Still one of the most shocking modern plays 

Almeida Theatre

Cleansed was a shocker when it was premiered in 1998 and still is today. The main thing that has changed is writer Sarah Kane‘s reputation. In the 27 years since her death, she has come to be regarded as one of the great modern playwrights- but that doesn’t mean they all liked it. All these years later, most reviewers still found the scenes of torture hard to stomach. Many of the reviews listed in detail the full horror of her surreal play about humanity’s need for violence (and love), but, so as to avoid having to put a warning on this roundup, I give you What’sOnStage’s sanitised plot summary: ‘An assortment of young adults, their morale at various stages of broken, live under the tyrannous rule of the Tinker, a man who sniffs out any sign of hope, any moment of wholesomeness, and destroys it with violence.’ There was disagreement about whether the violence was gratuitous and whether director Rebecca Frecknall‘s modification of some of it into stylised movement helped. There was also criticism from some quarters of the play’s (deliberate) lack of coherence, although others saw this as indicative of a dream/nightmare. The cast were praised for their acting and their stamina.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish was in no doubt: ‘You emerge numb. Yet it grips completely – a must-see.’ He explained: ‘28 years on, it is clearly grappling with hard, enduring truths about human nature.’ He praised the director: ‘general, she grasps that despite the required gory spectacle, less is more. There’s a balletic quality to some of the movement, and, honouring Kane too, a marked stylisation to the brutalisation.’ He pointed out: ‘much as the piece manifests real-world harms, it also digs into psychological interiors; each of the misfit characters, even Tinker, is groping for love – which is twinned, in its absolutism, with pain. The show inculpates us as viewers, and holds a mirror up to our darkest selves.’ He said he ‘emerged chastened, even shocked, by Kane’s original flair and artistic integrity. Her work, exquisitely rendered, still makes most theatre look tame and uninspiring.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar described how the ‘play interrogates the limits of theatre and representation in its extremity and breakdown of conventional form. Exposing the theatrical construction of violence, through various techniques, does little to protect us from the horror of observing it, and Frecknall oscillates masterfully between realism and a more poetic vein. When characters are in the furthest extremity of pain, their movements become a kind of expressive dance. There is lyricism in it but not so it beautifies violence. Importantly, it never seems gratuitous, either.’ She also noted: ‘There is sudden, immense beauty, declarations of love, romantic clinches and humour. Set alongside Kane’s brand of post-dramatic theatre, the play’s message is strangely romantic: the human need, maybe even demand, for love and for beauty persists, every bit as vital a force as violence’.

Miriam Sallon for WhatsOnStage felt challenged: ‘it’s not as simple as inflicted cruelty. Kane seems to be saying that nothing is good; no thought is pure.’ She commented: ‘Performances are faultless; deeply unsettling and heartrending in equal measure, except Leo Bill’s Tinker, who is only the former.’ she concluded: ‘it is unarguably powerful, an embittered, howling manifesto of a world unsalvageable.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming pointed out: ‘It’s still an incredibly tough watch, with the brutality stacked so thick that it becomes an ordeal. But that’s partly Kane’s point. She was tormented by the human capacity for both compassion and cruelty, by the atrocities of war and our ability to become desensitised to horror. Plays like Cleansed and Blasted confront how theatre, tasked with representing truth through artifice, might tackle this.’ She observed: ‘in the end, the piece is so extreme that it doesn’t land with the same force as, say, the blinding of Lear’.

Holly O’Mahony for LondonTheatre described how ‘Chris Fisher’s illusions make it all the more convincing too, while Angus MacRae’s soundscape of unnerving, rhythmic knocking, thudding, drilling and nondescript peace-shattering sounds ensure there’s no respite. In this hellscape, each member of Frecknall’s brave cast carries their character’s marathon of agony and humiliation with impressive stamina.’

Tim Bano at Time Out thought: ‘Its shortcomings are not because it’s a horrible play – it is, but theatre doesn’t always have to be enjoyable, and that horror is clearly in the service of something – but because it’s an imperfect production. Frecknall can’t seem to decide whether to show us the extremes, or to abstract them, and the result is only sometimes extraordinary, never quite living up to the version of the play that runs through your perplexed head when reading it.‘

Tom Wicker for The Stage described the set: ‘The play’s stage directions say that it’s set in a university, but that feels grimly ironic, as set designer Madeleine Girling’s grubbily nondescript slice of hallway and strip of a windowed room quickly break the boundaries of literalism to become a torture chamber of difference.’ He explained: ‘Frecknall doesn’t spare us the maiming but wisely pivots away from distracting prosthetics towards something more horrifically balletic (…) This still explicit but more abstracted approach to the physical relieves some of the pressure of the play’s reputation and allows a greater focus on Kane’s preoccupation with what love looks like under duress‘.

Alexander Cohen of BroadwayWorld explained the way the production has changed the effect of the play: ‘The prominence of movement modifies the emotional fulcrum from grotesque body horror deeper toward the ephemeral and fleeting love and longing underneath. This Cleansed speaks to an audience fluent in the language of mental health, rather than one accustomed to art that prides itself on shock value.’ He ended: ‘Without context to ground it, the violence will always feel overcooked, and the beauty on the other side of it unanchored and uneasy.’

The Independent‘s Alice Saville complimented the director’s approach: ‘Rebecca Frecknall’s production extends a sympathetic hand to nervous audiences. Blood is stored in sandwich bags before it anoints body parts: flaming paper is dropped immediately into a fire-proof bucket. These self-conscious, Brechtian touches combine with stylised movement sequences to create a production that holds Kane’s full horrors at arm’s length, without stinting on utter despair.’ She concluded: ‘maybe Kane suits a more pared-back approach, one that lets her message cut like a knife. This play is a brothel, a psychiatric institution, a torture chamber, a twisted party. But it’s also nowhere at all, and it’s that purgatorial abstraction that captures the utter hopelessness of her conviction that love burns you, then deserts you, leaving nothing but a pile of smouldering embers in a wasteland.’

1 star ⭑

The Times’ Clive Davis had no truck with it: ‘because there’s no depth or hinterland to any of these figures, it’s impossible to detect any logic to their plight as they are subjected to random acts of violence. Scratch away the veneer, and what’s left is a series of intense rehearsal room exercises, delivered with true professionalism, but in the end signifying nothing.’

1 star ⭑ (assumed)

The i’s Fiona Mountford, who had deliberately avoided Cleansed over the years, regretted her decision to give it a try: ‘Kane enthusiasts claim that the point of Cleansed is that love, somehow, still endures, but I would vehemently argue that this is not sufficient reason to subject yourself to this gruelling deluge.’

