Acting giant rises above disappointing play

Theatre Royal Haymarket

Brian Cox has brought his well-received 2023 portrayal as Bach from Theatre Royal Bath to London’s West End. Oliver Cotton‘s play that sets the great composer in opposition to a warmongering Frederick II of Prussia was too long (and meandering) for most reviewers but redeemed by the central performance. Trevor Nunn‘s period production went down well.

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

4 stars

Greg Stewart for Theatre Weekly found much to like: ‘This is a play that is intellectually stimulating more than entertaining, but it also resonates on an emotional level, exploring universal themes of power, faith, and artistic integrity. The pacing is generally strong, though the whole thing could benefit from tighter editing.’ Like all the other critics, he found ‘Brian Cox delivers a masterclass performance as Bach, capturing the composer’s inner turmoil and unyielding principles with gravitas and nuance.

Laurie Yule for The Stage declared, ‘ it’s a treat to hear Cox…in an auditorium, where his vocal technique, pitch and projection can really grab you.’ She stated, ‘The story, as with all worthwhile historical plays, resonates with our times, and the portrayal of Bach is irresistible and bittersweet.’

Two prominent outlets decided not to review the West End run, presumably because they reviewed it in Bath-

This is what Dominic Cavendish of the Telegraph said in 2023 of the moment the composer and the King meet: ‘After a slow-burn set-up, it’s a blazing scene that plays to Cox’s strengths as a stage animal, forbidding as he stoutly stands his ground and locks eyes with Stephen Hagan’s haughty Frederick, but also invested with deep humanity.’

3 stars

Lucinda Everett for WhatsOnStage called it a ‘musing, meandering play’ ‘Despite Robert Jones’s sumptuous set and costumes, free-flowing jokes, and the kind of consummate directing you’d expect from Trevor Nunn, it feels turgid at times.’ ‘But this play has a trick up its sleeve: its Bach is Brian Cox …and he is mesmerising.’

Tim Bano writing for the Standard states ‘while the play has lofty ambitions and director Trevor Nunn knows how to stage them grandly, and despite a towering Cox as the main man, unlike Bach’s music too often the whole thing clunks and flounders.’

Theo Bosanquet from LondonTheatre said ‘Trevor Nunn’s detailed, expansive production makes for a long evening (two hours 40 minutes) and there are several longueurs, particularly in the first act, that could be excised. But it’s a fascinating chapter of history that feels deeply pertinent in light of the current European conflict – particularly when Bach and Frederick argue over whether his military operation constitutes an invasion.’

Dominic Maxwell for The Times had his own gripe: ‘while much of the acting is strong, while the ideas are intriguing if underdeveloped, the musical element is only just adequate.’ The reason being what he called ‘naff’ miming. At the Bath premiere, The Times’ Clive Davis gave four stars.

Back in 2023, Arifa Akbar in The Guardian said ‘The production is redeemed by its star billing in Brian Cox, who plays the genius musician with such magnetism that he almost singlehandedly saves this play…Even when the script is careening from period comedy to philosophical debate on doubt and salvation, Cox has the ability to dart from light to dark which the others can’t quite navigate.’

2 stars

Rachel Halliburton at The Arts Desk summarised her reaction: ‘The Score is a curious beast of a play – part comedy of manners, part Blackadder-style history, part impassioned rhetoric against the abuse of power. The higher the emotional stakes, the more compelling Cox is in his disgruntled disdain for Frederick’s gilded tyranny, but the rest of the play just doesn’t hold together.’

Cindy Marcolina of BroadwayWorld felt she was shortchanged: ‘The marketing makes it out to be an explosive meeting between church and state, between a god-fearing, scripture-quoting composer and an atheist, belligerent, ruthless monarch. That’s not exactly how it goes and the theatricality of the event is rather underwhelming.’ She blamed ‘a lengthy and inconsistent script that swiftly turns into a vehicle for anecdotal politics and bite-size philosophy.’

A worthwhile revival or simply worthy?

