Latest Reviews

The Queen of Hearts

When Mark Twain said the only two certainties in life were death and taxes, he clearly hadn’t accounted for Andrew Pollard and the Greenwich team knocking out a cracking panto.

Manor

Review
★
Simon Ximenez
West End
Lyttelton Theatre
26th Nov, 2021

A fierce storm.

Juliet & Romeo

Reversed, deconstructed and re-imagined to create a truly remarkable piece of theatre, Juliet & Romeo is the inaugural long-run production at The Chelsea Theatre, following its…

Dick Whittington: A New Dick in Town

Dick Whittington: A New Dick in Town is Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper’s 12th pantomime and the continued love for LGBTQI+ inclusive theatre can be seen oozing out of every scen…

HMS Pinafore

As W S Gilbert once observed, “Oh, wouldn't the world seem dull and flat with nothing whatever to grumble at?” Cal McCrystal provides plenty of material for that in his pro…

The Art of Banksy

Banksy’s works pop up in all sorts of places, but seeing them is often a challenge.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

The Tony Awards for comedy must have had a lean year in 2013 when Christopher Durang won Best Play for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

The Sugar House

Australian playwright Alana Valentine makes her UK debut at the Finborough Theatre with The Sugar House, in its first production outside of her home country, where it was nominat…

Footfalls & Rockaby

Some people pace up and down, others rock back and forth.

The Choir of Man

Welcome to the Jungle! The appropriately named fictional pub that is set within the walls of the Arts Theatre.

Boy Out The City

Boy out the City at Battersea’s Turbine Theatre is a solo piece performed by Declan Bennett.

Accidental Birth of An Anarchist

Review
★★
Richard Beck
London Fringe
The Space
12th Nov, 2021

Luke Oldfield’s Accidental Birth of an Anarchist at The Space on the Isle of Dogs tells of two novice activists from The People’s Movement to Protect the Planet who get jobs on…

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

“There’s nothing quite like the magic of theatre…” A commonly heard, if somewhat meaningless assertion.

For Queen And Country

Writer/Director Paul Stone has unearthed a gem of World War II history and transformed it into a delightful monologue, now on stage at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington.

The Dresser

Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser evokes memories of a bygone age in British theatre and no setting more befits it than that glorious monument to thespian achievement, the Richmond Th…

Joe & Ken

A stony silence filled the air at the end of act one of Joe & Ken at The Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington, the old stomping ground of the eponymous couple who lived just down th…

Carte Blanche

Review
★★★★★
Mel Evans
West End
17 Hanover Sq
22nd Oct, 2021

To enjoy the full experience of Carte Blanche, it’s wise to arrive early.

Starstruck: Scottish Ballet

Glitz and glamour, fun and frolics, Scottish Ballet’s Starstruck is a delight, just what we need after 18 months of closed theatres.

Foxes

It doesn’t take long to appreciate why Foxes, at Theatre 503, was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award.

The Witchfinder’s Sister

The Salem witch trials are well known, perhaps in large part due to Arthur Miller’s outstanding play The Crucible that put the Massachusetts town on the map.

Rat King

Rat King at The Hope Theatre, Islington, is a new production written and produced by Bram Davidovich for Kryptonite Theatre Company.

Krapp’s Last Tape with Go On

Review
★★★★
James Macfarlane
Glasgow
Trongate
8th Oct, 2021

As director Dominic Hill welcomes us to the Tron theatre for this triumphant double bill, the audience cheers midway through his announcement at his mention of the return of live t…

The Idea

The Brockley Jack Theatre is currently offering the opportunity to see a rarely performed and probably almost unknown operetta by Gustav Holst.

Hamlet

The long-awaited Hamlet, directed by Greg Hersov, is finally on stage at the Young Vic and as teh young prince Cush Jumbo gives a commanding performance that keeps the whole produc…

How to Survive an Apocalypse

The renowned Finborough Theatre is still alive and well as witnessed by its latest production of Jordan Hall’s How To Survive An Apocalypse presented by Proud Haddock.

The Normal Heart

Tissues.

Ida Rubinstein: The Final Act

How do you successfully relate the biography of a theatrical legend, tell the history of a remarkable period in the development of the arts, create portraits of the famous names of…

Love, Genius and a Walk

Love, Genius and a Walk, at Theatro Technis, a venue billed as ‘one of London's best-kept secrets’, is an ambitious exploration of how artistic individuals struggle with ma…

Unforgettable Girl

"Hands up, who enjoys being white?" An amused Elisabeth Gunawan asks the audience in Unforgettable Girl - her one person show at Camberwell’s Golden Goose Theatre, dire…

The Pleasure Garden

Nowadays, Vauxhall’s Pleasure Garden is a pretty uninspiring patch of parkland.

