Review

Das Zigarettenreich (Jeder Traum hat ein Ende), Werk X- Petersplatz Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna.   The newest production at

Glenda Frank in New York City Birthday Candles, a play by Noah Haidle, produced by Roundabout Theatre follows Ernestine from

Glenda Frank on Broadway Take Me Out, a locker room dramedy by Richard Greenberg, now at the Helen Hayes Theatre,

Neil Dowden in the West End Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird has been successfully staged a

Crysse Morrison in south-west England When Liam leaves his best friend Fletch on an upwardly mobile journey, via Oxford University,

Glenda Frank in New York. Has Sarah Jessica Parker been miscast all these years? Yes, she was charming and sassy

Crysse Morrison in Somerset. “Never boring for a split second” was Noël Coward’s verdict on the plays of Harold Pinter.

Neil Dowden on the South Bank. David Hare’s new play Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre reunites him with

Jeremy Malies in north London. Ethnicity and land grab. Reduce things down to how people really interact, dismantle their self-deception,

Neil Dowden in the West End. Jean Cocteau’s 1930 monodrama The Human Voice about a woman’s last phone call with

Dana Rufolo in Germany.   It is a relief that Franziska Autzen, the director of Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt

Neil Dowden in the West End. Mike Bartlett made his name with the Olivier Award-winning Cock at the Royal Court

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna. Vienna’s Theater Nestroyhof Hamakom has joined forces with the acclaimed stage and TV actress Andrea

Crysse Morrison in Bristol ‘A vision for the future of theatre’ is how director Tom Morris sees Bristol Old Vic’s

Crysse Morrison in Bristol Written by David Lane and directed by Sita Calvert-Ennals, this poignant two-hander follows an imagined reunion

Tom Bolton in London Borough of Newham. Dennis Kelly’s 2005 play After the End is set inside a nuclear fallout

Tom Bolton on the South Bank.   The Merchant of Venice is seen as a problematic play but, increasingly, it

Tom Bolton in Notting Hill Gate.   Jonathan Kent opened his tenure as Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre with

Maggie Rose in Milan.   M. Il figlio del secolo is a literary adaptation, based on Antonio Scurati’s historical novel

Maggie Rose in Milan.   Milan’s Franco Parenti theatre has hosted La vita davanti a sé (The Life Before Us),

Neil Dowden on the South Bank.   Last staged in London 26 years ago, David Mamet’s 1977 play The Woods

Neil Dowden on the South Bank.   Anthony McCarten’s new play focuses on a fascinating true episode in art history:

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli at the Bronski & Grünberg Theater, Vienna   Bronski & Grünberg Theater is a popular venue in

Glenda Frank in New York City.   Prayer for the French Republic, Joshua Harmon’s (Significant Other) new play, directed by

Neil Dowden in north London Over the last decade French playwright Florian Zeller has had a series of critical and

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna  Kaja Dymnicki and Alexander Pschill are founding members of Vienna’s Bronski & Grünberg Theater. They

Neil Dowden in Islington, London. The slippery ambivalence of absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco’s works makes them tricky to stage successfully.

Tom Bolton on the South Bank   Sean Holmes’ production of Hamlet in the Globe’s indoor space opens with a

Jeremy Malies in Surrey A boozy Elsinore this – any critic (and we’re not noted for sobriety) playing drink-along-a-Hamlet would

Jeremy Malies in Canterbury “Hate the critics? I have nothing but compassion for them. How can one hate the crippled,

Neil Dowden on the South Bank Bristol-based company Wise Children’s touring production of Wuthering Heights now blusters into London at

Crysse Morrison in Bristol.  Bristol Old Vic director Tom Morris pulled off what many will consider a coup when Mark Rylance

„Der Herr Rudi“ in Georg Danzers „ Sauna G’schichten“ Reviewed by Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna.   Following a premiere

Jeremy Malies at the Old Vic Caryl Churchill’s A Number is about cloning though the word is never used. Always

Neil Dowden in Sloane Square, London. Alistair McDowall’s new play The Glow is a strange brew. The first half is

Jeremy Malies in north London   Peggy for You, written by Alan Plater in 1999, is the last in a

Jeremy Malies on the South Bank Best of Enemies by James Graham was always going to be a triumph or

Jeremy Malies in north London   Peggy for You, written by Alan Plater in 1999, is the last in a

Dana Rufolo on a streamed Romanian theatre festival. The National Theater of Cluj-Napoca, Romania’s streamed 2021 Theatre Festival offering În

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna atEin Sommernachtstraum am Wörthersee – oder Wann ist die Familie Lustig aus Graz verschwunden Following

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli in Vienna After the cancellation of the originally scheduled premiere about a year ago, the German speaking

Neil Dowden in Southwark Alan Bennett may be cherished for his subtle melancholic comedy but in 1973 he wrote the

Nick Ahad rounds up theatre in the North Imitating the Dog is a little company in the North that has

Dana Rufolo in Constance  In the Spring 2019 issue of Plays International & Europe, the new artistic director of the

Julie Sorokurs in Covent Garden Love and Other Acts of Violence serves as the Donmar’s inaugural production after a 19-month-long

Ben Brooker at the Bakehouse Theatre When an actress friend of mine recently asked if I was going to see

Jeremy Malies in West Sussex David Storey’s amazing play Home has been produced by the Chichester Festival Theatre as part

Neil Dowden in Newham, London. One of Ireland’s leading playwrights, Conor McPherson is probably best known for The Weir, a

Neil Dowden on the South Bank The National Theatre’s revival of Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking 1985 play The Normal Heart serves

Alice Grahame on the South Bank Winsome Pinnock’s powerful drama looks at the impact of the unfinished business of the