Lyttelton Theatre

Michael Abbensetts‘ play seemed all but forgotten when the National Theatre chose to revive it on their large Lyttelton stage. Arinzé Kene plays Walker Holt, a Windrush immigrant, dreams of opening his own tailor shop in Carnaby Street London and has the opportunity, providing he completes a major alteration order overnight. A few critics thought this was a worthy revival, some thought it simply ‘worthy’, and one didn’t think it was worth it.

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

‘Abbensetts’s words zing and crackle on the Lyttelton stage with fire and might,’ proclaimed Anya Ryan at LondonTheatre (4★). She gives much credit to the director: ‘Linton takes this history and amplifies it into colour; we see visions of people from their past, back home, as vivid memories. The future generation is there too, just a stretch away, almost in reach.’

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish (4★) called it a ‘riveting slice of life from the turbulent Seventies.’ He explained ‘Michael Abbensetts documents a period of social transformation and attempted assimilation while addressing- with timeless, tragicomic flair- the way that self-sacrifice can result in frayed hopes and dreams.’ He continued, ‘Using some nifty textual enhancements (by Trish Cooke), Linton’s richly textured production reclaims him as a major voice’. On top of that, ‘Kene confirms his top-drawer skillset’.

WhatsOnStage‘s Sarah Crompton (4★) ‘Directed by Lynette Linton with the most delicate sense of balance, it emerges as warm, wistful and as full of richly coloured threads as the clothes that hang on rails above Frankie Bradshaw’s crowded set, rising and falling like waves’ She concluded, ‘The play has a subtle sadness to it, a sense of hopes betrayed but also achieved. It’s a fascinating addition to the repertory, one that points the way to the future, but also offers a vivid portrait of its own time.’

Dave Fargnoli in The Stage (3★) thought it a worthy offering: ‘Though the play shows its age in places, it remains engaging and relatable, offering valuable insights into the experiences and motivations of members of the Windrush generation. Rediscovering and retelling those previously sidelined stories marks an important step towards positive change.’ much helped by ‘Kene’s charismatic performance’.

Time Out‘s Adrjez Lukowski (3★) thought director Lynette Linton ‘does a typically great job here at capturing the camaraderie and the tension that defines the lives of Walker and his colleagues.’ However he was unsure about the star: ‘It seems to me that Walker is a relatively simple character, but Kene’s combination of freakish good looks and a determination to burden Walker with a load of physical business and a somewhat incongruous pernickity middle manager vibe leaves the character feeling weirdly elusive and ill-defined compared to literally everyone else on stage.’

LondonTheatre1‘s Chris Omaweng (3★) found it all a bit too much: ‘The dialogue lurches from the mechanics of getting bags (and bags, and bags, and bags) of clothes in and out of the shop to substantially deeper issues, and back again. When combined with a stage that rotates between the front and back of Walker’s shop so many times that I couldn’t help but think of the New Scotland Yard sign, it was frankly rather dizzying. It was at least, a very eventful narrative, and one delivered by a cast with commitment and conviction.’

The Times‘ Clive Davis (2★) was the harshest critic of the play. He declared ‘the script tries to squeeze too many themes into a rambunctious sitcom-style format’ and found ‘Although Kene injects energy into Holt, the script gives him little to work with’.

Critics’ Average Rating 3.3★

Value rating  48 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price)

Alterations can be seen at the National Theatre until 5 April 2025. Click here to buy direct from the  theatre 

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Morecambe, Cooper & Monkhouse generate laughter & nostalgia

Noel Coward Theatre

Paul Hendy‘s The Last Laugh imagines Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse meeting in a dressing room. For many of the critics, it was more of a tribute show than a fully formed drama but most enjoyed the laughter and nostalgia. All three actors were complimented for their impressions of the great comics: Bob Golding as Morecambe, Simon Cartwright as Monkhouse and Damian Williams as Cooper, with the latter receiving the highest praise.

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

Gary Naylor at BroadwayWorld (5★) loved it: ‘we’re indulged in the incomparable pleasure, that greatest of therapies, the opportunity to sit in a room and laugh and laugh and laugh in commune with the men who sacrificed much for that rare, joyous and uniquely human(e) experience.’

