Alice Saville

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s nearly four-hour adaptation explores the dynastic struggle for the Iron Throne generations before the television series, focusing on the Mad King, Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark and the political relationships that shape later events. The production is praised for its spectacular battles, dragons, puppetry, inventive in-the-round staging and willingness to dwell on grief after violence. Duncan Macmillan’s adaptation combines Shakespearean influences with Martin’s themes of duty, honour and loyalty, while giving Princess Elia Martell greater strategic agency. However, the review argues that the story remains limited by its patriarchal world, constrained female roles and problematic racial politics. Overall, the production is deemed a powerful and emotionally resonant theatrical experience rather than a conclusion to the unfinished television saga.

Drew McOnie’s outdoor revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is an affectionate, visually whimsical production aimed primarily at existing fans. Its energetic choreography and standout performances—including Jet Yau’s breakdancing Mistoffelees and several lively character solos—are balanced by inconsistent costumes, exaggerated design choices and the musical’s fundamentally plotless, absurd premise. The production works best after dark, but lacks the coherent vision needed to make Cats accessible to newcomers.

Rebecca Frecknall’s Almeida Theatre production of Sarah Kane’s Cleansed confronts torture, grief, sexuality and hopelessness through stylised movement, Brechtian distancing and striking design. The review praises the cast—particularly Stuart Thompson, Pearl Chanda and Leo Bill—as well as the sound and set, while noting that the production’s elaborate, unexpectedly gentle approach may keep Kane’s full horror and purgatorial abstraction at arm’s length.

The musical adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting is criticized for replacing the original film’s kinetic energy with gloomy staging, unclear pacing and distracting set design. The cast delivers several strong performances, particularly Frankie O’Connor as Franco Begbie and Finlay Paul as Tommy, but Stephen McGuinness’s songs are judged trite and poorly suited to the material. The production works best when it acknowledges the absurdity of turning Trainspotting into a musical; when played seriously, it becomes a deeply unsuccessful and depressing show.

Midnight at the Never Get follows Trevor, a gay cabaret singer performing openly in a mafia-run Greenwich Village club on the eve of Stonewall, as his relationship with songwriter Arthur Brightman collapses under pressure to pursue more commercially acceptable material. Ben Platt delivers polished, expressive vocals across Mark Sonnenblick’s convincing midcentury-style songs, while Scott Pask’s detailed set and the gradual reveal of the live band create moments of theatrical magic. However, the production’s restrained writing, uneven pacing and nostalgic structure prevent Platt from fully expressing the character’s darker turmoil. Although the musical thematically supports radical self-expression over respectability, its conventional form ultimately limits that message.

Simon Stone’s modern adaptation of Aeschylus’s Oresteia relocates the cycle of familial bloodshed and revenge to a wealthy, corrupt mansion in Kent. David Morrissey leads a strong cast as a troubled father whose family is consumed by violence, secrets and competing loyalties. The production’s revolving, two-storey glass-house set is a major visual triumph, while Mary-Louise Parker and Rosie Sheehy receive particular praise. Although the play’s reliance on madness and its unresolved corrupt-business storyline weaken the final act, its sustained tension, dark ingenuity and abundance of twists make the three-and-a-half-hour production compelling.

A new staging of Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium showcases standout performances, particularly Sam Ryder’s powerful rendition of Gethsemane, despite a production design seen as overly elaborate compared with earlier minimalist versions. Strong performances from Tyrone Huntley, Desmonda Cathabel, David Thaxton, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson anchor the show, which retains the musical’s provocative reinterpretation of biblical figures. The production runs until 5 September.

Patrick Marber’s gender-swapped revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross at London’s Old Vic features a strong female cast, particularly Indira Varma as Levene and Rosa Salazar as Richard Roma. The production’s stripped-back design and energetic performances create an arresting spectacle, but its minimalism weakens the claustrophobic atmosphere and muffles Mamet’s abrasive rhythms. By retaining the original male character names without clearly defining the gender implications, the staging loses both the play’s original bite and the opportunity for sharper commentary on women in the 1980s corporate world.

Carmen Nasr’s adaptation of the Farsi-language horror film Under the Shadow relocates audiences to a Tehran apartment during the 1988 Iran-Iraq War. The review praises Nadia Latif’s naturalistic staging and Leila Farzad’s emotionally compelling portrayal of Shideh, a woman whose curtailed ambitions, strained motherhood and oppressive social circumstances become as frightening as the play’s djinn. Although the production’s supernatural effects can feel conventional and overly reliant on jump scares, its final monologue restores emotional force and reinforces the play’s central idea that everyday repression and loss of identity may be more terrifying than supernatural threats.