Critics’ average rating 3.2 ⭑

Cleansed can be seen at The Almeida Theatre until 29 August 2026. Buy tickets directly from almeida.co.uk

If you’ve seen Cleansed at The Almeida Theatre, leave your review and /or rating below

Songs for Swinging Gay Lovers

Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre

Two gay men perform love songs at a secret nightclub in 1965. The critics were ecstatic about Ben Platt‘s singing as Trevor and Mark Sonnenblick‘s Cole Porter-style songs. Platt’s songwriting, piano-playing partner Arthur is played by Gregor Milne. Barry James also appears. David Cromer directs.

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Marianka Swain for the Telegraph introduced the show: ‘Life is a cabaret, old chum. That’s especially true for Trevor Copeland in Midnight at the Never Get, a singer at an illegal gay nightclub in mid-1960s New York, who expresses his forbidden love through defiant torch songs written by his paramour. It’s certainly an intriguing premise, but this bijou chamber musical has a huge additional draw: Trevor is played by Tony-winning American actor Ben Platt and, in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s intensely intimate production, audiences can experience his remarkable talent at close quarters.’

Kate Wyver at The Guardian described the scene: ‘With the Menier Chocolate Factory set up as a lamplit cabaret (set by Scott Pask), Platt is Trevor Copeland, a crooning bar-singer reliving the years he spent with songwriter Arthur Brightman, played with plate-spinning brilliance by Gregor Milne. The history of their love is told through stories shaped around American Songbook-style music, only occasionally syrupy, as the pair slip in and out of Sonnenblick’s inventions: now a jaunty knee-bouncing number; now a big-band ballad.’ ‘The draw for Midnight at the Never Get will inevitably be Platt, but there is more to this small gem of a show. Tender, funny, and thoughtful — the Menier has done it again.’

Writing for LondonTheatre, Aliya Al-Hussan described the star: ‘Sincere, self-effacing, with flashes of fragility and effervescent emotion, Platt connects with the audience from the moment he appears. Trevor brims with amusing quips and seemingly honest storytelling, which gradually crack to show inconsistencies and alternative narratives. Platt’s vibrato-tinged voice is perfectly suited to the material and it’s a joy to witness his talents from such close quarters.’

Theo Bosanquet at WhatsOnStage agreed: ‘This is a rare opportunity to see a singular talent at the top of his game giving full virtuoso flex to material that feels ripe with embryonic potential. And, although I found the protracted denouement a little too saccharine for my palate, there’s no question that when Platt and James blast out “My Song” with the defiance that only battle-scarred lovers can, it’s a moment you’ll be glad to say you saw.’

Clementine Scott at BroadwayWorld talked about: ‘The metatheatrical style of Midnight feels perfect for someone like Platt, who may be exceptionally talented and the most memorable musical theatre voice of his generation, but possesses a distinctive, vibrato-laden voice that can divide opinion. This is a show where he can play something of a caricature of an esoteric well-known performer, all while indulging his voice’s rich emotional potential and natural comic timing in Mark Sonnenblick’s songs. And what songs they are.’

Tom Wicker for Time Out also talked about songs: ‘The way in which Sonnenblick, partly through Trevor’s casual asides, creates in Arthur a fictional superstar of the great American songbook, is a delicious blurring of reality and theatrical invention. This is heightened by his score and lyrics, which are lushly evocative of Cole Porter. They feel like songs you almost remember. But as Arthur (initially) insists on keeping male pronouns in these classically framed love songs, they become – in one of the show’s strongest through-lines – a powerful social lens.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Holly O’Mahony at The Stage thought: ‘At this production’s core is a gorgeously intimate show – one that bottles the feeling of finding a love who feels like your missing half, before pouring out the misery that comes with losing them. But Cromer’s production often loses us, too, as the story’s timeline jumps about. Significant reveals are played down emotionally, which might be part of Trevor’s act, but denies these moments the magnitude that musical theatre would typically afford them. It needs some finessing.’

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis commented on ‘the suggestion that Arthur’s commitment to his art leads him to sacrifice his emotional life and betray Trevor. I wonder with which character Sonnenblick, who wrote the music and the witty book and lyrics, most sympathises? Actually, I think I know. While Arthur bangs on about being an artist, he’s a sketchy, background character, apart from one ill-advised dance routine. This show is all about Trevor and therefore all about Platt.’

The Times’ Clive Davis commented: ‘It’s a lost world evoked in immaculate detail in David Cromer’s production: a bold, unconventional drama that doesn’t, in the end, pay quite as much attention to the inner lives of the two lovers, Trevor and Arthur, who eke out a living bringing their songs to audiences at a nightspot called the Never Get.’ He acknowledged: ‘Platt’s fans will surely enjoy the opportunity to hear him close-up. His heart-on-sleeve singing, topped by a delicate falsetto, is flawless. He captures too the inner desperation of a performer who is, we begin to realise, a less than reliable narrator.’

Critics’ average rating 3.7⭑

Midnight at the Never Get can be seen at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre until 12 September 2012. Buy tickets directly from the theatre www.menierchocolatefactory.com

If you’ve seen Midnight at the Never Get at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre, please leave your review and/or rating

Is this the worst West End musical in the last 20 years?

Theatre Royal Haymarket

The worst reviews in a long time greeted the musical version of the iconic film Trainspotting. Criticism splattered all elements from the writer Irvine Welsh, who also wrote the original novel (‘baggy’ Stage; ‘leaden and formulaic’ Standard), to the new songs written by Stephen McGuinness and Welsh (‘forgettable at best, or best forgotten’ Guardian), to the direction by Caroline Jay Ranger (‘stodgy’ Independent). There was one 4 star and one 3 star review, the rest being divided between 2 and 1 stars. The only musical this century that springs to mind as having reviews this bad is Oscar Wilde back in 2005.

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Arriving some time after the midweek reviews, Patrick Kidd for The Sunday Times took a contrary view: ‘ it works brilliantly. Welsh, who improbably admits in the programme to being a Lionel Bart fan, has taken the best elements of the original, added some of the prequel, Skagboys, then worked with Stephen McGuinness to create new songs that energetically drive the story on, with superb choreography and a fine young cast.’ Notably, he was an outlier when it came to the added songs. He declared: ‘New songs that especially hit the mark include The Eckies and the Brown, a country and western number that reflects the rush of colour that comes into the characters’ drab lives with every armful of junk, the jaunty Roll with the Punches and Renton and Sick Boy’s duet late in Act I.

