Did two plays become one?

Dorfman Theatre at National Theatre

The National Theatre’s smallest space The Dorfman has reopened following a refurbishment with a debut play by Shaan Sahota. It concerned a British politician with a Punjabi background vying for the party leadership while in the midst of a family feud following the death of his father. Many of the reviews praised her writing and her ambition but didn’t think her attempt to amalgamate the two stories worked. Adeel Akhtar took on the lead role to considerable acclaim.

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

4 stars ★★★★

Calling it a ‘deliciously vicious satire’, Dave Fargnoli at The Stage said: ‘the piece has a slow-building heft, starting out as a sparky, close-to-the-knuckle political caper but growing increasingly grim and shocking as the characters’ facades of privilege and civility are stripped away to reveal the seething greed, entitlement and cruelty beneath.’

The Standard’s Nick Curtis declared: ‘Though contrived in parts, Shaan Sahota’s debut play about a British Sikh politician wrestling with his family and his desire to lead his party is an absolute blast. It’s anchored by an extraordinary performance from Adeel Akhtar, in which emotion seems to possess and convulse his wiry body. Wildly funny, sometimes shocking, occasionally absurd, Daniel Raggett’s shouty, kinetic, music-studded production is a hell of a ride.’

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar agreed. She began with the star: ‘his creepingly explosive turn in Shaan Sahota’s debut drama is unmissable. It carries this first play, almost eclipsing its imperfections.’ She had good things to say about the playwright: ‘It is exciting writing, fast and funny in its political satire’. But there are Buts: ‘But there is too much stuffed in, jostling for air’ and ‘But the biggest hole is that none of it resembles the politics of today.’ Nevertheless ‘it is a sensational debut, and if the best kind of failure is one that bears too much ambition, there is an admirable kind of over-reaching here, and a great playwright in the making.’

Chris Omaweng of LondonTheatre1 thought, to paraphrase, that the story was a lot of fuss about nothing, even so, ‘What the play and this production of it provides, in bucketloads, is dramatic tension.’ Despite his reservations, he labeled it ‘entertaining, engaging and energetic.’

Theo Bosanquet of LondonTheatre concluded: ‘it’s always welcome to find a dramatist who can deliver a serious message with such a light touch. All told it makes for an ideal summer play, a highly enjoyable evening that will give you plenty to debate on the journey home. It confirms Sahota as a writer to watch, and Akhtar as one of our most luminous acting talents.’

Alex Wood at WhatsOnStage praised the star: ‘At the heart of it all is Adeel Akhtar, giving a brilliant sleight-of-hand performance. At the start of the show, put-upon and beleaguered, he feels like some socially awkward school prefect…Like Atlas, weighed down by the overwhelming mass of constitutional concerns, he leans, crouches, staggers almost. By the close, a toxically masculine metamorphosis has taken place…and Akthar breathes genuine menace into Singh.’

3 stars ★★★

Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski found it ‘funny and frustrating in equal measures.’ He explained that there are two ‘pretty good plays’ that don’t align: ‘Daniel Raggett’s production the comedy bits are so broad as to undercut the more sensitive bits. It feels like two different shows crashing into one another, bound only by a corrosive skepticism about politicians.’

Alexander Cohen at BroadwayWorld took a similar view: ‘the personal and political are layered on top of each other until they collapse under their collective weight.’ But ‘In Daniel Raggett’s sharp direction subtle touches dissolve tension and hint at the silliness beneath it all’.

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish described it as an ‘impressive but uneven debut play’. He explained: ‘The play’s ambition – as it shifts from lighter moments to vexed concerns about equality, race, patriarchy and trauma – is refreshing. But Sahota covers so much terrain that Daniel Raggett’s production sometimes stumbles when the mood shifts and the piece becomes hobbled in terms of plausibility by its plot-motoring twists.’

Alice Saville in The Independent found the author’s writing ‘refreshing’ but said Daniel Raggett, who directed Accidental Death of an Anarchist, ‘hasn’t quite worked out how to bring together this more serious play’s two disparate halves here, even if there’s enough pace and slickness to disguise the joins. Chloe Lamford’s design is a literal cabinet that ingeniously slides open to reveal hidden spaces. Sahota’s writing doesn’t always achieve the same feat,lacking the surprise revelations and twists that normally power both funeral sagas and political dramas.’

2 stars ★★

The Times’ Clive Davis was blunt: ‘Two plays are running side by side here and neither of them really works.’ He continued: ‘Sadly, Daniel Raggett’s hectic production can’t compensate for the wild implausibilities in the storyline and while Angad has all the makings of a man of straw, there are some uneven performances elsewhere.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.5★

The Estate is at the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre until  23 August 2025. Buy tickets from the theatre here.

If you’ve seen The Estate at Dorfman Theatre, please add your review and rating below

 

Bad play, good fun

Shakespeare’s Globe

It may be one of Shakespeare’s worst plays, but, in the opinion of most of the critics, this production of The Merry Wives of Windsor still manages to be funny, thanks to Sean Holmes’ direction and the comic performances of the cast.

