James Corden's finest moment on stage not quite captured on film ★★★ I saw One Man Two Guvnors at the National Theatre back in 2011 and would have given it five stars if I'd been posting reviews back then. It is a love letter to theatrical comedy. So, how do ...
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Stephen Rea triumphs as psychotic bigot ★★★★ With theatres closed and all of us staying at home due to the coronavirus threat, I thought it might be a good idea to look at some of the theatre shows that were recorded live and are now being made available online or ...
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An entertaining evening full of fun and frightening facts but light on drama ★★★ The Time Machine offers an opportunity to tour the magnificent London Library. This 180-year-old private lending library is housed in a grade II listed building in Mayfair. It has had among its members Alfred Lord Tennyson, ...
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Barney Norris brings home the power of love ★★★ Wiltshire becomes a metaphor for today's Britain in Barney Norris' retelling of Lorca's Blood Wedding at Salisbury Playhouse. The blood feud of the original is replaced by laddish drunkenness and Mediterranean passion by English reticence in which ‘Sorry’ is the most used ...
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Exciting drama from Grime poet Debris Stevenson ★★★★★ Poet in Da Corner is the semi-autobiographical tale of Debris Stevenson and how she was inspired by grime music to become a poet. Although the word ‘grime’ suggests ‘grim’, in fact it’s not. It’s an uplifting, exhilarating story of an adolescent woman struggling with her ...
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Janie Dee leads delightful revival of The Boy Friend ★★★★ Even when it was first performed in 1954, Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend appeared to hark back to a bygone era, a time of flappers and musical comedies, that preceded the then modern muscular realist musicals like Oklahoma! That it still ...
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Small but Beautiful Theatre Located in the heart of the West End, The Garrick Theatre is 130 years old. It’s named after the 18th century’s most famous actor David Garrick. It is now part of the Nimax group of theatres. The style is what the Grade 2 listing calls ‘eclectic ...
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Tom Chambers stars in tour of vintage crime drama ★★★ I suspect Dial M For Murder seemed more thrilling when it was first performed seventy years ago. The latest touring production, which I saw on the opening night at Richmond Theatre, doesn’t exactly have you on the edge of your seat, certainly ...
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Fairview: Powerful comedy about race ★★★★ WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. Invited critics were asked not reveal twists but it’s impossible to review why this play is so powerful without saying how and why. I paid for my ticket so I feel free to discuss the whole play. ‘What are ...
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Max Martin's songs power a musical triumph ★★★★ Watch the review of & Juliet on YouTube I’m pretty sure I’m not the target demographic for & Juliet but I loved it. It's a jukebox musical which is an art form usually well down the West End hierarchy. It features the work ...
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Turing play still packs a punch ★★★ We know a lot more about Alan Turing, the subject of Breaking The Code, than we did when Hugh Whitemore wrote the play in the mid 1980s. His once secret work on breaking the Enigma code during World War Two, possibly saving millions ...
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If you've never seen Noises Off, You Really Should ★★★★★ When I saw the first production of Noises Off back in 1982, I laughed so much I was fighting for breath. If I didn’t laugh quite so uncontrollably on this occasion, it’s only because it’s the fifth time I’ve seen ...
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Production of Sondheim's musical hits the target ★★★★ Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins is one of his lesser known musicals. Having seen this production of it at The Watermill, I understand why. There’s no story, no engagement with the characters and, like the would be assassins, it's hit and miss. On the ...
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Laura Wade's play is funny, thought-provoking and exhilarating ★★★★★ The Watsons starts as a fairly conventional adaptation of a Jane Austen story taking place on a lovely white set by Ben Stones. Emma needs a husband and the question is, which of the three contenders will she end up marrying? ...
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An Evita for today ★★★ I doubt whether Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita has ever looked or sounded better. As you enter the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, you're presented with a set that looks like bleachers or maybe a staircase which rises from the front to the ...
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Juliet Stevenson outstanding in Robert Icke's exposure of populism ★★★ Dr Wolfe, played by Juliet Stevenson, prides herself on being logical and making medical decisions based on facts in a world of irrationality. Hildegard Bechtler’s stark set is quite a contrast to the detailed oppressiveness of her design for Rosmersholm ...
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Art on a human scale ★★★★★ Hansard in the Lyttelton Theatre of the National Theatre is what I love about theatre. Forget video screens, background music, special effects. This is simply two great actors live on stage telling a story to a live audience. For ninety unbroken minutes this couple ...
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Present Laughter at The Old Vic is one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen. Andrew Scott is the leading contender for the best actor of his generation ...
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While I have small reservations about this production, I found it a thoroughly enjoyable evening’s entertainment ...
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The Gielgud is one of the nicest theatres in the West End The Gielgud Theatre was known as The Globe for most of its 113 year history. In 1994, after a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe was built on the South Bank, iit was renamed in honour of Sir John Gielgud ...
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