Chris Omaweng for LondonTheatre1 (4★) was feeling nostalgic: ‘It might be easy for some to dismiss a show of this nature as an unnecessary venture into an era that has gone and will not return. But it was a pleasant reminder, or otherwise a pleasant revelation, that there was a time when ‘eff, cee and effing cee’ was never required to draw laughs from an audience, and the comedic appeal was more than sufficiently universal that it would be unlikely they would be cancelled even by today’s supposedly over-sensitive standards. The dialogue was very, very contrived, but that doesn’t matter too much when a show is as entertaining and engaging as this.’

LondonTheatre‘s Aliya Al-Hassan (4★) said, ‘The Last Laugh is a gently funny, affectionate, poignant show, and as comfortable to watch as putting on your favourite slippers.’ She described each performer: ‘Golding (as Morecambe) has lovely, amiable energy, wiggling his glasses and chuckling at everything. Williams is a hard-drinking, throaty-voiced, slightly morose Cooper. Physically he is an excellent version of the comic, lumbering around and getting laughs effortlessly. Cartwright likewise is an uncanny Monkhouse with pitch-perfect vocal cadences and a creosote-coloured face. He also shows the sadness behind the facial animation beautifully.

Theo Bosanquet at WhatsOnStage (4★) felt ‘Much of it feels like an elongated gag-off as the three trade one-liners and compete for the last laugh’, however, ‘This is a welcome chance to remember what made them so beloved’. Greg Stewart for Theatre Weekly (4★) called it ‘a nostalgic yet fresh exploration of humour, legacy, and camaraderie’, concluding ‘this play is an unmissable treat.’

Brian Logan for The Guardian (3★) explained: ‘There is no plot, there are no narrative surprises, just chat and banter among the threesome about their lives and the nature of comedy. Oh, and jokes. Lots of – usually terrific – jokes.’ ‘The script doesn’t dig deep,’ said the Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish (3★), ‘but still cuts below the surface, broaching what lasts and what doesn’t’.

The Times’ comedy expert Dominic Maxwell (3★) wrote, ‘This nostalgia act..is an excuse for talking, reminiscing, analysing.’ He declared, it ‘is thoughtful, often pretty funny, not quite as substantial as it wants to be, but done with enough panache that the time goes quickly all the same.’ Tom Wicker for The Stage (3★) commented: ‘What makes something funny? And what makes a comedian? Writer-director Paul Hendy’s production…is fairly compelling when answering the first question. It’s less successful as theatre when tackling the second.’

Nick Curtis of the Standard (2★) acknowledged there were ‘impressive impersonations’ and that it ‘generates easy chuckles from their old gags, gurning and bits of physical business’ but ‘the script is one of the laziest I’ve come across in a long time, with the three men merely insulting and encouraging each other to do old routines by turns.’ He ends with a paraphrase of one of Bob Monkhouse’s jokes: ‘I laughed when I heard this play was coming to the West End. I’m not laughing now.’

Critics disagree about play on womanhood

Almeida theatre

Chris Bush, best known for Standing At The Sky’s Edge, has written a play with music that draws on her experience as a trans woman. It asks ‘what is womanhood?’ and tells the story of two women, one born a woman, the other trans. The second half moves into magic realism involving an alien as a metaphor for a trans woman. The critics took very different views- many admired the story and the poetic writing, while others thought it saccharine and confusing.

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

Dave Fargnoli of The Stage (5★) said, ‘Bittersweet, uplifting and profoundly enlightening, this deeply felt drama from Chris Bush brings remarkable clarity to some knotty and tremendously contentious topics.’

Unexpectedly, perhaps, it was the anti-woke Telegraph (4★) that provided one of the most positive reviews. Dzifa Benson described it as ‘a thoughtful and ultimately moving examination of womanhood and its implications – personal, familial, romantic and societal – in a world lacking gender parity and full of stereotypical expectations.’ Ms Benson, a poet herself, talked of ‘the poetic tendencies of Bush’s language’ and said, ‘the music works multiple duties here by heightening emotions, moving the story forward, containing the poetry and counterpointing the beautiful singing in close harmonies by the eight-strong female cast.’ The shocked readers’ comments remind us why Chris Bush wrote the play.