Relatively Speaking

Noël Coward described Relatively Speaking as ‘a beautifully constructed and very funny comedy’ and this production at the Jermyn Street Theatre demonstrates how right he was.

Small Change

In addition to much discussion of the play itself, Peter Gill’s Small Change at the Omnibus Theatre Clapham had the bar buzzing with anecdotes from people recalling what their mo…

The Comedy of Errors / La Commedia degli Errorir

The mother of all mistaken identity comedies, The Comedy of Errors gets a lockdown makeover in the hands of the bilingual theatre group The Blind Cupid Shakespeare Company.

Warhol: Bullet Karma

Everyone has an opinion about Andy Warhol.

Prison Games

Marcus Hercules, Artistic Director of Hercules Productions, is the one-man wonder behind Prison Games, currently live on-stage at The Pleasance in north London having previouslybee…

Beginning

Two people are left standing on opposite sides of the room at the end of a housewarming party in Crouch End: the hostess and a guy who came as the friend of a friend, but on whom s…

Alexithymia

Alexithymia is a short play about conflicting human emotions and the disability to connect with your inner feelings.

Bard Heads: The Third Witch from the Left and the Whirligig Of Time

These neat little monologues are a sort of fan fiction inspired by various works of Shakespeare (The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, Twelf…

This is Paradise

This is Paradise, Michael John O'Neill’s new play at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, is a lengthy monologue in which Kate (Amy Molloy) provides a complex interweaving of the…

Sugar

At just 22 years old, writer and performer Mabel Thomas brings her debut solo show Sugar to the Fringe.

Starting From First Position

Mercurial, subtle and rousing Starting from First Position is a blend of dance and poetry performed by Nigerian born poet Ben Okri (also 1991 Booker prize winner for his novel, The…

Isabelle Farah: Ellipsis

Ellipsis is an exploration of bereavement, the nature of turning everything into punchlines, and desperately trying to stay afloat amidst the two.

Semi-Toned Presents: A Study in Burgundy

Set in the wonderfully open, socially-distanced and drinks-to-your-seats Garden Theatre of theSpaceuk’s Symposium Hall, the a capella group Semi-Toned return to the Fringe with f…

Sweating the Small Stuff

Writer and director Annabel Lunney used the inspirations from anonymous submissions to create the play Sweating the Small Stuff.

Intricate Rituals

Intricate Rituals by York DramaSoc at theSpace Triplex is a monologue with alternating actors.

It's Fraser Brown, I'm Afraid

It is absolutely not Fraser Brown who needs to be afraid.

Absolutely Burlesque Cabaret

One of the great things that the Edinburgh Fringe has always done is to give a platform to local schools of various performing arts within an actual arts festival.

Éowyn Emerald & Dancers – Your Tomorrow

Éowyn Emerald & Dancers return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a somewhat different context from previous years with their new work Your Tomorrow.

Smile Like You're Happy

Smile.

Love Me

Aisling Lally's Love Me is one of three plays bought to the Edinburgh Fringe 2021 by York DramaSoc.

Iconnotations

Music-theatre with solo cello plus dance, Iconnotations is extraordinary: surreal, wry, expressionistic, at times baffling, profoundly sad but at the end joyous.

Brave Face

Hoo Hah House's production Brave Face is by far the bravest and powerful production I have seen at the Fringe this year.

Somebody Special – The Aca-Betrayal

This twelve-strong company are enthusiastic, bright young things who sing, sway and beat-box with great spirit.

Amy Matthews and Krystal Evans (WIP)

There was a comment made in an article in the Edinburgh Evening News just before the Fringe began about how, after the amount of time comedians have had to prepare for the 2021 Fri…

Afterparty

A group of teenage friends celebrate after their final exams and look towards the future.

A Suffocating Choking Feeling

What can an aspiring popstar do to get her big break and rise to stardom? Faking brain cancer might not be your first guess, but that is exactly what Simone Hamilton did.

1001 Open Mic Nights

This energised group of youngsters bounce about the stage with glee, making a capella look far easier than it truly is and throwing themselves into the Fringe vibe with abandon.

Tues Night @ Social Club

Tues Night @ Social Club is one of those 'Marmite' shows that some people would consider their worst nightmare, while others could consider it tailor-made for them.

Tick Tick

Tick Tick could give The Wolf of Wall Street a run for its money when it comes to the frequency of “Fuck”.

Swallow the Sea Caravan Theatre

Puppetry, shadow theatre, mime and music all contribute to this charming oddity, which Caravan Theatre do indeed perform in a caravan.

Spontaneous Potter: The Unofficial Improvised Parody

Edinburgh Fringe is usually teeming with high-end improv shows to choose from, but pickings this year are, unsurprisingly, slim.