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Times’ Clive Davis had reservations, but he discerned something the other critics missed: ‘there is unabashed energy to the performance and the new songs, co-written by Welsh and the dance music producer Stephen McGuinness, that just about keeps the evening aloft. True, it’s a rough-hewn venture that won’t appeal to musical theatre traditionalists. I went in fearing the worst, in all honesty, but this is a production that, even if it is never going to supplant the film, at least delivers moments of communal intensity.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe didn’t pull her punches: ‘the show is far more diffuse and meandering than either the film or the novel. Characters are thinly drawn in Welsh’s baggy book; it’s as if the story has been castrated, all its cynical, tough, jagged wit, all its fuck-you attitude lopped off. Instead, it’s ploddingly literal, often lapsing into mawkishness and soapy tedium – repeatedly ramming its social conscience down our throats, theatrically it’s almost in Blood Brothers territory, although it’s significantly less emotionally effective. And it suffers from a fatal lack of momentum – each time it starts to get going, another pointless song turns up to bring it grinding to a halt again.’

A ‘misguided muddle’ said Ben Lawrence for the Telegraph: ‘The incoherence of this production, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, is best illustrated by its music. While the film’s famously killer soundtrack has, in part, been retained (Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and Lou Reed’s Perfect Day both feature), it is diluted by a mixture of pop hits that weren’t in the film and, worst of all, a set of new songs which, with the exception of a jolly hoedown entitled C—s Run the Country, barely register. It is downright odd to see such cynical no-hopers as Renton (Lewis Kidd) and Sick Boy (Sheridan Townsley) going all jazz hands, and it undermines the power of Welsh’s characterisation.’

The Independent’s Alice Saville joined the fray, declaring: ‘it’s a depressing concoction, with misjudged songs and a plot as obscure as an addict’s mumblings.’ The director, she said, had ‘turned this kinetic, dizzying story into a stodgy museum piece.’

In the midst of the critical onslaught, Theo Bosanquet for LondonTheatre sounded almost mild in his criticism: ‘what results is a kind of hybrid jukebox show, one that at points almost feels like a 90s nostalgia fest, but makes an awkward vehicle for a bleak story of broken characters seeking highs against a backdrop of urban decline.’

1 star ⭑

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis gave it short shrift: ‘What’s that dull, sickening thud? Oh, it’s the sound of a dead horse being flogged.’ He explained: ‘It’s leaden and formulaic where the book was coruscatingly fragmentary, sermonising and expository where Danny Boyle’s 1996 film was darkly, hedonistically propulsive. Worse, it shackles emotively Pavlovian stalwart hits like Lust For Life, Perfect Day and Bitter Sweet Symphony to a ragbag of pub-rock novelty songs written by Welsh and Stephen McGuinness.’ He listed its many faults: ‘I could tell you how sketchy the set and the choreography are, how Welsh’s trademark sweariness and his “authentic” Scottish-English argot lapse here into pastiche. I could say that the characters, always boldly outlined, are here cartoonish.’

The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar commented: ‘Sadly, the drug-addled escapades and illegal highs here look about as dangerous as a double-dose of Gaviscon.’ Sher ended: ‘Alongside the covers are songs written by Stephen McGuinness and Welsh which are forgettable at best, or best forgotten in the case of one with a country and western twang and another which sounds alarmingly like a riff on The Proclaimers. It’s strange to see these characters singing as they shoot up, or rage against the machine. “Would Renton really choose to return to this life,” you find yourself wondering. It all seems so tame and commercial for this bunch of anti-capitalists. A bad trip indeed.’

Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage called it: ‘an incoherent musical that achieves the dubious distinction of being simultaneously distasteful and deeply tedious.‘ He asked: ‘Who is this for? Enthusiasts of the original will find it tame, lovers of modern musicals will spot how poorly executed it is, and it’s far too sordid for most families. Ultimately it’s the ineptitude rather than the tricky subject matter that sinks Trainspotting The Musical. Choose life? Nah, choose to see something else.’

Holly O’Mahony popped up at Time Out with an assumed one star review: ‘the whole thing is mechanical and cringeworthy. Every time someone shoots up on stage, you worry they’ll break into song – and they do!’ Among her many blasts was: ‘It has about as much guts and vigour and channeling of sordid lived experiences as the average primary school play.’

Critics’ average rating 1.9⭑

Value rating 17 (critics’ rating divided by typical ticket price)

Trainspotting The Musical can be seen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 5 September. Buy tickets directly from the theatre trh.co.uk

If you’ve seen Trainspotting The Musical at Theatre Royal Haymarket, please leave your review and/or rating below

Rent composer’s ‘lost songs’ impress

Southwark Playhouse Borough

The composer of Rent died young but left behind many songs, 18 of which have been brought together by Jennifer Ashley Tepper in revue, directed by John Simpkins. Some critics didn’t like the lack of structure but all thought Larson was a genius.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Anya Ryan of LondonTheatre reported: ‘Performed by a cast of five in a setting that initially evokes an East Village bar, the actors take turns stepping into the spotlight. Natalie Kassanga has a voice like silk‘. She liked the structure: ‘With the numbers largely removed from their original contexts, the music flows with only minimal interruption (…) Larson is presented in fragments, and while we might not get a complete picture of his musicals or of the man himself, his glorious, scrappy songs are more than enough to feed our souls.’

Paul Vale for The Stage described it as ‘a fascinating dissection of the composer’s journey, exploring themes and styles. There’s no formal story, but a distinct clarity of focus and a sense that Larson was baring his soul through his music (…) The Jonathan Larson Project might be a mixed bag, but it profoundly illustrates the genius of a talent lost. Simpkins’ production projects that talent, delivering a fun, diverse anthology with invention and flair.

Chris Wiegand for The Guardian wasn’t so sure about the concept: ‘Finding cohesion in songs from different projects is challenging without imposing a theme or storyline’ but he noted: ‘When the world is falling apart, playing the piano can “save my soul”, writes a 23-year-old Larson. Not only does he get away with such a sentiment but there’s an equivalent effect from hearing the night’s best songs. A revelation.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Clementine Scott for BroadwayWorld noted: ‘there is more than a hint of Rent in John Simpkins’s direction and Nate Bertone ‘s production design for this song cycle’. She disagreed with Anya Ryan about tge structure: ‘Without any narrative to tie these disparate songs together, Larson’s gift for crafting character through song gets lost in the weeds.’ She concluded that it was ‘a great deep dive into what made the young Larson tick, for diehard fans or as an introduction to his work, but these songs deserve a bit of narrative structure.’

For WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton: ‘The problem with the show, curated with love and dedication by Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who trawled through Larson’s archives to find the songs, is that it treats all this treasure trove with equal reverence, when some of the songs are clearly written by a man learning his craft and others – such as the magnificently crazed “Hosing the Furniture”, in which a woman loses her mind while keeping her house clean – are works of near genius.‘

Donald Hutera for the Times described it as ‘a variably effective but always heartfelt showcase of Larson’s wide-ranging, emotionally complex style and interests. It may not be revelatory, and occasionally it pushes too hard, but it is an often fascinating excavation of a gifted, influential artist’s process that reminds us of what was and what might have been.’