The West End production gives Beetlejuice far more prominence than the 1988 film, turning him into a chaotic, pansexual compere who dominates Lydia Deetz’s story. David Fynn’s exuberant performance and Aimie Atkinson’s comic work are highlights, while the graveyard opening and climactic dinner party are highly entertaining. However, rushed plotting, awkward relationship negotiations, flimsy stage design and an undistinctive score prevent the musical from developing the original film’s emotional and spooky power.

Lindsey Posner’s revival of Peter Shaffer’s Equus at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory presents Alan Strang’s psychological and sexual turmoil through an intimate, physically intense staging. Noah Valentine plays Alan as a lonely teenager who finds spiritual and erotic comfort among horses, while Toby Stephens portrays psychiatrist Martin Dysart as a weary investigator of the boy’s violent crime. The production brings the play’s queer themes to the surface, softens its classical symbolism and uses striking movement to embody the horses. Although the review finds Shaffer’s fixation on teenage sexual repression somewhat uncomfortable and dated, it praises the production’s humour, emotional force and portrayal of Alan’s fantasy world as a potentially devastating loss when dismantled.

Gary Oldman’s return to the stage after nearly four decades is praised as a meticulously designed and emotionally devastating performance in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. Oldman portrays Krapp as a brittle, regretful failed writer confronting the emptiness of his ambitions and the irretrievability of his past. The review is far less impressed by Leo Simpe-Asante’s accompanying play, Godot’s To-Do List, finding its self-help satire intermittently effective but structurally flimsy and juvenile. Together, the productions contrast Beckett’s concentrated complexity with a less mature contemporary work.

The review condemns David Hare’s Grace Pervades as a dull, nostalgia-driven theatrical history, despite Ralph Fiennes’s dignified performance as Victorian actor-manager Henry Irving. It argues that the play unfairly diminishes Ellen Terry’s pioneering children, Edith Craig and Edward Gordon Craig, while presenting their push for theatrical reform as irritating and misguided. The production’s vignette structure, Hare’s opposition between supposedly good old theatre and harmful modern innovation, and Jeremy Herrin’s stiff direction are all criticized.

Fran Kranz’s film-turned-play Mass depicts a fraught meeting between the parents of a school shooter and those of one of his victims. Reviewed as an intensely performed and emotionally devastating exploration of grief, blame, gun control, parental responsibility and forgiveness, the Donmar Warehouse production uses an intimate church meeting room set to turn a practical gathering into a site of reconciliation. The review also praises the play’s relevance to discussions of radicalisation and self-hatred among young men, arguing that such dangers are not confined to the United States.

Tom Wright’s play focuses on Brian Epstein’s role in shaping The Beatles’ image and success, as well as his repressed sexuality and emotionally fraught relationship with John Lennon. The review praises Calam Lynch’s Epstein, Noah Ritter’s standout Lennon and Amit Sharma’s staging, particularly a tense Spanish hotel-room scene. It finds the opening exposition somewhat stiff and notes that the other Beatles are largely absent because the production lacks rights to their music, but concludes that the play effectively restores the danger, repression and self-destruction behind the band’s celebrated rise.

Clint Dyer’s Old Vic revival features strong performances, especially from Aaron Pierre, Giles Terera and Arthur Boan, and delivers consistently effective dark comedy. However, the production is criticised for treating psychiatric patients’ suffering as comic spectacle, failing to meaningfully recontextualise outdated ideas about mental illness, and leaving the play’s misogyny largely unexamined. Its attempts to expand the Native American themes are also viewed as superficial, making the revival feel regressive rather than rebellious despite the original work’s countercultural intentions.

Anya Reiss’s contemporary adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House relocates Nora’s crisis to a world of investment banking, cocaine addiction, social-media performance and reckless consumerism. Romola Garai gives a strong performance, and the production offers sharply observed financial and upper-middle-class details, but Nora is considered underwritten and difficult to sympathize with. The adaptation shifts the play’s emphasis from patriarchal oppression toward capitalist entitlement, while Joe Hill-Gibbins’s energetic staging does not fully supply the emotional depth or decisive awakening associated with Ibsen’s original.

Marianne Elliott’s National Theatre production of Christopher Hampton’s adaptation is praised for its sumptuous mirrored design and the icy brilliance of Lesley Manville as the manipulative Marquise de Merteuil. Aidan Turner brings charm and vulnerability to Valmont, while Hannah van der Westhuysen gives Cécile’s coerced sexual awakening greater psychological depth than earlier adaptations. Although some scenes and stately choreography slow the production, its combination of romantic intrigue, social cruelty and darkness ultimately proves compelling, with Merteuil’s destructive campaign becoming her own undoing.

Robert Icke’s joyful, visually striking production makes Romeo and Juliet feel intensely adolescent and alive. Sadie Sink gives Juliet a nervy, neurotic energy, while Noah Jupe’s Romeo gradually mirrors her mannerisms; Kasper Hilton-Hille, Clare Perkins and the supporting cast add comic and grounding counterpoints. Digital clocks, stark lighting and sliding panels create a tense, abstract world, while Icke expands the play with alternative possibilities and more hopeful realities. Although the sentimental treatment of the ending is less convincing, the production is presented as an emotionally powerful and intellectually confident reinterpretation likely to frustrate Shakespeare traditionalists.

Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor Is the Villain relocates the anxieties of The Crucible to a Georgia high school during the #MeToo era, where feminist ideas challenge a tightly controlled patriarchal community. The play explores how quickly students’ principles collapse when accusations reach people they know, while Danya Taymor’s joyful production emphasizes the characters’ friendship, awkwardness and growing self-awareness. The review praises the cast, the play’s emotional catharsis and its climactic dance sequence as a vivid representation of the hidden dramas unleashed by the #MeToo movement.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor, performing as Self Esteem, gives a compelling and chaotic performance as Maggie Frisby, a drink-addled rock frontwoman in David Hare’s 1975 play. The production exposes the exploitative music industry, class divisions and the damage inflicted on artists who are repeatedly used and abandoned. Daniel Raggett’s staging balances witty dialogue with bleakness, supported by energetic live rock music, strong physical comedy from Jojo Macari and a mesmerising performance by Phil Daniels. While the production’s apocalyptic ending and social observations land effectively, Taylor’s performance sometimes lacks the softer emotional depth needed to convey Maggie’s heartbreak.

The National Theatre’s production of Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk, adapted by Nina and Moses Raine, portrays a wealthy Russian holidaying class consumed by ennui, rage and uncomfortable social truths. The review praises the play’s modern resonance, honest characters and flashes of cathartic intensity, but finds the large ensemble difficult to care about and criticizes Robert Hastie’s broad production, cluttered set and uneven second half. The production runs at the National Theatre until 29 April.

Jordan Fein’s Young Vic revival of Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass presents a psychologically intense marriage in 1930s Brooklyn against the backdrop of rising Nazism and antisemitism. The production’s bright, spacious staging and symbolic design aim to modernize the play, but the review finds these ideas superficial and the play’s repetitive structure and Freudian treatment of mental illness dated. Strong performances from Eli Gelb, Pearl Chanda and Alex Waldmann make the revival worthwhile, although it falls short of the shattering contemporary relevance it seeks.

Cynthia Erivo plays all 23 roles in Kip Williams’s screen-heavy, one-person adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula at London’s Noël Coward Theatre. The production explores the novel’s queer metaphors and gives Erivo striking opportunities to embody Dracula’s androgynous power, but the review argues that Williams’s elaborate filming process, relentless technical demands and commitment to including every plot turn obscure her performance. The result is judged effortful and insufficiently satisfying as either theatre or cinema, with Erivo’s vocal and charismatic moments revealing the show’s unrealized potential.

The Aldwych Theatre production of William Nicholson’s Shadowlands stars Hugh Bonneville as C.S. Lewis and Maggie Siff as Joy Davidman. Although Bonneville brings charm and Siff gives a lively performance, the production is criticised for sanitising Lewis’s complicated personal life, showing too little of the couple’s happiness and turning Davidman’s illness and death into melodrama. The review concludes that its sentimental, sermon-like moralising fails to convey the darker realities of grief, sex and mortality.

Alice Saville finds the final stage adaptation in the Yes Minister trilogy poignant in its portrayal of retired politician Jim Hacker and civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby confronting lost power, but ultimately directionless and weakly plotted. The play’s Oxford setting explores clashes over race, sexuality, class, colonial history and trigger warnings, yet its satire often gives greater comic weight to conservative objections than to progressive perspectives. Strong performances from Griff Rhys Jones and especially Clive Francis cannot overcome a slow first half, a largely conversational second half, a claustrophobic single-room design and an implausible, overly cosy ending.

Anthony Lau’s production of Terence Rattigan’s Man and Boy at the National Theatre presents a sombre portrait of a disgraced financier’s moral corruption and inability to form human connections. Set during the Great Depression in Manhattan, the play follows Gregor Antonescu as he seeks out his estranged son, while the production’s performances and visual flourishes struggle to overcome the drama’s slow pacing, underwritten female roles and lack of meaningful challenge to its central character. The result is more worthy of respect than enjoyment, with Rattigan’s critique of unchecked capitalism feeling less scandalous and less theatrically sharp for a contemporary audience.

Passenger’s new musical adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s novel follows recently retired Harold Fry as he walks across England to visit his dying friend Queenie, while confronting the grief and failures behind his unhappy marriage. The production’s catchy folk-inspired songs, inventive choreography and eccentric visual staging initially create a twee, feelgood atmosphere, but the second act adds painful depth through its exploration of the Frys’ lost son and unresolved loss. Although Harold is not made to confront all of his failings, the musical succeeds as a moving, hopeful story about rebuilding happiness.

