A Midsummer Night’s Dream review: Fairy punk production doesn’t quite take flight Life&Style 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 Life&Style 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 Life&Style 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 [...]
Pride musical at the National Theatre review: I’ve never seen so many people in tears June 26, 2026 Pride musical at the National Theatre review: ★★★★ Could there be a story more ready-made for a musical than the tale of the unlikely partnership between the gays and the Welsh miners? Based on the true, incredible account of the miner strikes of 1984 and 1985, and following the brilliant 2014 film of the same [...]
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.
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 [...]
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 [...]
Beetlejuice musical review: I’ve never heard West End fans scream this loud May 28, 2026 Beetlejuice musical review and star rating: ★★★ It’s rare to experience screaming so loud that it feels as if some terrible force is pressing against your eardrums. It happened at Taylor Swift’s show Wembley Stadium and last night at Beetlejuice: The Musical’s West End premiere, where after every song – whether it was good or [...]
The West End works as one economy – policy should catch up May 27, 2026 The West End functions as an integrated economy, yet policy continues to govern it in fragments, writes Ros Morgan.
This shocking West End play is like Netflix’s Adolescence but live May 21, 2026 Equus play review and star rating: ★★★★ If a psychological drama about a teenager with an erotic fixation on horses sounds controversial, imagine how the idea landed 53 years ago. Peter Shaffer’s Equus is still platforming taboo-breaking conversations around mental health 53 years after its world premiere, which is probably more a criticism of our [...]