Alice Grahame on the South Bank The American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks has built up an impressive body of work over

Margaret Rose in Milan Theatreland is once again bustling with companies scrambling to open productions, some of which have been

Neil Dowden on the South Bank Actor turned playwright Ayub Khan Din is best known for his semi-autobiographical play East

Dana Rufolo in Constance Extracting a two-hour long play out of a one thousand-page novel is always a forceps birth,

Neil Dowden in Southwark The Menier Chocolate Factory finally reopened in September with Paula Vogel’s Indecent, which had only reached

Alice Grahame in north London At a time when many of us are preoccupied with illness, hospitals and death, the

Jakob Hingst in Hamburg One of the productions of the Thalia Theater’s new season, which began in August, truly deserves

Tom Bolton in the City of London Like all theatre companies, the Royal Shakespeare Company has experienced a tough 18

Neil Dowden on the South Bank. The African-American actor/playwright/novelist/activist Alice Childress made a significant impact in her richly varied career,

Hans-Jürgen Bartsch in Berlin Simon McBurney, the co-founder of the British theatre company Complicité and an internationally renowned director, made

Neil Dowden at The Orange Tree, Richmond Athol Fugard’s 1972 play Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act is

Hans-Jürgen Bartsch in Berlin   The Berliner Ensemble started the new [post-2021 lockdown] season with a revival of Die Dreigroschenoper

Jeremy Malies in north London Kiln Theatre in Kilburn has commissioned and produced NW Trilogy, a set of plays with

Jeremy Malies at the Chichester Festival Theatre (Minerva)   The cliché is that Martin McDonagh was enthused to write plays

Jeremy Malies in west London   Race runs through each of a trio of monologue plays by leading writers commissioned

Jeremy Malies at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch   David Eldridge’s Beginning is a play for two people that begins at

Open-air theatre has always formed a strong strand of live performance in the summer season in this area. As the

Jeremy Malies in Berkshire It’s a truism among Anton Chekhov diehards that Firs in The Cherry Orchard should be as

Neil Dowden at Happy Days (Riverside Studios)   Happy days are here again with Trevor Nunn’s sixtieth anniversary production of

Jay Paul Skelton at Oleanna (Arts Theatre) In the nineteenth century, the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull attempted to establish a

Neil Dowden in north London Ayad Akhtar is an American writer of Pakistani heritage with his finger on the pulse.

Glenda Frank at the August Wilson Theatre, New York.   Pass Over is perfect for a newly active Broadway. Playwright

Julie Sorokurs at The National   Kae Tempest’s Paradise, premiered in the round at the National Theatre’s Olivier by a

Neil Dowden at Bach & Sons (Bridge Theatre)   The Bridge Theatre — which boldly led the way in London

Jeremy Malies in the West End   The Mirror and the Light is the third of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy of

Neil Dowden in north London For one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays three hours’ running time may seem excessive, overstretching what

John Russell Taylor on the South Bank. The National Theatre opened its doors to audiences again in June, with its

John Russell Taylor at the Vaudeville Theatre, West End Nick Payne’s award-winning two-hander Constellations (starring Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins)

Jef Hall-Flavin at the Turbine Theatre, Battersea, London Hearing the song “Wrapped Around Your Finger” as I was coming down

Neil Dowden at Extinct (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Theatre Royal Stratford East reopened in the early summer with April De

Jeremy Malies in Lambeth, London Changing Destiny is the Young Vic’s much-trumpeted post-Covid return to live drama. The piece is

Jef Hall-Flavin in north London If The Two Character Play is one of Tennessee Williams’s problematic plays, director Sam Yates

Tom Bolton on the South Bank For her last production in the Globe’s candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew

John Russell Taylor at Shaw Shorts (Orange Tree Theatre) The other day I was watching one of those Rediscovering programmes

Jay Paul Skelton Sonia Friedman, the well-known British producer, has not only led the charge as theatres cautiously reopen here

Hans-Jürgen Bartsch in Berlin The Vaganten Bühne, an intimate hundred-seat theatre tucked away at the end of an alleyway underneath

Jeremy Malies at the Hampstead Theatre   Alfred Fagon’s rarely staged 1975 play The Death of a Black Man is

Margaret Rose in Milan As I write this report in early June [2021], lockdown is gradually easing. Some Milanese theatres

Julie Sorokurs on the South Bank Moira Buffini’s Manor was initially set to have its premiere in 2020 but then

How a Fringe Performance Led to the Trial of the Decade No theatrical event has been more discussed or has

Ludovico Lucchesi Palli at Werk X-Petersplatz   Even though all of Vienna’s theatres are currently shut, Werk X-Petersplatz — a

Natalia Isaeva in Paris   7 Deaths of Maria Callas is a co-production with the Bayerischen Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin,

Roxana Silbert, artistic director of Hampstead Theatre, has found a lovely way to burnish the reputation of this venerable playhouse

The Kreation Kollektiv’s Recherche Show (Research Show), a co-production with the Vienna Volkstheater and Theater im Bahnhof, Graz, premiered in

Jay Paul Skelton at Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads: The Bridge Theatre It’s notable how the Bridge Theatre’s production of Talking

Jeremy Malies at the Chichester Festival Theatre (Minerva)   My trip to Chichester for Sarah Kane’s Crave began with low

Jay Paul Skelton at The Bridge Theatre Alan Bennett’s celebrated Talking Heads monologues were first broadcast by the BBC in

Jeremy Malies at Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads: The Bridge Theatre Has Alan Bennett’s A Lady of Letters fared well since

Jeremy Malies at Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads: The Bridge Theatre As with the other pair of plays I review from

Julie Sorokurs on the South Bank The Bridge Theatre tentatively opened its doors in late August for a Covid-conscious season