Carrie Cracknell’s Old Vic revival of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia uses a dimly lit, in-the-round revolving set to connect its intertwined narratives from the early 19th century and 1993. The production follows teenage mathematical prodigy Thomasina, her tutor Septimus, and modern scholars Hannah and Bernard as they pursue knowledge amid sexual entanglements, ambition and uncertainty. The performances and staging are strongly praised, particularly the production’s ability to merge past and present, although the modern scenes occasionally drag and some character archetypes feel dated. The revival ultimately presents Arcadia as both intellectually rigorous and deeply emotional, culminating in a heartbreaking meditation on passion, knowledge and loss.

Rupert Goold’s revival of the American Psycho musical at London’s Almeida Theatre is praised for its striking 1980s nightclub aesthetic, LED staging, choreography and committed performances, particularly Arty Froushan’s unexpectedly likeable Patrick Bateman. Duncan Sheik’s score mixes retro arrangements with darker second-act material, although some thematic songs feel glib and the production lacks the psychological depth of Spring Awakening. By making Bateman seem more like a lost fantasist, the show intensifies the novel’s ambiguity over whether the murders occurred, but this also risks making his misogynistic violence seem overly understandable. Despite its uncertain message, the production is judged distinctive, stylish and haunting.

Tim Crouch’s production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse radically reworks the play through colonialism, storytelling and audience participation. The island’s power dynamics are redistributed, while the shipwrecked newcomers are reimagined as disruptive people from the theatre audience. The production is praised for its lively performances, inventive design and mischievous challenge to Shakespearean conventions, but criticized for being slow-moving, uneven and unclear in its treatment of the final scenes.

Luke Norris’s play follows a couple whose hopes are disrupted by troubling findings at a 20-week antenatal scan, taking them through the physical and emotional realities of pregnancy, birth, suffering and recovery. Rosie Sheehy is strongly praised as an expectant mother who rejects platitudes, while Robert Aramayo brings nervous energy to a partner whose emotional experience is less fully developed. Despite some repetitive scenes and an imbalance between the characters, the production is praised for its sharp writing, dark humour, lucid direction and ultimately hopeful suggestion that profound suffering can be survived.

Dante Or Die’s immersive revival of I Do places audiences in six rooms at London’s Malmaison hotel, where they voyeuristically observe a wedding party preparing for the ceremony. The production is praised for its playful performances, richly drawn characters and ingenious structure, with scenes watchable in any order and linked by clues and callbacks. Its cramped corridors, audience queues and usher-led transitions expose the practical drawbacks of site-specific theatre, while the restricted space weakens the ending. Despite these limitations, the show offers an inventive examination of love, commitment and the less glamorous realities behind weddings.

Gerry & Sewell is a high-energy West End musical about two unemployed Newcastle United supporters trying to raise £800 for season tickets through increasingly chaotic schemes. The production is praised for its infectious humour, strong performances from Jack Robertson and Dean Logan, and self-awareness about presenting poverty to a middle-class audience. However, its comic panto-style sequences and puppetry sit uneasily beside the story’s bleak treatment of abuse, deprivation and nihilism. Despite these tonal inconsistencies, the show’s move from a small Tyneside social club to the West End is presented as a significant celebration of working-class British storytelling.

Thea Sharrock’s stage adaptation of High Noon at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre reworks the classic Western as a critique of gun-slinging masculinity, social cowardice and McCarthy-era repression. Billy Crudup and Denise Gough give strong performances as Sheriff Marshall Kane and his pacifist wife Amy, while Rosa Salazar brings force to Helen Ramirez. Eric Roth’s script contains sharp observations about violence and justice, and the production serves as a tribute to blacklisted original screenwriter Carl Foreman. However, the staging is considered slow, crowded and uncertain, with crucial moments missing that would better explain the central couple’s convictions and sacrifices.

Sheridan Smith brings wit and emotional depth to Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind, playing a suburban housewife whose fantasies increasingly blur with reality after an embarrassing accident. Michael Longhurst’s energetic direction and Soutra Gilmour’s vivid design create striking surreal moments, while performances by Romesh Ranganathan and Louise Brealey provide considerable humor. However, the review finds the play’s treatment of repression and mental illness dated, blunt and faintly tasteless, arguing that its frivolous finale avoids deeper examination of Susan’s inner life.

The Independent’s culture team selects 25 major events and releases expected in 2026 across art, books, film, theatre and television. Highlights include Tracey Emin and David Hockney exhibitions, a major Jan van Eyck portrait show, new books by Han Kang, Patrick Radden Keefe, Lena Dunham, Leïla Slimani and Douglas Stuart, and films such as Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and The Devil Wears Prada 2. Theatre offerings include Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Tilda Swinton’s return to the British stage, while television highlights include new Netflix, BBC and ITV dramas involving female friendship, Pride and Prejudice, Gareth Southgate’s England tenure and the John Worboys case.

