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.
As You Like It review: A Bridgerton look and a Celtic sound make for a truly mad production Life&Style For those who remain sceptical that Shakespeare can be fun, allow me to prescribe the Globe's latest production of As You Like It.
Death Note: The Musical review – a high-shine, high school take on the trolley problem August 12, 2026 Adapted from a much-loved Manga series, Death Note the Musical is an impressive, high-shine production, with rudimentary philosophy.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream review: Fairy punk production doesn’t quite take flight June 30, 2026 A Midsummer Night's Dream is given a Last Dinner Party makeover complete with a punk fairy band, but it doesn't fully capture the magic.
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 [...]
Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe: A silly, frilly production June 22, 2026 This production of Much Ado at Shakespeare's Globe is all light, no shade; it's up to you if you really care, writes Anna Moloney.
Under the Shadow at Almeida: Psychological horror set against Tehran’s 1988 bombing June 11, 2026 Under the Shadow | Alneida Theatre | ★★★★☆ This has been quite a year for horror theatre. In January we saw the UK debut of the Paranormal Activity stage show, dragging the voyeuristic, found-footage franchise kicking and screaming into the West End. And soon after the Hampstead Theatre premiered a more fringe-y affair in the [...]