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

4 stars ★★★★

Anya Ryan at LondonTheatre was impressed: ‘This production fizzes, right from the start, with zooming scenes and every speck of humour wrung out and paraded.’

The Standard’s Nick Curtis ended his review: ‘This Shakespearean curiosity has been most handsomely and thoughtfully mounted’.

Dominic Cavendish of the Telegraph called it ‘lucid, edited for swiftness, emphatically spoken and offers those seeking some light relief at Shakespeare’s Globe a dependably enjoyable, if basic outing – possibly, on a balmy evening, a blissful one.’

For The Guardian, Mark Lawson wasn’t enthusiastic about the play but liked the production: ‘The cast, though, also bring out what is most Shakespearean about this potboiler frivolity: the fascinated ear for speech.’ He concluded that it was ‘a joyous production that is a perfect summer night’s revel for tourists and citizens alike.’

3 stars ★★★

Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage called it ‘a completely serviceable and entertaining evening’. He praised George Fouracres: ‘(His) mastery of the text, his ability to pluck a laugh from a frenetic Falstaff aside, has to be commended. He also revels in the paradox of this central figure: a womanising, callous and selfish figure no doubt, but also a pitiable man swaddled, mocked and beaten by his peers.’

Holly O’Mahony for The Stage thought Fouracres, ‘along with a first-rate ensemble, lathers this tricksy play with sparkling humour, although Holmes’ staging doesn’t illuminate or elevate this lesser comedy in any way.’

Abbie Grundy for BroadwayWorld disagreed with Ms O’Mahony about the director: ‘confident direction from Sean Holmes allows for a laugh-a-minute production that’s full of sleazy charm, trickery, and wit’ but agreed ‘George Fouracres is absolutely fantastic as Falstaff, commanding the stage with natural charisma throughout.’

TimeOut’s Andrzej Lukowski concluded: ‘it’s not a great play, and rather than bend over backwards to try and make it look like it might be one, Holmes has opted to have fun. And so long as you’re not expecting too much from this flimsiest of works, you’ll have fun too.’

Rachel Halliburton for The Arts Desk summed up: ‘this shamelessly silly interpretation that won’t go down as a classic, but still provides more than enough hedonistic fizz for a summer’s evening.’

Patrick Marmion of the Mail was not impressed: ‘Excruciating subplots pass in a blur of regional accents and false beards…Cutting half an hour would be a small mercy — especially the random Welsh parson teaching grammar…But the set design of Liberty print wallpaper and matching costumes is easy on the eye, and the physical comedy just about gets us over the line.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.5★

The Merry Wives of Windsor can be seen at Shakespeare’s Globe until 20 September 2025. Buy tickets directly from the theatre.

If you’ve seen The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe Theatre, please leave your rating and review below

 

Critics split on drama about racism

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Using Dominic Cooke‘s 2007 adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s novel Noughts & Crosses, Tinuke Craig directs her first production for the Open Air Theatre. The Romeo & Juliet-like story is set in a world where black people rule and the whites are subjugated. There was a significant split in the critics’ reaction to this revival: three 4 star reviews and three giving 2 stars, with five in the middle. Some found it ‘powerful’, others ‘dated’. Although they all praised the actors, there was no agreement on the quality of the adaptation, direction or set.

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

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Holly O’Mahony of LondonTheatre called it ‘an action-packed take, with swift storytelling neatly compressing the plot into a little over two hours.’ She picked out the two young stars: ‘Fuelling it are a pair of passion-charged central performances. Corinna Brown plays the spunky cross Sephy Hadley, whose easy, comfortable confidence could only come from being born into privilege. Opposite her, Noah Valentine – in an impressive professional stage debut – is the downtrodden nought Callum McGregor, outwardly awkward but with a blaze in his belly.’  She concluded: ‘This moving and powerful production is a welcome political addition to the summer’s bill.’

‘As family-friendly shows go, this is no easy watch, but it’s thought-provoking and ambitious,’ said Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage. He pointed out: ‘Tinuke Craig’s tense, grungily handsome production is a surprising choice for Regents Park – Colin Richmond’s towering, brutalist set, all platforms, grotty tiles and rusting staircases, sits in stark contrast to the loveliness of the sylvan greenery – but wields considerable power.’

Chris Omaweng of LondonTheatre1 came new to the story, despite its history as a novel and TV series, but he was impressed: ‘Noughts & Crosses has much to say about tensions in the community, inequalities in society, political inertia, and terrorism in the modern world, amongst other things. A thoughtful, gripping and unsettling production, it’s worth seeing.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Having praised the lighting, sound and set, Ella Duggan for The Independent bemoaned: ‘The script feels burdened by its source material, cramming in plot points at a relentless pace, often in blunt and heavy-handed ways. Themes are spelt out with all the subtlety of a Tannoy announcement, and characters are rarely allowed the space to develop before the next crisis strikes. As a result, many of their decisions feel confusing rather than tragic, hollowing out the emotional resonance that made Blackman’s novel so powerful and leaving audiences emotionally short-changed.’