Cole Escola’s Oh Mary! reimagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a chaotic, booze-fuelled former cabaret star battling the constraints of life as a dignified first lady while Abraham Lincoln hides aspects of his private life. Mason Alexander Park and Giles Terera receive strong praise for their performances, and the play is celebrated for combining farce, queer subversion, grotesque humor and unexpected tenderness. The review finds its 80-minute finale somewhat showy and less powerful than the opening, but considers the production a captivating and highly original Broadway success.

Sam Grabiner’s Christmas Day at London’s Almeida Theatre presents a fractured Jewish family gathering over Chinese food, using arguments about ritual, exile, victimhood and Gaza to challenge familiar Christmas narratives. The production benefits from strong performances, James Macdonald’s tense direction and Miriam Buether’s threatening decaying-office set. However, the review finds the play’s revelations, symbolism and religious ideas too opaque and underdeveloped, leaving an intriguing but unfinished and ultimately unsatisfying impression.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at the Barbican, directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah, offers an intoxicating and melancholy reinterpretation of the tragicomedy. The performances, particularly those by Gwyneth Keyworth, Freema Agyeman, Michael Grady-Hall and Samuel West, emphasize the play’s queerness, emotional messiness and darker impulses. Matt Maltese’s music and James Cotterill’s organ-inspired design create a striking festive yet haunted atmosphere. Although some comic scenes become ponderous, the production’s emotionally revealing finale makes the unconventional approach rewarding.

The National Theatre production of J.M. Synge’s Irish tragicomedy stars Nicola Coughlan as Pegeen and Siobhán McSweeney as Widow Quin, competing for the attention of Christy, a stranger who claims to have murdered his father. The production’s gothic Irish village setting, striking design and vigorous performances give the play an unusual richness, with McSweeney particularly praised for her comic timing. However, the staging is tonally uneven, sometimes treating bleak material as comedy and comic moments with excessive gravity. Synge’s dense language and the scale of the theatre also make parts of the production difficult to follow, leaving a visually powerful but inconsistent revival.

Shakespeare’s Globe’s Christmas production of Pinocchio, adapted by Charlie Josephine and directed by Sean Holmes, reimagines Carlo Collodi’s tale as a rustic Renaissance-flavoured musical. Lee Braithwaite brings energetic curiosity to Pinocchio, while Nick Holder gives Geppetto tender, bewildered warmth; standout performances also come from Steven Webb, Lucy McCormick and Kerry Frampton. The production’s songs are varied and lively, though sometimes undermined by convoluted lyrics and overly energetic choreography, and its opening does little to engage children enduring the cold. Its greatest strength is the emotional reinterpretation of Pinocchio’s growing nose as a moment about learning to express love and receive it, creating a powerful sense of shared vulnerability.

A guide to seven London Christmas theatre productions still offering tickets for the 2025 festive season. The selection spans family musicals such as Ballet Shoes, Pinocchio and Elf the Musical, adult-oriented queer pantomime, traditional productions of A Christmas Carol and Sleeping Beauty, and the interactive family show A Merry Misrule. The shows run at major venues across London from December 2025 into January or February 2026, with varied options for children, families and adults.

David Eldridge and Jeremy Herrin’s stage adaptation of John le Carré’s Cold War spy novel is praised for its lean pace, intimate in-the-round staging and emphasis on psychological emotion over familiar espionage clichés. Rory Keenan’s troubled Alec Leamas anchors the production, while Agnes O’Case brings depth to Liz Gold. The review finds George Smiley marginal and the East Germany scenes more conventionally villainous, but considers the Berlin Wall climax and the adaptation’s clever twist effective. The production is viewed as a promising start to a national tour and potential future Le Carré adaptations.

Paddington the Musical is praised as a lavish, eccentric and unexpectedly edgy adaptation that captures Paddington’s warmth, huggability and multicultural identity. Arti Shah’s physical performance inside the bear suit and James Hameed’s powerful vocals anchor the character, while the production’s maximalist London setting, elaborate effects, colorful costumes and energetic songs create a visually spectacular family show. The review highlights strong performances from Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the sinister Millicent Clyde and Bonnie Langford as Mrs Bird, while noting that the darker material and occasional musical excess may be unusual for conventional family fare. Overall, the production is presented as a heartfelt and unusually committed addition to the West End.

Ivo van Hove’s minimalist revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons at Wyndham’s Theatre is praised for its crushing gravity, abstract American setting and evocative lighting by Jan Versweyveld. Bryan Cranston gives a magnetic performance as factory owner Joe Keller, a man concealing his role in a wartime profiteering scandal, while Paapa Essiedu brings youthful idealism and emotional force to Joe’s son Chris. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hayley Squires and Tom Glynn-Carney also receive praise for performances that deepen the play’s themes of grief, denial, moral responsibility and the destructive consequences of prioritising profit over human lives.

