Sweat- an important visceral play by Lynn Nottage. There is so much I could say about this play but I want to concentrate on the central story which concerns the deindustrialisation that happened in the US in the early 21st century. It's something we in the UK are only too ...
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Roger Allam shines in dull play Much is being made by the National Theatre of how this play and its author Githa Sowerby are not that well known and that if she had been a man, it would have been a different story. She would have stood alongside Bernard Shaw ...
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Sheila Hancock and James Nesbitt are the leading lights and Kirsty MacLaren shines There’s a lot to like in This Is My Family which is directed by Daniel Evans with a light comic touch. This is the second of CFT Artistic Director Daniel Evans' 'greatest hits' from his days at the Sheffield ...
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Avengers star Hayley Atwell is forceful co-star with Tom Burke   Rosmersholm is about wanting to pursue passion and change but being held back by the past – the political system, religion, inhertitance. At the beginning, everything is covered in dustsheets in this stately home- Rosmersholm. The walls show signs ...
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Downton Abbey star in clever one woman play by Christopher Hampton The set comprises a small living room with an old lady sitting on a chair alone on a thrust stage talking to the audience. She never stands up. For 100 minutes we listen, I mean really listen. The lady ...
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Anne-Marie Duff adds Wow Factor to excellent production of Sweet Charity Sweet Charity with book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. This would be an excellent production with any musical star but Anne-Marie Duff adds a wow factor. She may not be as good a ...
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Handbagged by Moira Buffini in a new production directed by Jo Newman Handbagged takes us through the major events of Margaret Thatcher’s reign as British prime minister. I use the word ‘reign’ deliberately because the story is told through a series of meetings between an increasingly regal Thatcher (Eve Matheson) ...
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Rachel Wagstaff's triumphant adaptation of classic Christie whodunit Watch the YouTube review of The Mirror Crack'd- The Wales Millennium Centre and Wiltshire Creative touring production of Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd, adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff,  received its premiere at Salisbury Playhouse. This could have a standard Agatha ...
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All About Eve directed by Ivo Van Hove at the Noel Coward Theatre London Watch the YouTube review of All About Eve here You may well know the story. After all, the film All About Eve is a classic. Scripted by Joseph L Mankiewicz, it tells of a young would-be actor ...
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Come From Away, a musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein at the Phoenix Theatre in London 9/11 was a tragic event carried out by evil people.  The musical  Come From Away is a kind of antidote, reminding us that most people are basically good and generous. I’d forgotten but, ...
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Tony Kushner & Jeanine Tesori's great musical Click here to watch my video review of Caroline, Or Change on One Minute Theatre Reviews YouTube channel I managed to miss Caroline, Or Change when it was launched at Chichester, and again when it moved to Hampstead Theatre. Now that it’s transferred ...
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Magnificent cast featuring Nicola Walker, Maggie Steed and Alun Armstrong Click here to watch the review on YouTube A much loved teacher is about retire but his home is under siege by children from his school. His estranged daughter comes to visit her parents. His regular use of the cane ...
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Stephen Tompkinson's Scrooge is pitch perfect Click here to watch the review on YouTube As you'd expect from writer Jack Thorne, who wrote Harry Potter And The Cursed Child and director Matthew Warchus who directed Matilda The Musical), their adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is both magical and ...
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Patrick Barlow's The Messiah is heavenly  Click here to watch The Messiah reviewed on the YouTube channel One Minute Theatre Reviews I wouldn’t say The Messiah, written and directed by Patrick Barlow, does justice to the nativity story but it certainly provides great Christmas entertainment. It’s a tale of hubris ...
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Tom Burke is mesmerising in this powerful production Schiller’s 1787 play about about love, freedom and a revolt against totalitarianism is given a powerful, grippiing production by actor Tom Burke and director Gadi Roll's new theatre company Ara. The plot concerns King Phillip II of Spain and his son Don Carlos in ...
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Jim Broadbent excels in Martin Mcdonagh's latest black comedy  A Very Very Very Dark Matter, Martin McDonagh's latest black comedy, is very very very dark and also very very very funny. The lead character is the Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen is portrayed as an egocentric idiot. It ...
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David Hare's new play is contrived, predictable & flat  When the National Theatre announces a new season, it's always a challenge to decide which events to spend one's time and money on. But a new play by one of our greatest living playwrights David Hare starring a fine actor like ...
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Jonathan Pryce & Eileen Atkins shine in confusing drama Florian Zeller'sThe Height Of The Storm is confusing. If you're going to see it, it's good that you know this because otherwise, like me, you'll spend the whole evening trying to work out what's going on instead of simply enjoying a ...
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The Humans exposes the fears at the heart of a modern family I love a family drama and they don't come better than this. The Humans by Stephen Karam won four Tony awards when it was on Broadway. Now the original production directed by Joe Mantello has been imported with the same cast. As ...
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Bawdy fun as women turn the tables on men Women In Power at the Nuffield Southampton Theatres’ city venue is a new version of Aristophanes' Assemblywomen. It sticks pretty closely to the original story in which women take over the government from the weak and incompetent men. Aristotle was having a ...
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