Man to Man review: Tilda Swinton is sublime in play about survival amid turmoil Life&Style See Tilda Swinton command Man to Man, a stark survival drama tracing one woman’s ruse through Nazism, war, the Stasi and far-right echoes.
Josh O’Connor shines in Golden Boy, a boxing epic at the Almeida Life&Style Golden Boy | Almeida | ★★★★★ Boxing – and fighting more generally – has always made for thrilling pop culture. Raging Bull, Rocky, The Fighter, The Wrestler, The Smashing Machine: there is something inherently dramatic about stepping into the ring: two people, cordoned off from the world, engaged in a violent battle of wills. One [...]
Electra/Persona at the National Theatre review: A dull mash-up of Sophocles and Bergman Life&Style Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss lead a visually striking but plodding Sophocles-Bergman mash-up at the National Theatre; read the review.
Cleansed is still the most harrowing play you’ll ever see August 3, 2026 Cleansed | Almeida | ★★★★☆ There’s a hint at what you’re in for with Cleansed when the Almeida staff tape over everyone’s phone on the way in to prevent any photography; there is a lot of nudity in this play, and none of it is the good kind. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Sarah [...]
Trainspotting the Musical: A bad, bad trip down memory lane July 23, 2026 Trainspotting the Musical | Theatre Royal Haymarket | ★☆☆☆☆ I was 13 when Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting adaptation was released – I’d never seen anything like it and it became a seminal text of my teenage years. Two decades later, I luxuriated in the condensed hit of nostalgia of the 2017 sequel. I’ve read the books: [...]
Why Theatre Deli is a City charity unlike any other July 13, 2026 We have launched the Toast the City awards 2026 and throughout the year we’ll be speaking to some of our nominees – this week it’s the amazing Bethan Screen, marketing coordinator from Theatre Deli. To vote for your favourite Square Mile spots for the 2026 awards, from bars and restaurants to galleries and green spaces, [...]
Archduke play at the Royal Court: A fascinating comedy about radicalisation June 30, 2026 Archduke | Royal Court | ★★★★☆ I’m not sure what I expected from this play about the days preceding the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand – the event credited with starting the First World War – but it wasn’t a comedy of errors whose influences run the gamut from Withnail and I to Chris [...]
The Misanthrope at the National Theatre: Sandra Oh shines in a play that flatters to deceive June 30, 2026 The Misanthrope | National Theatre (Lyttelton) | ★★★☆☆ True to its name, this new version of The Misanthrope is a difficult play to love. Mercilessly updated from Moliere’s 17th-century comedy of manners by the mercurial Martin Crimp, it’s a jagged diatribe against… well everything. The literary world, the privileged, the young and the old, the [...]
Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic fails to close June 22, 2026 Glengarry Glen Ross | Old Vic | ★★☆☆☆ David Mamet’s transformation from perhaps the most original and insightful American playwright of the late 20th century to a flag-waving, MAGA-supporting, anti-woke motormouth is… troubling. As a Mamet-head, this must be what it’s like for Trump supporters trying to enjoy 90 per cent of popular culture. It’s [...]
Judi Dench Theatre is a fitting tribute to the great dame June 17, 2026 On Tuesday, the Shaftesbury Theatre, the largest independent theatre in the West End, announced that it was changing its name. As of February 2027, following a renovation which will include restoration of its unique opening dome, it will be the Judi Dench Theatre, in honour of the 91-year-old actress who boasts an Academy Award, a [...]