Police Cops: Badass Be Thy Name

For regular fringegoers this year, there are markedly few of the regular staple performers returning to contribute to the semblance of normality the festival is offering up.

Bard in the Yard: The Scottish Play

Meet Shakespeare, but not the Shakespeare you know.

Fear of Roses

Fear of Roses follows three women as they grapple with each other’s careers in a power struggle which soon turns deadly.

On Your Bike

On Your Bike comes with a lot of hype.

Still

Review
★★★
Richard Beck
Scotland
21st Aug, 2021

Still by Frances Poet makes its world premiere courtesy of The Traverse Theatre Company at their theatre.

Burnt Out

Following the recent United Nations climate report, which has been described as a “code red for humanity,” it is more important than ever that we explore the issue of the clima…

The Preacher

One of the strangest Fringe shows of recent memory is A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla Dressed as an Old Man Sits Rocking in a Rocking Chair for 56 Minutes and Then Leaves – a sh…

SKANK

SKANK is about a woman in crisis.

Press

Press sets its satirical sights on Hollywood.

Madhouse

Madhouse by Nottingham New Theatre at [email protected]’s Hall does what it says on the tin.

A Highly Suspect Murder Mystery

Highly Suspect is a highly novel theatrical experience in which four actors take on the roles of supporting players from the Sherlock Holmes stories - Watson, Le Strade, Mycroft an…

Shakespeare's Fool

Fringe roulette is part of what keeps us coming back year after year.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The year is 1894: three years since the world-famous Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty plunged to their deaths in The Reichenbach Falls.

Tickbox

In a moving one-woman show, Lubna Kerr explores race, heritage, gender and health in the context of her and her family's experiences as a Pakistani family in Glasgow.

The Bank Job

What are the ingredients for a bank robbery comedy? A ragtag criminal gang, a double serving of double-crossing, a training montage, and many pairs of dark sunglasses.

Paul Black: Worst Case Scenario

Paul Black's Fringe debut had a lot to live up to.

Patricia Gets Ready (For a Date With the Man That Used to Hit Her)

Patricia has been concocting the perfect speech in her head over the last year, of what she would say if she were ever to face her ex-abusive boyfriend again.

Friend (The One With Gunther)

As times of heady redolence go, the 1990s lacks the brittle style of the 1920s, sepia-tinted upper-lips of haunted men in WWI uniforms, or groovy pereniorange of the 1960s… And y…

It's Not Rocket Science

It’s Not Rocket Science at [email protected]’ Hall is presented by Nottingham New Theatre, England’s only fully student-run theatre venue.

For All The Love You Lost

For All the Love You Lost is presented by Morosophy at [email protected]’s Hall.

Rossetti's Women

Lemon Squeeze Productions are presenting a new adaptation of Rossetti’s Women at the [email protected]’ Hall, written and directed by Joan Greening, award-winning writer of ITV si…

John & Jen

Tom Greenwald and Andrew Lippa’s John and Jen is a true masterpiece on what it means to be a family.

Opia

How do we interpret the world through our senses, particularly through sight? A mesmerically beautiful triptych of two solos and one duet, choreographed by Finnish Johanna Nuutinen…

Pool (No Water)

Oddly Ordinary Theatre Company has made a highly successful adaptation of Mark Ravenhill’s Pool (No Water) at theSpace Triplex as part of the contribution by the graduates of Que…

Plasters

Plasters is an original play by Emma Tadmor who founded RJ Theatre Company with co-producer, Daniel Feldman.

Corpsing

For a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitled Corpsing you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a comedy about laughing out of place.

Grin

Challenging, daring, with longeurs but also explosive moments, this makes for uncomfortable viewing but is a much-needed and to be applauded show.

BOBBY WINNER

1902

In 1902 Hibs won the Scottish Cup.

Bromance

Say hello to Adam, Arthur and Pete.

The End of the Line

At the end of the line; a story of waiting for life to begin and the delays we experience to get there.

Saving Mr Ultimate

Saving Mr Ultimate by John McEwan-Whyte at theSpace Triplex is the debut show of Extra Arca, a young theatre group within New Celts Productions, a consortium of young theatre compa…

Dance Base Unwrapped

Review
★★★
Amy Macrae
Edinburgh Fringe
Dance Base
14th Aug, 2021

Tucked in between the bustling pubs of the grassmarket is the capital's home of dance and its latest exhibition, Dance Base Unwrapped.

Dirty Tricks: How the Illusionati Rule the World

Review
★★★
Victor Black
Camden Fringe
Canal Cafe Theatre / Hen & Chickens Theatre
14th Aug, 2021

The Great Baldini sets the stage excellently for his show, greeting each audience member at the door, and asking their name, which he will repeat when he invites them to volunteer …

BOBBY WINNER

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