David Eldridge’s End, the final part of his trilogy about ordinary Essex couples, follows cancer-stricken DJ Alfie and his novelist partner Julie as they confront death, memory and how they want to be remembered. Clive Owen gives a warmly rumpled and moving performance, while Saskia Reeves brings convincing frenetic energy. The production’s realistic kitchen setting and director Rachel O’Riordan’s careful pacing create an intimate atmosphere, but the review finds the story’s structure slight and its darker themes—including infidelity, cancer treatment and the possibility of exploiting personal pain as fiction—underdeveloped. The play is quietly affecting and works independently, yet its anticipated dramatic payoff never fully arrives.

Sophia Griffin’s debut play After Sunday follows Black men in a secure Birmingham psychiatric unit who attend a Caribbean cooking class intended as therapy. The review praises the production’s intensity, writing and performances—particularly David Webber and Aimée Powell—while noting that the play deliberately avoids explaining the men’s criminal and mental-health histories. Its central concern is how institutional systems weaponize vulnerability: opening up can jeopardize release, while silence is treated as resistance. Although some staging devices are considered heavy-handed, the play compellingly explores the tension between care and coercion in psychiatric institutions.

The stage adaptation of The Hunger Games delivers striking spectacle through elaborate arena staging, dangerous fight sequences, fire effects and tense performances, particularly Mia Carragher's athletic debut as Katniss Everdeen. It effectively conveys the cruelty of televised violence and the manipulation of Katniss and Peeta's relationship, but offers too little audience engagement and suffers from a cramped venue, an underwhelming President Snow and distracting use of screens. The production captures the story's dystopian surface while failing to fully understand its deeper appeal: Katniss's egalitarian strength and resistance to injustice.

Tom Morris’s modern-day Italian production of Othello features Toby Jones as an Iago whose peevish, comic characterization diminishes the villain’s menace, though the staging eventually develops into a disturbing story of murder and manipulation. David Harewood brings warmth and dignity to Othello, while Caitlin FitzGerald presents Desdemona as a more mature and independent figure and Vinette Robinson provides a powerful Emilia. The production’s set design and physical violence are effective, but its psychological violence, emotional chemistry and sense of lyricism are weaker, leaving the adaptation entertaining yet ultimately unpersuasive.

Michael Grandage and Jack Holden’s adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s novel follows Nick, a gay postgraduate drawn into the wealthy Tory Fedden family during 1980s Britain. The production is praised for its wit, energetic performances and sharp depiction of class tensions, homophobia and the moral ugliness beneath an apparently polite political elite. Jasper Talbot gives Nick greater agency, while Ellie Bamber and Charles Edwards receive particular praise. The adaptation makes the novel’s emotional gaps more accessible and adds romantic warmth, but the review finds that it does not fully explore Nick’s agony as his attachment to wealth and status collapses. The result is an entertaining, politically charged critique of an elite whose values remain unchanged beneath updated appearances.

Ella Hickson’s bleak, feminist rewrite of Peter Pan receives its belated London premiere at the Barbican in Jonathan Munby’s production. The adaptation replaces Nana with Tom, a boy whose death deepens the story’s focus on grief and mortality, and reframes Wendy as a suspicious, overwhelmed girl forced into a maternal role in Neverland. The production becomes more assured in its second half, with Toby Stephens’s flamboyant Captain Hook, striking pirate-ship design and energetic sword fights providing theatrical momentum. Despite its intelligent examination of power, adult relationships and the darker implications of Neverland, the lengthy production offers less childlike wonder and is judged more suitable for nostalgic adults than children.

Kip Williams’s Donmar Warehouse adaptation of Jean Genet’s The Maids relocates the play to an influencer-era world of TikTok filters, luxury fashion and billionaire culture. The review finds the production visually attractive but glib and politically sanitized, arguing that it replaces Genet’s class rage, sexual tension and fear of servants with superficial rivalry over beauty, youth and clothing. Yerin Ha receives praise for her glamour and cruelty, but the performances and constant smartphone projections are judged largely ineffective.

The Old Vic’s production of Tracy Letts’s Mary Page Marlowe uses five actors to portray a woman across different stages of her life. Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough are singled out for brilliant performances, alongside a compelling turn from Rosy McEwen. The play’s fragmented structure explores identity, womanhood, family trauma and alcoholism, but its refusal to fully reveal Mary’s inner life can feel frustrating and reductive. Matthew Warchus’s in-the-round staging allows the performances to shine, although the production is slowed by its reverent tone and sluggish scene changes.

Robert Hastie’s National Theatre production of Hamlet reimagines Shakespeare’s tragedy as an anarchic, darkly comic portrait of a slick, morally bankrupt modern court. Hiran Abeysekera’s energetic Hamlet, Francesca Mills’s punk-inflected Ophelia and distinctive supporting performances give the first half originality and emotional force. The production loses momentum in its final act, where the central characters recede and the intricate revenge plot and poison-based ending are less convincingly modernised. Nevertheless, its catharsis through laughter rather than mass murder makes a persuasive case for a lighter approach to Shakespearean revival.