Kate Wyver for The Guardian liked the story but not the adaptation: ‘Though Craig’s direction is punchy and clear, the emotional impact frequently feels pushed aside in order to move on to the next scene. Cooke’s excessive use of direct address repeatedly tells us everything we need to know, rather than letting us work anything out for ourselves.’

Theatre Weekly‘s Greg Stewart was lukewarm: ‘There is much to admire in this Noughts & Crosses; its ambition, its aesthetic, and its lead performances chief among them. But despite the best efforts of this bold and timely revival, the production never quite reconciles its competing themes or finds a consistent emotional rhythm.’

While acknowledging ‘ Craig directs forcefully, stylishly and brings clarity to a sprawling story’, Andrzej Lukowski at Time Out complained: ‘it feels both clunky and dated’. He was concerned that ‘racial discourse has changed over the last quarter century and there are bits of Noughts & Crosses that now play out uncomfortably close to a modern-day white grievance fantasy.’

‘This is strong stuff, sometimes expressed in broad strokes, but depressingly relevant,’ opined The Standard‘s Nick Curtis. However, ‘at just over two hours’ stage time, some characterisations are inevitably thin and some issues skated over.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

Clive Davis of The Times was critical: ‘Dominic Cooke’s adaptation… constantly strikes a moralising note, while Tinuke Craig’s lacklustre production rushes through scene after scene, leaving us to try to make sense of a collection of remorselessly one-dimensional characters.’ He continued: ‘A bleak storyline is complemented by unalluring visuals. The designer, Colin Richmond, has created a grim backdrop of rusting steel corridors, columns and ladders; his costume palette is dominated by muted greys and blues. Scenes of violence add routine touches of slow-motion choreography.’

The Stage‘s Sam Marlowe was left cold: ‘Directed by Tinuke Craig and unevenly acted by an energetic but haphazard ensemble, it lacks both theatrical coherence and political punch, leaving the narrative’s rather simplistic premise exposed.’ She ended: ‘Cooke’s adaptation is blunt-edged and the pacing of Craig’s staging is painfully sluggish, particularly in the protracted second half. It’s difficult to invest in what feels like storytelling by numbers: disappointing.’

Claire Allfree at the Telegraph said the play ‘comes a cropper in Tinuke Craig’s frenetic, over-emphatic revival…which is more interested in making sure we understand the importance of its message than in making us care about the characters. It’s like being battered over the head with a strobe light.’ She went on: ‘No one talks when they can shout instead.’ And, ‘there is often a disconnect between character reactions and the actual plot, which makes such great leaps in time and logic that the audience finds itself struggling to keep up.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.0⭑

Noughts & Crosses can be seen at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre until 26 July 2025 and will then tour. Click here to buy tickets direct from the Open Air Theatre 

If you’ve seen this production of Noughts & Crosses, please add your review and rating below

Rachel Zegler wows critics, but is it the event of the summer?

London Palladium

Evita may turn out to be the theatrical event of the year, not only because of the most famous balcony scene since Romeo And Juliet. There has been massive publicity surrounding the appearance of Rachel Zegler each evening at 9pm singing Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, not to the audience inside the Palladium, but to the general public outside. This was just one of many innovations the critics loved.
Director Jamie Lloyd returned to the West End with another Lloyd Webber musical, following up his award-strewn Sunset Boulevard, which also featured off stage activity relayed to the audience via video. This time he has revived and enhanced his 2019 Open Air Theatre version of the story of Eva Peron.  The critics enjoyed Rachel Zegler’s performance and the company’s energetic dancing. The positive reviews praised the rock concert atmosphere, Soutra Gilmour‘s minimalist set of bleachers for the cast to climb, the show’s critique of populism, and the zoning in on the actors. The negative comments suggested the loud sound and spectacle drowned out emotion and narrative.

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

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Standard’s Nick Curtis encapsulated the positive response: ‘Great theatre can be about many things: star quality, spectacle, the lightning-in-bottle capture of a moment, the alchemical power of song or speech on a bare stage. In this Evita, all those things come triumphantly together.’

Dominic Cavendish of the Telegraph was blown away. It was, he wrote, ‘a total triumph, dominated by a powerhouse, reputation-restoring performance from Zegler, 24, and stamina-testing choreography by Fabian Aloise (who deserves equal credit with Lloyd).’ He expanded on the qualities of the star: ‘Her talent demands our rapture; equally, her mass seduction of the audience feels carefully plotted, enhancing the show’s thematic thrust. Lloyd ensures the evening stokes a cult of personality – combining whistle-stop biography with a parable for our age of showbiz politics.’ Going against the conclusion of many of his peers, he noted: ‘Evita could easily be too cool for us to care about – yet the go-for-broke momentum reveals redeeming cracks of vulnerability. The demand to be adored eats Evita up, before cancer claims her.’