Critics’ average rating 3.5⭑

The Jonathan Larson Project can be seen at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 22 August. Buy tickets directly from the theatre southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

If you’ve seen The Jonathan Larson Project, please leave a review and/or rating below

Revenge tragedy show divides critics

The Bridge Theatre

The critics were as divided as the family they witnessed pulling itself apart in Simon Stone‘s adaptation of The Oresteia by Aeschylus. Some were gripped by its entire length (‘relentlessly gripping, its three-and-a-half hours whizzing by’ Time Out), others couldn’t wait for it to finish (‘a very long evening’ The Times). Placing a modern family in designer Lizzie Clachan‘s glass tank appealed to some but not others. Ditto taking out the moral element of Greek tragedy. The acting of David Morrissey, Mary-Louise Parker, Rosie Sheehy and Tom Glynn-Carney, was universally praised.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

For Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre it couldn’t have been better: ‘The brutal conflict that occurs within the walls of the Middleton home (is) a microcosm for the wars waging beyond their front door. There is no doubt Stone’s adaptation is a play for today — and one that the Greeks would be proud of.’ She explained: ‘Stone has taken Aeschylus’ tale of cycles of trauma and revenge and placed it in the well-to-do yet dysfunctional home of the Middletons, showing how political misalignment, greed, generational trauma, and mental illness can tear a family apart.’ She described the process: ‘Stone cleverly uses an oscillating timeline — between the play’s beginnings in 2016 and the present day — to unpack how these lies and secrets lead to a suicide and four grisly murders, peeling back the layers of the play like an open wound that refuses to heal.’

The Standard’s Nick Curtis described the set: ‘the play happens in a glass cube, an opulent modernist mansion in miniature from Lizzie Clachan – concrete walls, chrome-edged recliners – lit from within by Nick Schlieper, turning each scene into a modern Gothic tableau.’ The occupants of the cube impressed him: ‘David Morrissey does what he does pre-eminently, i.e. gruff patriarch battling demons. It’s a joy to see Mary-Louise Parker bring her ironic half-smile … and even more so to watch her descent into grief and bitterness and finally a dead-eyed despair.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski called it ‘trashy as hell and yet relentlessly gripping, its three-and-a-half hours whizzing by.’

The Financial Times‘ Sarah Hemming described how Aeschylus’ work  is ‘reimagined in a shattering, superbly acted psychodrama about generational discord, inherited trauma and the insane, implacable logic of war. Yes, it’s flecked with black comedy, but, fundamentally, it’s steeped in despair and blazing anger: an Oresteia for our broken world.’ As to the acting: ‘the younger generation is outstanding. Sheehy’s Alice is a study in lost purpose and numbing grief, and, fleetingly, as the more dynamic Isobel; Glynn-Carney’s Augie is disturbing and vulnerable, undone by the psychiatric scars of childhood trauma and military service in Afghanistan.’

The Independent’s Alice Saville began: ‘The Oresteia is famously messed up, following a family that hacks itself apart in a frenzy of bloodshed and revenge. Even so, there’s something joltingly dark and merciless about Simon Stone’s latest,characteristically free take on a classic. On the stage of the Bridge Theatre, he traps his characters in a giant glass tank like lobsters in a seafood restaurant, then makes them fight until they’re devoured by a pitiless world. It’s uncomfortable, agonisingly drawn out, and brilliant.’ She added enthusiastically: ‘this is a masterfully constructed play, turning a familiar story into a consistently tense murder mystery with an artfully splintered timeline. Miraculously, its three-and-a-half-hour runtime never feels long, thanks to two intervals and an endless stock of boxset-worthy twists and shifts of mood.’

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton said the ‘dialogue is fast-paced, overlapping, and convincingly real. Stone plays with the timeframe, darting back and forwards through events over a decade from 2016 until 2026, turning them into a thriller as much as a tragedy.’ She praised his direction: ‘direction is impeccable, constantly ratcheting up the pressure while allowing the characters space to breathe.’ She described the ending: ‘There is – in contrast to Aeschylus’s dramatic arc over his trilogy of plays – no resolution, no forgiveness or justice. Stone’s stripped-back, brutal version strands us with the overwhelming sense of chaos that violence, compromise, and constant war bring. This is Greek tragedy for an age of insanity.’

‘It’s not flawless, but it is thrilling theatre’ declared The Sunday Times’ Dominic Maxwell.  He explained he had mixed feelings and gave us a spoiler to explain why: ‘When it’s a 21st-century Abigail’s Party streaked with slaughter, it’s truly great. Now and then it succumbs to overthinking or the comedy gets too broad. Worse, when you finally learn of Isobel’s fate, it turns out that Christopher has figuratively sacrificed his daughter for his career, not literally like Agamemnon did. The ending feels badly fudged as a result.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar was less enamoured by the production: ‘Like a TV thriller, the action holds you, but the frenetic plotting does not leave much room for the psychological element.There is a lack of internal logic to the plotting and flat, shrill characters.’

Dave Fargnoli of The Stage also had reservations about the adaptation: ‘Stone’s adaptation boils out all of the tale’s grandeur and moral struggle, leaving us with a grubby story of shame and needless killing (…) Despite the undeniable ferocity of the performances, Stone’s unrestrained revenge saga feels strangely bloodless.’ He wondered whether putting the cast behind glass might be partly to blame: ‘On press night at least, the result was a distinctly muffled, echoey sound that robbed some performer’s lines of depth and texture. Stone’s commitment to capturing the realistic rhythms of conversation leads to constantly overlapping dialogue and argumentative interruptions that further garble his text.’ Nevertheless he admired the actors: ‘The entire cast is fully committed, and its characters’ relationships feel meaty and richly drawn, offering unexpected twists on their classical counterparts.’

Alexander Cohen for BroadwayWorld gave credit to the actors: ‘Rosy Sheehy is a standout as Alice, whose insecurity, we can detect bubbling beneath the surface. Mary-Louise Parker’s Monty (standing in for Clytemnestra), is all clipped vowels and controlled stillness that culminates in a tangibly terrifying climax.’ But he opined: ‘Although suavely cloaked in contemporary dress, the underlying dynamics don’t quite translate. Greek tragedy demands that the killing be both morally understandable and unconscionable at once. Isabelle takes her own life rather than being sacrificed by Christopher, and the cycle of revenge that follows never garners the weight it needs. By the end of a gruelling three and a half hours, there isn’t much moral meat left on the bone, just a slasher gorefest.’