Joe Locke’s stage debut in Samuel D Hunter’s Clarkston is unlikely to disappoint his Heartstopper fans, but the play offers little beyond his star appeal. Locke plays Jake, a young man with juvenile Huntington’s disease who retraces ancestor William Clark’s journey and meets Chris, a closeted local shelf-stacker played with greater depth by Ruaridh Mollica. The production is criticized for relying on familiar romantic coming-of-age clichés, underdeveloping its colonial themes, and presenting cramped, visibly economical staging. Despite some bleak atmosphere and strong supporting work, the 100-minute drama lacks the passion, authenticity and political bite to make a lasting impression.

Nima Taleghani’s adaptation of Euripides’ Bacchae, directed by Indhu Rubasingham at the National Theatre, recasts Dionysos as a refugee, Pentheus as a cross-dressing ruler and the bacchae as feminist vigilantes. The production uses vivid pageantry, choreography and direct audience address to explore oppression, queer identity, protest politics and the dangers of ideological righteousness. The review praises the performances, visual design and staging, while finding the metatheatrical ending comparatively swift and unsatisfying.

Conor McPherson’s revival of The Weir offers an intentionally simple, naturalistic production set in a rural Irish pub, where four men tell supernatural stories to Valerie, a newcomer from Dublin. Brendan Gleeson is singled out for his grave, assured performance as Jack, while the ensemble and Rae Smith’s detailed pub set create an immersive atmosphere. The review notes that the production can feel overly cosy and raises questions about the men’s unsettling treatment of Valerie, but concludes that the play’s blend of ordinary conversation, loneliness and the supernatural remains deeply moving and enduring.

Simon Stone’s contemporary adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea relocates the story to the Lake District and adds themes including climate activism and small-town racism. The review praises Andrew Lincoln and especially Isobel Akuwudike, but finds Alicia Vikander’s Ellida underused and the production’s modern dialogue and spectacle poorly connected to the play’s central symbolism and themes.

Dead Centre and British Sign Language poet Zoë McWhinney adapt Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic into an experimental Royal Court production combining puppetry, circus, film, spoken word, and signing. Set in a fictional eastern European town under military rule, the story follows a community that becomes deaf—or symbolically refuses to hear—the state’s commands after a child is shot. The production examines language, interpretation, propaganda, resistance, and the contradictions of civilian life during war, while evoking Ukraine without being limited to one country or conflict. Its deliberately ambiguous and surreal form leaves audiences to interpret events rather than offering the clarity of a conventional news narrative.

Liz Duffy Adams’s Born With Teeth imagines a sexually charged collaboration and romance between Christopher Marlowe and a young William Shakespeare in a paranoid Elizabethan London. Ncuti Gatwa brings striking charisma and physical exuberance to Marlowe, while Edward Bluemel plays Shakespeare as his more reserved rival. The production’s lavish, abrasive visual style and Gatwa’s peacocking energy make it highly entertaining, but the play’s borrowed Shakespearean language, uneven pacing and limited exploration of emotional consequences prevent the central love story from achieving deeper resonance.

The 2025 Edinburgh Fringe overcame Storm Floris, transport disruption linked to an Oasis concert and concerns about weaker attendance to deliver a strong programme. The reviews highlight works that resist trauma-driven storytelling and critique the festival’s commercial pressures, while also celebrating silliness, experimentation and intimate venues. Featured productions address working-class culture, capitalism, patriarchy, queer identity, community action, African gothic and the underrepresentation of global majority and older female artists. Despite persistent inequalities and practical shortcomings in some productions, the festival is presented as a vital space for distinctive voices and unconventional theatrical experiences.

Edinburgh Fringe performer Hannah Maxwell’s Babyfleareindeerbag critiques the industry’s pressure on artists to package personal trauma as commercially viable entertainment, following the success of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. The piece highlights other shows resisting this confessional model, including Gaia Mondadori’s Centre of the Universe and Alaa Shehada’s The Horse of Jenin, which contrasts Western expectations of theatrical trauma with life in occupied Palestine. The feature argues that authenticity need not mean turning performance into therapy, especially within the Fringe’s financially and emotionally punishing environment.

Drew McOnie’s Regent’s Park revival of Brigadoon impresses with its atmospheric outdoor staging, elaborate dancing, romantic Lerner and Loewe score and strong performances. A darker framing involving wounded Second World War airmen and revisions by Rona Munro attempt to update the musical’s sentimental, stereotyped vision of Scotland. However, the slow exposition, implausible time-shift premise, mishandled sexual-assault sequence and awkward altered ending leave the production feeling narratively confused and out of step with a 21st-century audience.