Emma John for The Guardian (4★) said it ‘brims with humour and compassion’ and called it ‘a powerful reminder of how theatre lets us live beyond our own bodies’. Rachel Halliburton writing at TheArtsDesk (4★) was impressed: ‘The visceral emotion, the poetry and the wry humour about the quirks of humanity sweep you through a story that’s as heart-breaking as it’s funny.’ She spoke of her ‘fascination with where each character’s story is taking them’.

Chris Omaweng for LondonTheatre1 (3★) wasn’t as fascinated as the previous reviewer: ‘I didn’t come away with any takeaway messages. Everyone seemed to be getting on with life, and so I came away thinking I had better just carry on and get on with mine.’

‘What a quietly radical act it is to lay a trans and cis experience side by side, and say look: this is what it is to be a woman,’ claimed Kate Wyver for Time Out (3★). She went on, ‘Though at times the storytelling feels heavy-handed, with lyrics pointing out the obvious and messages overstated, in other moments the story challenges us with knotty, thorny, nuance.’

The Standard’s Nick Curtis (3★) appreciated that ‘Though dramatically uneven and necessarily inconclusive, it’s very thoughtful, which is welcome in this era of yammering culture-war hatred.’

Alexander Cohen for BroadwayWorld (3★) described how ‘Otherland playfully melts into a swirling magical realist standoff between gothic and sci-fi.’ He advised, ‘It’s not perfect, but embrace it’s bittersweetness, especially when the sweetness triumphs.’

Dominic Maxwell in The Times (3★) praised the actors: ‘Jade Anouka is outstanding…Fizz Sinclair impresses’. As for the play, ‘it ends up taking us somewhere memorably surprising and satisfying’.

Julia Rank at LondonTheatre (3★) had this to say: ‘As a whole, it is an unwieldy and erratic piece of work but nevertheless big-hearted and watchable, bringing home the point that transgender people are not a threat and aren’t trying to “steal” anything’.

Miriam Sallon for WhatsOnStage (2★) complained ‘Chris Bush has attempted to grapple with the behemoth question of the zeitgeist: “What is womanhood?” Unfortunately, she stumbles under the weight of it, and her answer, in the end, is simply and unsatisfactorily: “it’s hard to define.”’ She had more to criticise: ‘This attempt at portraying a nourishing, knowing sisterhood is admirable, but the results are saccharine, and any individuality from the supporting characters is lost in a mulch of earnestness.’ For good measure, she also said, ‘The second half loses the plot, or rather it clings desperately to it, losing all subtlety of message’.

Steve Dinneen at City AM (2★) didn’t like it: ‘it’s a play with two gears: boring and daft, forever gravitating towards the saccharine and the melodramatic, eventually drowning in a paddling pool of good intentions.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.3★

Overland can be seen at the Almeida Theatre until 15 March 2025. Click here to buy tickets direct

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Imrie & Greig convince in fractious mother-daughter relationship

Donmar Warehouse

Tamsin Greig is a menopausal daughter who remembers and reassesses her relationship with her dying mother played by Celia Imrie. Their acting received universal praise from the critics although the play elicited mixed opinions. There was general agreement that it was too long but some found Anna Mackmin’s debut play, which she also directed, ‘emotional’ and ‘involving’, others thought it ‘unbelievable’ and ‘perfunctory’.

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

Helen Hawkins at TheArtsDesk (4★) called it ‘extraordinary because it puts the audience inside the maelstrom of these characters’ lives, forcing us to focus on how we interpret them and how our lives might resemble theirs.’ She declared ‘Imrie and Greig are superb in all the different manifestations of these two women’.

Clive Davis in The Times (4★) described Celia Imrie and Tamsin Greig as ‘mesmerising’. He said ‘Mackmin, who also directs, alternates moments of pathos and flashes of gallows humour.’

Michael Sidhu for Radio Times (4★) said, ‘Make no mistake, this is an emotional and intimate play. There is a tenderness in the way Greig and Imrie play against one another. There are moments where it is uncomfortable to watch. It’s a cathartic experience that stays with you long after you leave the theatre behind.’