Claire Allfree for the Telegraph warned: ‘There is … a problem with tone. Often, there is too thin a line between the default mode of excoriating black wit and glib farce. Some of the more political declamations feel like mini-lectures. And it’s almost impossible to take the shock-and-awe grotesquerie of Part Three seriously’.

2 stars ⭑⭑

The Times’ Clive Davis had a long evening but he began with a positive: ‘he certainly gets some potent performances out of a cast led by David Morrissey and the American actress Mary-Louise Parker. It’s quite possible to spend half of a very long evening admiring Lizzie Clachan’s revolving set, even though you have the nagging feeling that Stone’s penchant for locking actors inside glass boxes is subject to diminishing returns.’ He concluded: ‘None of these privileged folk win your sympathy. Tableaux are intercut as if we are watching a screen thriller, albeit one in which every other scene goes missing. If you’re not familiar with the original sources, you’ll be confused. But even if you know the texts by heart, you may still be in the dark at the end.’

Critics’ average rating 3.7⭑

Value rating 41 (Critics’ rating divided by typical ticket price)

The Oresteia can be seen at the Bridge Theatre until 19 September 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre www.bridgetheatre.co.uk

If you’ve seen The Oresteia at The Bridge Theatre, please leave a review and/or rating

Laughter and tears in musical about gays and miners

Dorfman, National Theatre

The National Theatre’s musical adaptation of Pride, the popular film about a gay campaign group who supported the miners’ strike, went down well with most of the critics. It probably helped that the film’s writer and director took on the same roles for the stage version. The Guardian (5 stars) called it ‘deeply moving, deeply important’. There were dissenting voices: some found that it skimmed over some of the serious stuff, but only the Telegraph (2 stars) found it a ‘dud’.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Helpfully, Tom Wicker summarised his Time Out review in his first paragraph: ‘Writer Stephen Beresford’s musical adaptation of his own 2014 film is a triumph. Under the assured direction of Matthew Warchus – who also directed the film – with a by-turns playful and powerful score by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, Pride succeeds in packing a wallop of an emotional punch while never neglecting to find the very human humour in even its most sombre moments. It’s an impassioned and timely plea for seeking out common ground. You’ll laugh-cry your way through it.’

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar reported: ‘It is all so agile on its feet, the action taking place on the kind of makeshift scaffold and gantry structure (designed by Bunny Christie) on which protest speeches are made and banners brandished. The show pares away some scenes from the film (although it keeps the best lines of the screenplay) but bulks it up with song, movement and an abundant theatrical imagination.’ She concluded: ‘As a musical, it becomes more than the sum of its parts: a remarkable piece of British social history, deeply moving, deeply important.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton was on board: ‘It is extraordinarily difficult not to be entranced by the sheer hopefulness of the story and the flair of the telling in the capable hands of this ensemble. True, the facts … have been softened and the rough edges of prejudice and resistance smoothed from the narrative even more than in the film’ but ‘its evocation of community is both heart-raising and tear-jerking. Its belief that life can be better catches a chord.’ She also mentioned the contribution of the design: ‘On Bunny Christie’s adaptable set of scaffolding, cleverly lit by Hugh Vanstone to change mood and scene, the musical moves through this story with great verve and good humour, while underlining its key themes.’

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis called it ‘hugely charming and affecting, if imperfect.’ He explained that ‘Narratively speaking, on stage Pride has a great middle but a weak beginning and end.’ However, ‘There are superb songs here that expand and illuminate the story’. He praised the production: ‘Warchus’s production has a can-do, scratch-built 80s vibe, all hand-painted protest banners, dungarees and Doc Martens, with the band atop Bunny Christie’s scaffolding set. He praised the cast: ‘Lumsden is a charismatic, impetuous Mark, balanced by Matthew Durkan’s more solid and earnest Mike. Barnett knowingly steals every scene he’s in. Sarah Pugh is terrific as Siân’.

CityAM‘s Adam Bloodworth declared: ‘The songbook, by composer Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde features plenty of earworms.’ He also reported: ‘There are also a handful of roaring comedic skits’, although ‘the tendency to go for laughs and lightness in the first act means the grit and more difficult parts of the story are occasionally glossed over’. He ended: ‘gentle reportage of the miners and the gays standing together, arm in arm on the picket line, provides plenty. The final scene elicits one of the largest communal sobs I’ve ever heard in the theatre. This is Russell T Davies level of finding the joy in the sadness, but live, on stage.’

Louis for The Independent was happy with the adaptation: ‘“Uplifting” and “crowdpleasing” are adjectives that cynics tend to baulk at, but Pride is utterly successful in owning them. When things take a sombre turn towards the end – any queer story set in 1984 is inevitably going to brush up against the Aids crisis – it navigates this tonal shift remarkably well. People around me in the audience were sobbing. That everybody ultimately left the theatre feeling not devastated but enlivened is a testament to Pride’s deft, noble manipulations.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Times’ Dominic Maxwell picked his highlight: ‘Samuel Barnett (never better) as the flamboyant actor Jonathan does a fine disco routine in the community hall. It’s a highlight because of Lizzi Gee’s choreography, but also because it comes with some real emotion between him and another character. Elsewhere more friction is needed, more knots of drama to help all the eventual validation to feel fully earned.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish was disappointed: ‘The main deficiency is that, beyond delineating the way initial prejudice towards the well-meaning outsiders is overcome (up to a point), the struggles of the strike itself – and the fate of the mining towns – play second fiddle to the gay cohort’s journeys of discovery’. He continued: ‘There’s no doubting the energy, talent and commitment of everyone involved (Samuel Barnett steals the show as the flamboyant activist Jonathan Blake, using disco to break the ice), but it falls far short of the required landmark.’

Critics’ average rating 3.9⭑

Pride can be seen at the the Dorfman in the National Theatre until 12 September 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre (the run is sold out but some tickets will be available online each Friday noon.)

If you’ve seen Pride at the Dorfman, please leave your review and/or rating below

JCS is back but is Sam Ryder the true Messiah?