Sam Marlowe at The Stage referred to the first iteration of this production back in 2019 at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre: ‘it’s punchier, darker, more exhilaratingly dynamic and more brilliantly layered than ever. It is meta, without being arch, and while it has the raw energy and high-octane energy of a rock gig, it’s also full-bloodedly theatrical. It knocks the breath from your body and leaves you gasping, every moment taut and vibrating with passionate intensity.’ It is, she said, ‘unmissable’.

The i-paper’s Fiona Mountford called it ‘a thrilling shot in the arm for the much-loved musical with its divinely tuneful score…throbbing with sex and muscle, as never before has the transactional nature of Eva’s rise from rural poverty to the heights of Argentine society been so clearly delineated.’ She noted: ‘Lloyd is not a director inclined to bother with the faff of scenery, meaning that our attention here is rewardingly re-angled towards the words and music. There is a stage-spanning flight of steps, over which the ensemble pound in Fabian Aloise’s pulsating choreography.’

Sarah Crompton of WhatsOnStage said Zegler ‘really is superb, with a clear, strong voice and astonishing amounts of energy as she powers her way through the show.’ she also identified: ‘Lloyd’s quality as a director is that he generates huge momentum, but he also understands stillness and subtlety. He lets the acting breathe.’

Of the balcony scene, LondonTheatre’s Marianka Swain observed: ‘Having now seen it from inside the Palladium, I’m thrilled to report that it’s just as electrifying, if not more, as part of the show. On a giant screen we see, live, not just Eva but hundreds of watching people, camera phones raised aloft, transfixed by her – a jaw-dropping encapsulation of this timely tale of populist politics, showbiz, celebrity worship, and purposeful myth-making.’

Dominic Maxwell in The Sunday Times said: ‘That alfresco balcony scene is both an outlier and a hallmark of the boundary-pushing fun to be found throughout.’ He concluded that the production is ‘properly sensational, in that it hits the senses first, the brain second. Did I feel huge amounts for our morally ambiguous heroine? Not really. Did I care that I didn’t care? Not really. What a circus. What a parade.’

The Independent’s Alice Saville gave an analysis of its politics: ‘this gorgeous sensory overload of a show is its own comment on the rising tide of fascism. Populism is sexy, captivating, overpowering – a way for weary people to escape the dull realities of right and wrong. You know there’s something deeply twisted under that pretty shiny surface, but, like the audiences of Evita, you’re powerless to resist.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

‘This Evita is not without its flaws, it’s rushed, flashy, and sometimes narratively thin, but it’s also thrilling, stylish, and full of theatrical bravado,’ said Greg Stewart in his TheatreWeekly review.

Time Out’s Andrjez Lukowski declared: ‘Coherence isn’t this Evita’s strong suit. But there is so much that is good about it – from Zegler, to the choreography, to the timely antifascist sentiment, to That Scene – that I can look past a few negatives. It’s not just the London theatre event of the summer, but the London event of the summer full stop.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Adam Bloodworth for CityAM was impressed by the ‘utterly incredible choreography and the litany of musical numbers…It’s difficult to imagine that anything this stimulating has ever played in the West End before’ but found that ‘the show is hard to follow for people who don’t know the story well. It’s endless energy and high-octane choreo with very little time to actually sit with the characters and their feelings.’

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar made a similar point: ‘There is an approximation to the characters as a whole, with very little focus on Perón’s interiority. Maybe that is not the point, but how then can the audience feel the tragedy of her untimely death – which takes up so much time in the second half of the musical – if they cannot connect with it emotionally?’ She did concede: ‘If a successful musical is simply about the singing, dancing and spectacle, this one soars. The choreography… is out-of-this-world imaginative. The ensemble mesmerise with their sexual energy and charismatic aggression.’

Clive Davis of The Times complained: ‘(Zegler’s) voice is fine but it has to compete with the musical director Alan Williams’s wildly amplified orchestra. Too many songs whirl past in a semi-audible maelstrom.’ He commented: ‘I’d be genuinely surprised if newcomers to the show have a clue what is happening for much of the evening as this dressed-down, concert-style spectacle… rattled through Eva Peron’s journey…Call it TikTok musical theatre, if you like. Everything is radically compressed, and for all the verve of the ensemble dancing you’ve no time to tease out the meaning of a song before the next one crashes down upon you.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

Gary Naylor for BroadwayWorld was as ruthless as one of Peron’s assassins: ‘Out goes set design, out goes Argentina, out goes costuming and in comes lights (constellations of them), in comes Eurovisionish big, frenetic dance routines and in comes a Hollywood superstar. What emerges after all this reconceptualising is easier to define by saying what it isn’t rather than what it is – because it certainly isn’t musical theatre.’ Among the many targets of his vitriol were: ‘All (Zegler) has to work with are the songs and three costumes and she’s fighting music mixed far too loud far too often. She has no chance of ever developing a rounded, nuanced Eva.’ Although she ‘fares better than James Olivas as Perón, who gets no full fig military uniform and has to make do with an absurd short tie, like a rebellious Year 9 schoolboy’. And ‘Most egregious of all is the treatment of the beautiful lament, “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”. Bella Brown delivers a bravura performance of one of the show’s greatest numbers, but we hardly know that she was Perón’s mistress being ruthlessly shunted out of his life by Eva because there’s no backstory’.