Good Night, Oscar dramatizes Oscar Levant’s final appearance on Tonight Starring Jack Paar, depicting a troubled performer brought from psychiatric hospitalization to deliver provocative live television. Sean Hayes is praised for a virtuosic, emotionally charged performance and piano playing, while Lisa Peterson’s direction makes the production come alive once the broadcast begins. The review criticizes Doug Wright’s slow, exposition-heavy opening, implausible fictional scenario and romanticized depiction of mental illness, arguing that the play ultimately reproduces the media exploitation it seeks to critique.

The Edinburgh Fringe is becoming increasingly unaffordable and financially precarious for performers and venues, with rising accommodation costs, reduced programming, sponsor withdrawals and disputes over artists’ earnings threatening its open-access model. The festival’s historical role in developing major successes such as Fleabag and Baby Reindeer depends on artists having the time and resources to experiment. New initiatives including the Shedinburgh venue and the Keep It Fringe Fund offer more support, but substantially greater investment and structural reform are needed to prevent the festival from losing its relevance.

Inter Alia follows Jessica, a successful female judge whose professional commitment to justice conflicts with the breakdown of her family, particularly her teenage son Harry’s involvement in sexual wrongdoing. Rosamund Pike is praised for a powerful portrayal of working motherhood, guilt and the strain of maintaining a polished public identity. Suzie Miller’s play takes a more complex and less overtly crusading approach than Prima Facie, balancing sympathy for Harry with the danger of excusing his abuse. Justin Martin’s production intensifies the drama through jagged sound, lighting and a psychologically suggestive set, producing an increasingly unbearable but affecting examination of motherhood, memory and hypocrisy.

Burlesque The Musical transforms the critically derided 2010 film into an energetic, queer-friendly West End production. Although its predictable plot and uneven comic writing remain weak points, strong performances from Jess Folley and Orfeh, Todrick Hall’s commanding stage presence, elaborate burlesque routines and crowd-pleasing spectacle make the show slick, celebratory and genuinely entertaining.

The Lyric Hammersmith production of Sing Street is judged an exhausting and shallow extension of the 2016 film. The review criticizes its predictable plot, superficial treatment of 1980s Dublin poverty, underdeveloped female characters, casual use of homophobic slurs and child sexual abuse, and chaotic ending. Energetic performances and genuinely enjoyable songs provide some entertainment, particularly Grace Collender's rendition of “Beautiful Disguise,” but they do not compensate for the musical's structural and thematic weaknesses.

Shaan Sahota’s first play, staged at the National Theatre, begins as an uneven political comedy about an ambitious British-Punjabi MP before developing into a much stronger drama about siblings divided by an unjust will and a lifetime of family trauma. The production powerfully examines South Asian treatment in British society, the damaging effects of patriarchal tradition and the pressures of trying to achieve financial security in London. Adeel Akhtar and the supporting cast convey the family’s emotional damage, while Chloe Lamford’s sliding cabinet design provides an inventive visual centre. However, director Daniel Raggett does not fully reconcile the play’s political and domestic halves, and the writing lacks the revelations and cohesion expected from its premise. The result is forceful, authentic and anger-inducing, but also noticeably uneven.

American theatre producers are increasingly using London’s West End as a cheaper, less financially risky testing ground for shows that may later transfer to Broadway. Rising Manhattan costs, union and labour expenses, and uncertain post-pandemic tourism have made Broadway development difficult, while London theatre attendance has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Producers and critics see benefits in the resulting investment, experimentation and transatlantic collaboration, but warn that an influx of American productions could displace British musical-theatre writers, whose work is receiving fewer major opportunities. The article concludes that the UK should welcome American investment while matching the United States’ commitment to developing and funding new musicals.

Jamie Lloyd’s Evita at the London Palladium is presented as a deliberately excessive, visually sumptuous staging that turns the musical’s populist appeal into a critique of fascism and political spectacle. Rachel Zegler is praised for anchoring the production with an emotionally pure voice and a nuanced portrayal of Eva Perón as an ambitious, self-inventing performer who becomes the dictator’s wife. The review highlights the open-air balcony performance of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” Fabian Aloise’s choreography and Soutra Gilmour’s design, while arguing that the production’s sensory overload is more captivating than analytically subtle. Its central implication is that populism’s seductive glamour can overwhelm moral judgment, leaving audiences aware of the darkness beneath its surface yet powerless to resist.

Rebecca Frecknall’s Almeida production of Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten is praised as a visually striking and emotionally intense revival. Ruth Wilson brings fire, nuance and dignity to Josie, a woman damaged by misogynistic judgments, while Michael Shannon portrays James as a diminished, alcoholic former actor trapped in shame and addiction. David Threlfall and Wilson create sharp comic tension as father and daughter, before the play develops into a bleak examination of love, forgiveness and emotional limits. The production’s orbiting lighting, evocative set and strong performances make its misery feel unexpectedly luminous.