London Palladium, then Theatre Royal Drury Lane

The 10 year old Regents Park Open Air Theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice‘s early hit musical has finally made it to the West End. It was accompanied by the same team of creatives- Timothy Sheader (director), Drew McConie (choreographer) and Tom Scutt (designer), and some of the same cast including Tyrone Huntley as Judas. The star attraction newcomer is Sam Ryder as Jesus. A string of celebrities take turns to play Herod. Any hope that this production might emulate the success of Evita which made a similar journey from Regents Park to the Palladium last year was dashed by the contrasting mix of enthusiastic and lukewarm reviews. While Ryder’s ‘inherent niceness’ had some critics reaching for superlatives, others found him characterless. Many critics came down hard on the basic story. While most thought the music held up, some criticised its loudness. However, they were unanimous in their praise of Tyrone Huntley.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Not every critic had a downer on the star. Marianka Swain for LondonTheatre reported: ‘Ryder is also a canny choice given that Sheader’s revival rousingly honours the show’s original 1970 concept album. This rock gig ethos is embedded into every purposeful creative choice, such as the handheld microphone that people tussle over; later, Jesus is bound with electrical cords. It connects us, too, with one of the major ideas: the unwieldy might of celebrity (…) This Jesus’s totemic power fuels delirious worshippers, alarms his detractors, and becomes a burden for the increasingly lonely man himself. Ryder beautifully conveys that anxiety, and is very affecting in the show’s harrowing final stages.’

In contrast to some reviewers who found that the music drowned the drama and that Ryder’s Jesus was too nice, WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Hemming embraced these aspects of the show: ‘Sheader’s approach is to re-emphasise the boldness, to let the music carry the drama, and to let character emerge. The approach pays dividends in Ryder’s Jesus, a performance defined by his popstar presence and by the soar of his voice in that falsetto register. People respond to him because he seems genuine and nice; he brings both those qualities to his portrayal in his West End debut, but also finds true drama as the show reaches its un-triumphal conclusion of sacrifice and suffering.’

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish concentrated on Sam Ryder ‘The key to his success is that he plays JC with sincerity, not starriness (…) For a moment, you worry that Ryder is too meek and mild a hero, even anodyne. But daring us to be disappointed tallies with the show’s accusatory argument about the pressures of showbiz expectation. And that achieves a blistering pay-off in the climactic title number, its infectious gospel energy offset by the visceral spectacle of a bloodied Christ being assaulted. It’s as if we are implicated in the mob brutality and betrayal. The humble sight of Christ roped to a makeshift cross beneath a giant suspended crucifix shames us with its simplicity; less is transcendently more.’

4 stars

BroadwayWorld‘s Aliya Al-Hussan pointed out: ‘It takes a talented director to create a show from a soundtrack that retains huge appeal, but sometimes lacks personal story arcs. Sheader’s engaging staging and a hugely talented cast bring the album powerfully to life.’ She praised the star: ‘Ryder’s West End debut brings raw vulnerability and real passion to the role. His vocal range and control are highly impressive’. She wasn’t sure about the sound: ‘Musical director Tom Deering goes big on volume, driving the electrifying live orchestra with huge energy. This comes at the cost of some of the vocals at the start and indeed the second half throbs with intent more than the first.’

The Independent‘s Alice Saville was a Ryder fan: ‘As Jesus, Ryder looks the part, and more than sounds it, too – without having the acting experience to show us this monumental figure’s inner struggles. But perhaps that’s fitting for a story that leaves the details of Jesus’s fate deliberately ambiguous, and that unfolds with its own logic, like a lucid dream. Just follow Mary Magdalene’s advice – “Close your eyes, and relax” – and you’ll sink into the glorious sounds of a voice that’s achieved divine status.’

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis began: ‘The through-sung score features one belter after another … But there’s little narrative (fair enough, we all know the plot), or character. We hear about Jesus’s charisma from others’ say-so but he’s an oddly passive, disgruntled central figure. This flaw is exacerbated in Tim Sheader’s otherwise thrilling, high-octane, concert-style production by the casting of Sam Ryder. The plucky Eurovision yodeller’s octave-hopping voice could strip paint when it comes to the impassioned high notes but he swallows the quieter passages of songs and his nice-guy disposition sits ill with Jesus’ grumpiness.’  He ended: ‘All together this is an OTT, aorta-pumping rollick through one of Lloyd Webber and Rice’s strongest musical collaborations, by a team who know that the score and the feel of it are all that matter. Jesus? Schmeesus.’

3 stars⭑⭑⭑

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe declared: ‘it’s now not only conspicuously dated, but also often downright daft.’ Having dispatched the musical, she considered the star: ‘as an actor, Ryder doesn’t quite convince; there’s a posturing, presentational flavour to his performance. And vocally, while he unsurprisingly has no difficulty soaring to the falsetto heights of the role, he’s less comfortable in the lower register’. She preferred Tyrone Huntley’s Judas: ’His portrayal of this most notorious of traitors is rivetingly full-throttle – pained, impassioned, perplexed, furious, guilt-stricken and distraught by turns … And his voice is a marvel, endlessly elastic yet impeccably controlled, sweetness and abrasiveness deftly deployed.’

The evening passed pleasantly for Dominic Maxwell of The Times: ‘It lacks emotion but I never found it remotely dull either.’ He warned: ‘amid Drew McOnie’s pleasing but impressionistic choreography on Tom Scutt’s ancient-meets-modern set you may lose track of which imposing fella is which’. He picked out two of the cast for special mention: ‘Huntley is a highlight, making real human complexity poke its face out of this megawatt machine. Desmonda Cathabel is an easy presence as Mary Magdalene: Everything’s Alright flows like water.’

Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski laid into the star, beginning with: ‘Sam Ryder is not the Messiah.’ He said he ‘looks like a mildly perturbed middle manager distracted by some tricky mental arithmetic (…) he is at best okay in a lead role that demands greatness (…) He’s a pop star – but we needed a superstar.’ It wasn’t all bad for Andrzej: ‘elsewhere it’s a pretty damn good production. Sheader’s cast look like sexy apocalypse survivors as they lock into Drew McOnie’s deliciously weird and angular choreography. Tom Scutt’s scaffold set is stark but ominously symbolic’.

The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar noted: ‘the first thing that hits you here is the sound, which contains Greek levels of melodrama. It’s a shame it stays at a single, fever-pitched high, flattening the emotional drama. Still, there is the glory of the signature song, Superstar, and the vocal blast of both Ryder and Huntley is a sound to behold.’ ‘But the characterisation is far less satisfying’ she continued: ‘Ryder’s portrayal is so woolly that you don’t know what Jesus stands for. So it becomes difficult to pinpoint what, exactly, Judas dislikes: is it that Jesus has gone too far, as Judas repeats, or not far enough?’

Fiona Mountford posts a rare review in the i (assumed 3 stars). She didn’t like the sound: ‘[Jesus] and Judas (a blazing Tyrone Huntley) prowl the stage with rock-star-style, hand-held microphones; occasionally, the amplification blurs the clarity of the lyrics, which causes problems for a show where all the storytelling is done through song.’