Critics’ Average Rating 4.2⭑

Value rating 44 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Evita can be seen at the London Palladium to 6 September 2025. Click here to buy tickets directly from the theatre 

If you’ve seen Evita, please add your review and rating below

Ruth Wilson, Michael Shannon & David Threlfall triumph 

Exciting director Rebecca Frecknall, having thrilled audiences with Cabaret, A Streetcar Named Desire and more, has turned her attention to Eugene O’Neill’s sequel to Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Some critics thought she could have done more to enliven a slow-moving three hour play, while others were mesmerised by her faithfulness to the unpeeling of layers of character.  All agreed on the high quality acting of Ruth Wilson, Michael Shannon and David Threlfall. The story concerns a 1920s farm, occupied by s father and daughter, which the owner proposes to sell  The daughter plans to seduce him in order to persuade him to change his mind. It’s a play full of self deception and revelation.

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

5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Claire Allfree for the Telegraph declared: ‘It’s three hours long, and barely anything happens, yet Rebecca Frecknall’s production… is utterly spellbinding. It also contains some of the finest acting you are likely to see on a stage this year.’ Heaping praise on the director, she said: ‘Increasingly, she comes across as one of our most radical directors, staging old-fashioned plays that reveal human truths through character rather than through ideological messaging. These great mid-century American dramas, with their compassionate emphasis on human frailty, could so easily feel out-of-step with our shriller, narcissistic modern moment – but Frecknall makes them speak anew.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

In The Stage, Dave Fargnoli began: ‘Breathing fresh life and painfully relatable emotion into Eugene O’Neill’s tender, tawdry tragedy of missed connections and unconsummated longing, this riveting revival seethes with unspoken subtext.’

Alice Saville of The Independent was moonstruck: ‘Rebecca Frecknall’s latest gorgeous resurrection of a mid-century American gem makes spotlights orbit round her cast on rollercoaster-style rails, capturing every shifting phase of their sub-lunar interactions. It’s utterly luminous.’ She highlighted: ‘Wilson’s brilliant performance has an inherent dignity that means that the misogyny of the men around her is diminished, shown for what it is. Misery never shone so bright.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

In his Time Out review, Tim Bano praised the play and its director: ‘every line is a punch or a jab or a dagger…Frecknall handles it brilliantly: she knows how to let the humour ebb away, how to let the anguish build…(she) turns the tilth on a half-buried play, and digs up something extraordinary.’

The Times’ Clive Davis said: ‘Rebecca Frecknall’s typically poetic revival unites three remarkable actors in Ruth Wilson, Michael Shannon and David Threlfall. Watching them bring O’Neill’s dialogue to life compensates for all the moments when the play starts to turn in circles.’

Theo Bosanquet for WhatsOnStage had mixed feelings: ‘Although the bagginess of the play remains a sticking point, this is a valuable chance to see it delivered with dynamism and no small amount of humour from an ensemble of the very highest quality.’

Holly O’Mahony of LondonTheatre found Frecknall’s direction a mixed blessing: (She) ‘takes an almost painstaking amount of care to infuse meaning into every word, glance and touch here…(but) Clarity loses a foothold in the play’s dense scheming and knotty double-crossing, meaning revelations of trickery don’t always smack as hard as they might.’ Thank goodness for the stars: ‘Ruth Wilson, Michael Shannon and David Threllfall, each of whom delivers a performance worthy of their reputation…Wilson is luminous as Josie…her early teeth-baring and puffed-up bravado dissolves into a heart-wrenching puddle of insecurity and maternal longing’

Alexander Cohen at BroadwayWorld called it ‘A strong production subdued by the limitations of the play.’

2 stars ⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar complained: ‘Frecknall has stepped back to let the play do the speaking but this faithfulness lays bare the datedness of the drama, which creaks with age at times. The production itself seems imbalanced too: glacial in pace, it stretches across three hours, not gathering enough intensity and chugging anti-climactically to its end.’

Critics’ average rating 3.7

A Moon For The Misbegotten is at The Almeida until 16 August 2025. Buy tickets from the theatre here.

If you’ve seen A Moon For The Misbegotten at The Almeida, please add your review and rating below

Hero or Zero?

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Taking the stage left empty by the departure of Frozen, Disney’s Hercules didn’t impress the critics as much as its predecessor, let alone the benchmark Lion King. Despite two 5 star and three 2 star reviews , it was generally received politely but without enthusiasm. There was disagreement about whether the book by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn (of Shucked fame) helped or hindered. Not that the rush of little feet through the doors is likely to be affected by the critics’ opinions.

