the relentless physical movement overshadows the text's potencyIf directing Shakespeare is …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Funny Girl review " a joyous Sheridan Smith keeps rain off parade by Michael Billington

Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonIt may be a poor man's Gypsy and Barbra Streisand has hitherto owned the role, but this production exhibits real class and Smith is a constant joy to watchThi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:52AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Linda review " an invisible woman's improbable breakdown by Michael Billington

Royal Court, London Real social issues about older women get lost in sensory overload as Penelope Skinner's promising polemic lapses into melodramaNoma Dumezweni has stepped in at short noti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Queen Anne review " pain and passion of a monarch's fight to rule with grace by Michael Billington

The Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonThe queen's relationship with Sarah Churchill (an icily seductive Natascha McElhone) is central to this fascinating, topical production on the last Stuart queen'…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 30, 2015

Pygmalion - review by Michael Billington

Garrick, LondonLast year in Chichester I found Philip Prowse's production of Shaw's indestructible play coarse and overstated. If it has improved, it is partly because it fits more snugly in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:38PM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 29, 2015

Here We Go review - a chilling reminder of our own mortality by Michael Billington

Lyttleton Theatre, LondonCaryl Churchill has written a striking memento mori for an age without faith that evokes the idea that we are here for a short time and then are suddenly goneMany pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:14PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 27, 2015

Little Eyolf review " Richard Eyre's shockingly intense Ibsen by Michael Billington

Almeida, London A striking production, starring Lydia Leonard, vividly captures what Henry James called 'the hard compulsion' of this terrifying masterpieceThe Almeida is fast becoming the h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 26, 2015

Pericles review " marine miracles on an adventure around the Med by Michael Billington

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonIt's easy to be swept along by the humour and heroism in Dominic Dromgoole's poignant, beautifully staged productionDominic Dromgoole's production of Pericles …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:26AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Evening at the Talk House review " Wallace Shawn throws a hell of a party by Michael Billington

Dorfman, LondonIn his blunt new play, set in a genteel private club, Shawn tackles political barbarism via showbiz bitcheryWith airstrikes in Syria being debated in the UK and a massive inve…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:14AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The Divided Laing review " study of the psychiatrist's inner streetfighter by Michael Billington

Arcola, LondonPatrick Marmion's ambitious play about the commune created by RD Laing in the 1960s leaves the audience deeply dividedIt was possible to have double vision while watching Patri…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:58AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 23, 2015

The Homecoming review " startling insights illuminate Pinter's domestic warfare classic by Michael Billington

Trafalgar Studios, LondonAn unexpected family reunion retains its power to shock and haunt in Jamie Lloyd's bold, impeccably acted and psychologically astute revival Fifty years after its Lo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56PM[SHARE]

Flowering Cherry review " a good play overshadowed by a great one by Michael Billington

Finborough, LondonRobert Bolt's 1957 play highlights the domestic tensions of a man at loggerheads with his family " and the echoes of Death of a Salesman are deafening Robert Bolt wrote man…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:41AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 20, 2015

The Warrior Women of Yang review " a blazing, breathtaking spectacle by Michael Billington

Sadler's Wells, LondonChina National Peking Opera's female revenge tale blends music, acrobatics and invisible horses in a riot of colour and imagination Related: Somersaults in six-inch hee…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Illusionists review " chainsaws, crossbows, origami … that's magic! by Michael Billington

Shaftesbury theatre, LondonSkilful money-making from Britain's Got Talent's Jamie Raven and forensic mind-reading from Colin Cloud add charm to this gaudy, showbiz affair Astonishingly, this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:40AM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 14, 2015

Theatre review: Visiting Mr Green / Trafalgar Studios, London by Michael Billington

Trafalgar Studios, LondonHaving put a girdle round the Earth, Jeff Baron's 1996 American play finally gets a West End showing. But, for all its global popularity, it strikes me as a thin-tex…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:10AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 12, 2015

King Lear review " incontinence and egg-smashing from Belarus Free Theatre by Michael Billington

Young Vic, London A spirit of jaunty anarchy, violent incontinence and a prankster king belie this deeply political tale of what it's like to live under an irrational dictatorship Anyone fea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Theatre: Waste, Almeida, London by Michael Billington

Lovers of good drama and politics junkies should flock to Samuel West's superb revival of Harley Granville Barker's play. Written in 1907 and revised in 1926, it takes its time (just over th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:56AM[SHARE]

Waste review " a remarkable dissection of English malaise by Michael Billington

Lyttelton theatre, LondonMorals, sexual politics and hypocrisy are the big themes in this tragic psychological portrait of a man for whom ideals matter more than individuals Harley Granville…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:00AM[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