thu 09/05/2024

Theatre Reviews

Next to Normal, Donmar Warehouse review - terrific cast in a punchy musical

Helen Hawkins

The journey from off-Broadway to central London has taken 15 years, but the multi-award-winning musical Next to Normal has finally made it. That time lag may lead to suspicions that its subject matter has become a tad outmoded, but this staging, directed by outgoing Donmar director Michael Longhurst, is fresh and affecting.

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The Odyssey: The Underworld, National Theatre review - community effort with real heart and a great staging

Helen Hawkins

One of the great wonders of Western literary history is one of the earliest, Homer’s The Odyssey, an epic poem with all the thrills and spills of an Indiana Jones outing, with added Olympians. The National’s version turned out not to be The Odyssey as we know it, though.  

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Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: CHOO CHOO! / Blood of the Lamb

David Kettle

CHOO CHOO! (Or... Have You Ever Thought About ****** **** *****? (Cos I Have)), Pleasance Dome 

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A Mirror, Almeida Theatre review - unconvincing and contrived

aleks Sierz

This is a play about censorship in a totalitarian state – but, no, I’m not reviewing The Pillowman again. Instead, I’m watching A Mirror by Sam Holcroft, a playwright who – as her 2015 play Rules for Living amply illustrated – is interested in playful games with the idea of theatricality.

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Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Distant Memories of the Near Future / Soldiers of Tomorrow

David Kettle

Distant Memories of the Near Future, Summerhall 

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Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Dark Noon / Concerned Others

David Kettle

Dark Noon, Pleasance at EICC 

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Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: The Insider / Sensuous Governing

David Kettle

The Insider, ZOO Southside 

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Dimanche, Edinburgh International Festival 2023 review - troubling and bewildering

David Kettle

A toy car – in fact, a mobile home with comically enormous antenna on top – shudders over arms and shoulders as if they were mountain ranges. A colossal polar bear comforts its curious cub. A lifesize puppet grandmother is chased up and down stairs by her over-enthusiastic stairlift.

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Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Maureen / Common Dissonance

David Kettle

Maureen, House of Oz 

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Makeshifts and Realities, Finborough Theatre review - Edwardian dramas with a pinch of Chekhov

Gary Naylor

We’re in (pretty much literally so in this most intimate of venues) an Edwardian sitting room, time hanging heavily in the air, gentility almost visibly fading before our eyes.

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Pages

Advertising feature

★★★★★

A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.
The Observer, Kate Kellaway

 

Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.

 

★★★★★

This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.
The Times, Ann Treneman

 

Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.

 

Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.


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