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

Five stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Olivia Garrett for Radio Times couldn’t have been more on board: ‘This lustre-dusted show-stopper of a musical is everything you could want.’ She expanded: ‘We all know half-measures is not a term they’re familiar with at Disney HQ, but the size and scale of this production still manages to surpass expectation.’ She continued: ‘The leads are also exactly as you’d hope them to be. Luke Brady is a doe-eyed Labrador who lights up the scenes with his big cheeky grin, while Mae Ann Jorolan is a cutting, cynical Meg, who manages to be just as much of a hero as Hercules in this version.’  Her enthusiasm knew no bounds: ‘It’s got glitter and spectacle coming out of every pour [sic], but manages to match that with heart and soul in abundance.’

‘With thunderous flair and lightning-fast wit, Hercules storms the stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in a heavenly display of theatrical might,’ declared Theatre Weekly‘s Greg Stewart. ‘Visually, the production is a triumph. Dane Laffrey’s scenic design, complemented by George Reeve’s video work and Jeff Croiter’s lighting, creates a dynamic and immersive world’. He concluded: ‘It’s a show that embraces its mythological roots with a wink and a smile, delivering a thunderously entertaining evening. Hercules is a heroic hit, complete with tunics, thunderbolts, and toe-tapping tunes.’

Four stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

‘Casey Nicholaw’s production packs in big tunes, gorgeous costumes, and plenty of groan-worthy laughs,’ said Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre. She had ‘no doubt this feel-good family show will delight Drury Lane’s youngest audience members.’

Three stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar gave a thorough analysis of this ‘conveyor-belt musical’. She described it as a ‘sturdy enough Disney vehicle, with strong songs and plenty of splash. The characters are not so much divine as 2D, although the sound and optics are always eye-popping, the swivelling set designs intent on moving heaven and earth.’ Among the positives were the lead: ‘Luke Brady is an incredible singer’. But, in the end, ‘this feels like old-school Disney, its hero not quite self-mocking enough… and the earnestness heaped heavy.’

WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton declared: ‘It’s a show where it’s perfectly possible to have a good time. Yet something is missing. The wit and warmth that made the 1997 classic rather endearing have been replaced by something much more mechanical and heavy-handed.’

Andrzej Lukowksi of Time Out described it as ‘a sturdy action-adventure romp that absolutely does the trick and is eminently worth taking The Kids to during the hols.’ He cautioned: ‘Dane Laffrey’s sets and George Reeves’s video design are often impressive, but they never don’t look like a themed restaurant’. He suggested: ‘accepting it’s not a screechingly ambitious piece of work then perhaps all it really lacks is a big showstopper moment’.

Kat Mokrynski for BroadwayWorld found it ‘a fun, flashy, yet not-so-faithful adaptation of the original film that lacks the flair and (literal) fire that made the 1997 film so special. It’s an enjoyable theatrical production, but struggles to find the sweet spot between being a silly show for kids and a more adult musical about finding your place in the world.’

Clive Davis of The Times found it ‘hard to work up much enthusiasm about Casey Nicholaw’s musclebound production…True, the temperature rises whenever the five muses deliver hand-clapping gospel fervour…otherwise this is a show which ticks along competently enough. The new numbers are efficient but unmemorable’. He thought ‘A trip to Mount Olympus ought to leave you gasping, but this version of the home of the gods looks more like a Vegas theme park on a quiet Sunday afternoon’ and ‘The puppet reincarnation of the movie’s fearsome hydra is underwhelming’.

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis called it ‘pacy and family friendly, full of cheery songs and snarky jokes’ and decided it ‘chugs along agreeably enough’, but ‘there’s no real sense of threat or danger. If only scriptwriters Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah had put as much effort into the plot and emotion as they do into the one-liners.’

Over at the Express, Stefan Kyriazis clearly liked the original movie and admitted this stage version is ‘undeniably often hugely entertaining. Families will love it.’ But he noted: ‘the new stage production has ditched all the edge and rolled out the full cheese trolley.’ He lamented: ‘Where’s the big budget and jaw-dropping spectacle of the staged Aladdin and recent Frozen’?

Two stars ⭑⭑

Patrick Marmion of The Mail was underwhelmed: Hercules has ‘been reduced from legendary hero to close to zero by a laboured new musical version of his derring-do’. ‘(T)he superhero action sequences are lugubriously undercharged’, he said, and ‘Music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel are audaciously bland.’

The Independent‘s Alice Saville gave a review from hell. She said ‘this stodgy new stage version…hits the expected beats without capturing the lovable zaniness that makes Hercules a fan fave.’ Considering its chances of a long run, she claimed: ‘Hercules has two things stopping it from going the distance: a lack of stagecraft to create moments of real awe and wonder, and a lack of consistency in a script that doesn’t really have a cohesive take on who these mythic figures are, and why we should care about them.’

Over at the i-paper, Fiona Mountford was even more blistering, describing it as a ‘hideous grab-bag of classical mythology’. Among her many criticisms, she blamed the script: ‘Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah have collaborated on a new book and the resulting two charm-free hours exist in a state of almost constant narrative bewilderment.’ She had much more to complain about but concluded: ‘it’s a dismal evening. Alan Menken (music) and David Zippel (lyrics) have expanded upon the film’s original score, yet very little sticks apart from “Go the Distance”. I would recommend that you go quite some distance to avoid this.’ (Ouch!)