Critics’ average rating 3.9⭑

Value rating 31 (Combination of critics’ rating and typical ticket price)

Jesus Christ Superstar can be seen at the London Palladium until 5 September 2026 before moving on to Theatre Royal Drury Lane from 16 October 2026 to 9 January 2027. After that there is a tour. Buy tickets directly from www.andrewlloydwebber.com/show/jesus-christ-superstar

If you’ve seen Jesus Christ Superstar at The Palladium, please leave your review and/or rating below

Great songs don’t save shallow musical bio

Aldwych Theatre

The critics liked the music in Sinatra The Musical but were not so keen on the book. They mostly felt Joel Harper-Jackson sounded the part but didn’t look it.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Marianka Swain for The Telegraph called it ‘a turbulent experience, boasting more than 20 Sinatra hits and sleek, glossy staging, but is let down by poor writing that never quite gets under the legendary artist’s skin.’ She went on: ‘Thankfully, the terrific performances elevate the material. Joel Harper-Jackson is an effortlessly charismatic, if aptly obnoxious, young Sinatra, and his singing is impressively close to the real thing: soaring musicality, immaculate phrasing and soulful delivery. But it’s the formidable women who really dominate: Phoebe Panaretos’s fiercely uncompromising Nancy, Ana Villafañe’s worldly-wise Ava, Jenna Russell’s ball-busting Italian mamma, and Melissa Nettleford, as Billie Holiday, nailing the smoky torch song One for My Baby.’

Emma John for The Guardian noted: ‘the script often feels less three-dimensional than the video-assisted set design. Happily, Kathleen Marshall’s production, complete with a fine ensemble and some joyful choreography, doesn’t stint on the big hits’.

Franco Milazzo for BroadwayWorld said: ‘the emotionally vacant storyline boils down to a run-of-the-mill tale of a man haunted by his carnal desires and the women left to pick up the pieces after him (…) DiPietro has deliberately chosen to illustrate his subject from a palate based on a small but crucial period of his career. By narrowing the musical’s scope to his early years, though, the production finishes well short of the better known chapters of his life, leaving the narrative feeling frustratingly incomplete.’

The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming articulated ‘the show’s central concern: the tensions between love, artistic integrity and fame’ but ‘We never get under the skin of these fascinating characters, or of the real human dilemmas here.’ She liked the star: ‘Harper-Jackson is vocally great: he has a sumptuous voice and soaring delivery — close your eyes, and you might imagine he was the real thing — and he suggests something of the charisma and volatility of his character. But he’s hampered by a script that never gets more than skin-deep.’

Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage sang from same songbook: ‘Dramatically inert but musically magnificent, this is a solid tribute to a singular talent’.

2 stars ⭑⭑

Maddy Mussen for The Standard did it her way: ‘Teams of archaeologists could labour for decades without unearthing the point of this show. Lavishly mounted but lamely written and characterised, it imperfectly hammers hits from Frank Sinatra’s back catalogue into a misconceived triumph-over-adversity narrative that covers nine years of his life. Why? For whom?’ The songs prompted more questions: ‘These remain, mostly, great songs. But who wants to hear them in a rickety, partial and hagiographic stage musical that whitewashes a complicated and frankly unpleasant individual? Frankly Unpleasant: now that’s the Sinatra musical I might pay to see.’

Critics’ average rating 2.8⭑

Value rating 28 (Critics’ rating combined with typical ticket price)

Sinatra The Musical can be seen at The Aldwych until 10 April 2027. Buy tickets directly from the producers

If you’ve seen Sinatra The Musical at The Aldwych, please leave your review and/or rating below

Russell Tovey commanding in theatrical thriller

Donmar Warehouse

None of the critics went so far as to give it five stars, citing plot weaknesses, but the almost unanimous 4 star reviews spoke of the tenseness of this thriller which is told in real time. They all agreed that Russell Tovey gave a powerful performance as a cop on the edge handling emergency calls, and desperately trying to prevent a tragedy. Chloe Moss’ script adapted from the film played its part in creating a stressful hour, as did the direction by Felix Barrett, who directed Paranormal Activity.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish summed up: ‘in a taut stage adaptation … Russell Tovey delivers a solo tour de force as Joe, answering calls on a shift fraught with life-and-death decisions.’ He went on: ‘We picture the unfolding scene with him, and are taken inside a kind of labyrinth. It’s a twisty tale, but as it elicits one satisfying surprise after another, it probes something existential and timely: how thin the line is between those who protect us and those who threaten us, and how narrow the gap is, too, between cool certainty and wild conjecture. It’s a gripping portrait of one man in extremis, but, with adrenal force, it inculpates us all, too.’

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar called it ‘a fantastically theatrical experience, part crime thriller and part ghost story…with the kind of razor suspense that fills you with dread and leaves you palpitating.’ She continued: ‘this is the most thrilling and visceral drama. Not a minute wasted, not a beat missed. No less than a white knuckle ride.’ She observed: ‘Moss manages to add the desperation and helplessness of those suffering extreme mental states and the sense of desertion they feel from wider systems. It is subtle social commentary but also feels human and utterly tragic.’

Dominic Maxwell of The Times enthused: ‘The Guilty is a delight, fast-moving and genuinely theatrical in the way it puts you in its hero’s head. Tovey is exceptional: a huge stage presence, yes, but one who always looks driven by events rather than any desire to impress.’ He concluded: ‘an ending of Greek dramatic proportions teeters into melodrama. No matter: the ride is what matters, the ride delivers.’

‘Adaptor Chloë Moss and director Felix Barrett have created a wholly theatrical, palm-sweating marvel’ said Anya Ryan for LondonTheatre. She ended: ‘Supported by an ever-varied, tremendous, unseen voice cast, the four walls of the call room expand out. We hear children, distressed neighbours, Joe’s laddish mates, and another policeman on trial, all through a phone line. But so strong is the acting, we can picture them, too. In the final section, the twists arrive fast and furious, with the final set-breaking-apart image being one of pure dramatic gold.’

The Stage‘s Sam Marlowe pointed out: ‘alongside the play’s nail-biting tension is a preoccupation with the gaps between what we see and what we assume, and the ways in which our minds can play tricks on us when we only know half the story. The production is directed by Felix Barrett – who … is adept at springing surprises and subverting expectations. He and Moss have plenty of impish fun shredding our nerves and leading us down narrative rabbit holes, aided by a superlative, sweatily intense solo onstage performance by Russell Tovey.’

Time Out‘s Andrzej Lukowski considered elements of the production: ‘Subtle shifts in light and the crackly strangeness of the calls he receives take on a feverish, nocturnal quality, only growing stranger as the show wears on.’ He decided: ‘Barrett’s direction provides an alluring air of ambiguity, but at the same time it’s mostly a bloody good real-time thriller. Running to just an hour, some of the plot twists are a touch melodramatic, but they have a rollercoaster momentum that means there’s no pause to be cynical, as Tovey’s character makes one fateful decision after the other, in the moment.’