Critics’ Average Rating 3.2⭑

Value rating 40 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Hercules can be seen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane until 5 September 2026. Click here to buy tickets direct from the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

If you’ve seen Hercules, please add your review and rating below

Suicide play splits critics

ROYAL COURT UPSTAIRS

The 25th anniversary production of Sarah Kane’s play reunites the cast, director and venue from when it was first performed one year after she took her life. It explores suicidal feelings in an experimental style. Some critics found it had lost impact, others thought it had gained in power.

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

5 stars ★★★★★

WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton was overwhelmed. Her review analysed in detail why the play is a classic, and she lavished praise on the production: ‘The  acting is intense, spare, and watchful. Every line has meaning, every movement has intent. It is an overwhelming experience.’

‘I found myself revelling in the brilliance and wit of the mind it conjured,’ wrote Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski. ‘Madeleine Potter is gravelly and cynical; (Daniel) Evans is lighter and more morally flexible; Jo McInnes is droll and down to earth but capable of the most volcanic emotional peaks. They take us on a journey: for all the text’s abstractions, it’s quite easy to follow what’s going on here’.

Jonathan Marshall for LondonTheatre1 said: ‘The artists and creatives behind the production truly understand the work and its nature of nonlinear form. We sense all are aboard here in showcasing the swansong of a great.’

Four stars ★★★★

Holly O’Mahony for LondonTheatre noted: ‘There is more sense of ennui than psychological distress…It verges on being mechanical in places; overly conscious of protecting its original features like a precious museum artifact. And yet this allows Kane’s words, rather than the performances, to remain the posthumous star of the show.’

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe declared: ‘This is a stark, brave drama from a truly remarkable playwright; 25 years on, it still devastates.’ But not perfect: ‘The text is often overwrought, the metaphors clunky and the language self-conscious.’

Three stars ★★★

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar described the design: ‘Jeremy Herbert’s set is a white square with functional table, chairs and an overhanging mirror that reflects the audience and the protagonist’s selves which acquire more fractured counterparts in shadow.’ She felt the production lacked impact: ‘dramatically it is sedate. You wish for something messier, louder, angrier’.

Nick Curtis of The Standard admitted: ‘I came out of the Court feeling subdued, sad and unenlightened, but writing this hours later in a bright dawn, I find the play’s combative humanity and its striking final image of escape have stayed with me.’

2 stars ★★

The Times’ Clive Davis suggested it ‘ isn’t a play at all, rather the random, agonised reflections of a mind that has passed beyond its breaking point…There’s wave upon wave of self-loathing, icy anger and mangled religiosity, yet flashes of mordant humour too…Bleakness is piled upon bleakness. But…the words begin to turn in a monotonous circle. This production is an exercise in the actor’s craft, an exquisitely wrought gilt frame surrounding an empty canvas.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.9★

4:48 Psychosis can be seen  at the Royal Court (royalcourttheatre.com) to 5 July, and then at the RSC Stratford 10-27 July 2025 (rsc.org.uk)

If you have seen this production of 4:48 Psychosis, please leave your rating and review below

 

A long evening with flashes of genius

Duke of York’s

Stereophonic by David Adjmi comes from Broadway trailing the glory of a record number of Tony nominations for a play, and the Award for Best Play. If the reviews are anything to go by, it’s unlikely to repeat that success at the Oliviers. All the critics found it long but some were more absorbed than others by the story of a 70s rock band recording an album.

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

Five stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Alexander Cohen of BroadwayWorld loved it: ‘We feel like we are in the band, mixing harmonies, dubbing vocals, finding take after take exasperating. Writer David Adjmi accentuates the organic feel with conversations that overlap, slicing into each other with insecure ferocity, all finely tuned by director Daniel Aukin.’

Emma John for The Guardian was a fan: ‘At more than three hours, the run time can feel as indulgent as one of Pink Floyd’s longer tracks – but this is an extraordinary allegory for artistic perfectionism and the destruction it leaves in its wake.’

Helen Hawkins at The Arts Desk pointed out: ‘What makes this play greater than it might appear on paper is its approach to authenticity. Theatrical “reality” is often designed as a continuous stream of speeches and actions, until Beckett and Pinter et al upset that applecart. Stereophonic uses all the hiatuses, sometimes lengthy ones, that can punctuate a real event, especially one fraught with microaggressions that drive people offstage, forcing the action to stop until they return.’

The Financial Times‘ Sarah Hemming also advised that this was more than a typical drama: ‘Adjmi’s script comes in somewhere between Chekhov and the slow-burn dramas of Annie Baker, gradually building towards something much greater than the sum of its parts…in the end, this is a drama about the very human search for something bigger than ourselves.’

Four stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish was upbeat but with reservations: ‘While the balance between art and heart-ache, technical challenge and emotional clash, is well achieved, what’s missing are the specifics that might give the band a stronger inner-life. We’re left in the dark when it comes to the minutiae of their past, or the day-to-day logistics of their existence’.

Alice Saville’s review in The Independent doesn’t carry a rating but it was full of praise: ‘It romances its subject, caressing these bandmates with loving washes of golden light, dressing them in a lavish wardrobe of gorgeous 1970s blouses and flares, and letting us in on their intimate moments of silliness. These songs are private things, Adjmi shows us, scrawled in a diary in a moment of pain, trying to reach places ordinary words can’t reach.’

Antonia Georgiou for The Upcoming said: ‘Stereophonicis a triumphant celebration of the art of collaborative songwriting. With a soaring score and stellar performances, it’s a must-see for theatre and music lovers alike.’ The Standard’s Nick Curtis called it ‘a fine-grained, audacious work full of overlapping dialogue and bold use of silence and repetition amid the emotional flashpoints, not to mention some terrific songs’.

Three stars ⭑⭑⭑

The Times’ Clive Davis was disappointed: ‘The performances are first-rate, and David Zinn’s set really does make you feel as if you have a seat on the mixing desk. Yet at over three hours long it’s burdened with far too many longueurs.’

Sam Marlowe of The Stage said, ‘it’s insightful and crammed with texture…It’s sensitively directed by Daniel Aukin and the acting, from an ensemble that includes three of the original Broadway cast, feels faultlessly real and flavoursome. But in electing to give us a piece that dwells on the painful, mundane minutiae, Adjmi is authentic almost to a fault: with a protracted running time, the play has the languorous quality of an unedited documentary’.

Theatre Weekly’s Greg Stewart was unconvinced: ‘Stereophonic struggles to justify its over three-hour runtime. The play’s fly-on-the-wall realism, while admirable, often comes at the expense of narrative momentum. There’s a sense that we’re watching a band rehearse rather than a story unfold. The emotional arcs, particularly the interpersonal tensions within the group, are hinted at more than fully explored.’

Scott Matthewman for Musical Theatre Review agreed: ‘In its long stretches of extraneous ennui, Stereophonic risks undoing what, when it is at full power, it succeeds in doing: acknowledging that the messiest of behind-the-scenes chaos can, just sometimes, produce sheer musical magic.’

Critics’ Average Rating 4.3⭑

Value rating 44 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Stereophonic can be seen at the Duke of York’s Theatre until 22 November 2025. Click here to buy tickets direct from the Duke of York’s Theatre 

Click here to read Paul Seven Lewis’s review of Stereophonic

If you’ve seen Stereophonic, please add your review and rating below

Live Aid Lives Again

Shaftesbury Theatre

Subtitled The Live Aid Musical (in case the original title didn’t make that clear), The Old Vic’s Just For One Day has moved to the heart of the West End. The musical by John O’Farrell covers the famine crisis in Africa, the creation of the song Do They Know It’s Christmas?, the Herculean effort to put on the concert and, of course, the day itself. The critics loved the music and singing , even if some of them found the strands of the story too messy.

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

5 stars ★★★★★

Theatre Weekly’s Greg Stewart called it ‘a vibrant, emotionally charged tribute to a moment when music truly changed the world.’ He admits, ‘It’s a sprawling narrative, but director Luke Sheppard keeps the pace tight and the stakes high, ensuring the show never loses its emotional core. Whether you lived through Live Aid or are discovering it for the first time, the show captures the spirit of unity and urgency that defined that day.’

4 stars ★★★★

Theo Bosanquet at LondonTheatre said ‘the production feels well-honed and slick. It’s a high-octane blast of nostalgia pop’. Abbie Grundy for BroadwayWorld declared, ‘it’s a jukebox musical with real style and heart. While some songs feel shoe-horned in, they’re performed with such energy that you’re willing to forgive the slip in fluidity. In addition, this is one of the most talented ensembles I’ve seen in a long time’.

The anonymous reviewer from Rolling Stone UK was sure ‘This sublime jukebox musical will fill your heart and make you leave the theatre with the feeling that you could change the world too.’

3 stars ★★★

WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton had mixed feelings but the musical covers conquered her heart: ‘Best of all you get a terrific group of singers and an epic band, stacked in silhouette behind them in Soutra Gilmour’s stripped-back and flexible setting, roaring through hits…It would take a heart of stone not to have a bit of a good time… But then there is John O’Farrell’s book, at moments witty but dreadfully overinsistent and earnest for most of the time.’

Dominic Maxwell of The Times found it tried to cover too much ground: ‘when it’s so bitty there is little time for the music to build up a head of steam, to feel better than second-hand…When it does — on an extended version of Message in a Bottle or My Generation, say… it can take your breath away. Shame a rock musical doesn’t trust more in the power of rock.’

2 stars ★★

Tim Bano at the Standard was unimpressed, describing it as ‘this competent but frustratingly shallow reconstruction of Live Aid, which races through its origin story, cranks out its big hits and tells us, among other insights, that we can change the world if we work together’.

Critics’ Average Rating 3.6★

Value rating 40 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Just For One Day can be seen at Shaftesbury Theatre until 10 January 2026. Buy tickets directly.

If you’ve seen Just For One Day, please add your review and rating below