The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming was another critic impressed by the director: ‘Barrett skilfully uses the power of the onstage monologue and the electricity of live theatre to depict Joe’s isolation and to fuse his critical dependence on phones with the fear of voices in his head and his disintegrating mental state. Gareth Fry’s superb sound design throbs, crackles, creates a range of both realistic and disturbing offstage scenarios down the line, and plays its part in a revealing coup de théâtre at the end. There’s a slightly queasy mismatch between the thriller format and the gravity of the issues it covers (post-partum psychosis, for example), some plot twists grate, and there’s a streak of melodrama to the ending. But then we are never sure what is real and what is not: how much of it is in Joe’s head; how much of it is in our own.’

Commenting on director Felix Barrett, The Standard‘s Nick Curtis declared: ‘There is surely no more effective manipulator of mood and pace working in British theatre today. I can feel my scalp tightening, thinking again about the chilling surprises The Guilty meticulously springs in both plot and staging.’

BroadwayWorld‘s Aliya Al-Hassan was impressed by the star: ‘Russell Tovey is utterly compelling as Joe: quick to anger with a caller ringing about a neighbour’s loud party, tender with his own daughter and increasingly frantic as he tries everything within his restricted power to help Emily. Tovey carries conviction into every action, from the mundane dropping of an antacid into a glass of water to his panicky pacing liked a caged animal.’ She paid tribute to the creative team: ‘Gareth Fry’s sound design is simply exceptional, creating stark clarity between the multiple callers and Joe’s own voice. As a clock ticks ominously in the windowless space, down the various lines, sirens blare out, rain steadily falls and muffled background sounds all create a highly realistic reflection of the world outside. This is all aided beautifully by lighting designer Anna Watson who creates a flat and airless space which occasionally shifts into something completely different.’

3 stars

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton found much to admire : ‘Tovey is superb, commanding the stage, his reactions – a fractional raise of the eyebrows when someone annoys him, a rising sense of involvement and concern when he realises he truly is in the midst of an emergency, a flash of anger when his wife tries to cut him off – always readable, always convincing (…) It is a brilliantly contrived and executed theatrical experience.’ However:  ‘My problem was that I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t buy the idea that a man in Joe’s position would be entrusted – alone – with such a job, or that he would react in quite the ways he does. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief, so I was always distanced from what is undoubtedly an extraordinarily gripping and clever piece.’

Critics’ average rating 3.9⭑

The Guilty can be seen at The Donmar Warehouse until 15 August 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre 

Click here to read Paul Seven’s review here

If you’ve seen The Guilty at The Donmar, please leave your review and/or rating below

 

 

Four fabulous fibbing performers

Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue

Florian Zeller’s comedy about adultery, deceit and the dangers of truth features twist after twist. Comedy is so often a matter of taste, so it was either ‘seat-shakingly funny’ (Guardian 5⭑) or ‘ponderous’ (Stage 2⭑).Most of the critics praised the cast of Stephen Mangan (‘fantastically enjoyable’ Time Out), Ardal O’Hanlan, Sarah Hadland and Janie Dee.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Mark Lawson for The Guardian defined it as ‘a modern French farce that adds to the form’s physical comedy a metaphysical dimension about whether accuracy and veracity are possible or even sensible. Across seven scenes, each featuring two characters, alibis overlap and contradict. Lies may be a tactic to expose truth and vice versa until the plot twists into a double helix of deceit.’ The play, he said, ‘is made seat-shakingly funny by four fabulously fibbing performers.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish called it ‘a spiralling comedy of infidelity and duplicity.’ He thought the star was well cast: ‘Mangan makes this brazen liar sheepishly appealing even when he’s being frankly appalling.’ He discovered: ‘There’s an underlying truth here to the way lies make the world go round, and an old-fashioned theatrical pleasure emerges from seeing yarns being frantically spun (…) there’s ample fun to be had and a surprisingly satisfying sting to the froth.’

The Financial Times’ Sarah Hemming noted: ‘It’s nowhere near as deep or moving as The Father, and the characters are supremely self-obsessed, but still there is something very sad about their predicament. And this clever, elusive comedy touches on profound questions about the meaning and malleability of truth.’

Caroline McGinn for Time Out declared: ‘Mangan fans won’t be disappointed, his performance is more than worth the entry fee. He is fantastically enjoyable as Michel, bringing irresistible hangdog charm and ageing himbo vibes to the character who believes he is successfully deceiving everyone around him. His epic tantrum on discovering that he is the more deceived is hilarious: utterly hypocritical, and heartfelt. Michel’s arc is the driving force of the story and when Mangan commits to his outrage, it lifts the comedy to the next level and really makes it grip.’

The Standard‘s Nicjk Curtis called the play ‘a manically effervescent, farcical comedy of manners in Lindsay Posner’s starry, polished revival (…) This is a glossy, old-fashioned West End night out, and none the worse for that.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Times’ Clive Davis found it ‘breezes along with a wry, occasionally self-satisfied grin on its face (…) The director Lindsay Posner keeps the complications and deceptions bubbling along.’ He seemed to have left the theatre inmoved: ‘Designer Lizzie Clachan’s hotel and domestic interiors are self-consciously sterile. The psychological asides may be quintessentially French, but they’re not particularly profound.’

Matt Wolf at LondonTheatre noted: ‘The problem is that shows constructed with this sort of Swiss watch precision aren’t quite so revelatory upon renewed dissection. As someone already familiar with The Truth, I admit to sometimes feeling that I was watching a well-oiled theatrical machine cranking into gear: the play on second viewing has a faintly mechanical aspect, though the skill of the cast – led by Mangan in superlative overdrive – is never in doubt (…) Posner’s cast navigates the changes in tone and knows how to downplay the gathering reliance on contrivance and coincidence.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

For Dave Fargnoli of The Stage stated:’the action feels ponderous, the script strangely flat-footed. Here, every conversation eventually becomes trapped in repetitive rhetorical loops as the characters bat the same lines back and forth between them, systematically draining them of impact (…) Posner sets such a rattling pace, and encourages such big, explosive deliveries where more subtle responses might be more effective, that many of the text’s nuances are lost.’

Critics’ average rating 3.6⭑

Value for money 40 (Typical price combined with average rating)

The Truth can be seen at the Apollo Theatre until 12 September 2026. Buy tickets from the producers www.thetruthplay.com

Read Paul Seven’s review here

If you’ve seen The Truth at the Apollo Theatre, please leave your review and/or rating below