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe (3★) said, ‘There are some beautiful passages of writing, both terrifying and tender, and exquisite acting in Mackmin’s production’. ‘there’s also a huge amount of laughter here’ ‘The narrative can ultimately lead only in one direction, and its inevitability leaves you craving more. But this is a heartfelt, unsentimental portrayal of the slippery cord of maternal connection.’

Holly O’Mahony at LondonTheatre (3★) felt  ‘the play feels generally repetitive, with too many scenes exploring the same dynamic, even if Imrie and Greig are always gripping to watch.’

’Celia Imrie as the mother and Tamsin Greig as daughter give immense performances’ said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian (3★). She had mixed feelings about the writing, calling it ‘an unruly and frustrating play but also original and moving, which captures sometimes searing pieces of mother-and-daughterhood’

Dominic Cavendish in the Telegraph (3★) asserted ‘the production confirms Greig as one of our finest actresses – her deadpan features a surface beneath which churns so much; she can convey incredulity with a raised eyebrow, exhaustion with a sustained blink.’

Sarah Crompton of WhatsOnStage (2★) felt ‘the director doesn’t tell Mackmin the writer when enough is enough. Everything is given equal honour and nothing ever reaches clear water. A disappointment.’

The Standard’s Nick Curtis (2★) went further: ‘the opposite of a good night out’.  He explained, ‘the story’s humour and pathos feel synthetic and unearned, the depiction of the issues surrounding end-of-life care glib and perfunctory.’

Tim Bano writing for Time Out (no rating) concluded ‘these two characters – partly hard to like, partly hard to believe – mean that by the irritatingly platitudinous ending, we’ve long had enough.’

Critics’ average rating 3.1★

Backstroke can be seen at Donmar Warehouse, London, until 12 April 2025. Buy tickets direct from donmarwarehouse.com

Read Paul’s 4 star review here

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Jonathan Bailey gives a regal performance

Bridge theatre

There was a mostly positive reaction from the critics to Jonathan Bailey‘s portrayal of Richard II. The Bridgerton star has the chance to show a range of emotion as a man born to be king but unfit for the role.  Shakespeare‘s play covers the last two turbulent years’ of his reign . There was slightly less enthusiasm for Nicholas Hytner‘s production which many felt was uninspired.

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

The Guardian‘s Arifa Akbar (4★) enjoyed it: ‘Nicholas Hytner, as director, smooths away most of the play’s creakiness with a pared-down production that has the pace and intrigue of a thriller. It is muscular in its look and Bailey singularly shines, his luminosity putting the others slightly in the shade.’

Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre (4★) was another fan: ‘Bailey reveals and revels in all facets of this magnetic king and as Hytner has said in multiple interviews, he speaks Shakespeare “as though it is his first language”.’ Neil Norman in the Express (4★) thought ‘Bailey is effectively ineffectual as Richard, viciously petulant and deluded throughout’. He called Hytner’s production ‘illuminating’.

Sarah Crompton for WhatsOnStage (4★) was also on board: ‘The most compelling quality of the staging – driven on by a Hitchcockian score by Grant Olding – is the way that it treats the unfolding events not as historical inevitability, but as if they are changing moment to moment.’ She continued, ‘It’s propulsively driven, and often surprisingly funny, wheeling along with an absolute confidence. It’s been a long time since Hytner’s directed a history play and it feels worth the wait.’

Cindy Marcolina for BroadwayWorld (4★) liked the star but not the production: ‘Bailey now takes on a complicated head of state, breaking him open and thinning the lines between divisive, problematic political figure and sardonic, villainous poet. It’s Jonathan Bailey’s world and we’re merely living in it, but Nicholas Hytner’s production sees a five-star cast stuck in a three-star show. A drastic lack of identity keeps this Richard II moored, making it a standard modern-day adaptation that refuses to delve into anything particular.’

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis (4★) opined, ‘Jonathan Bailey gives the best performance I’ve ever seen of Shakespeare’s flawed monarch, an erratic tyrant who gains dignity once deposed.’ The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish (3★) had had better: ‘He acquits himself well…even if, despite impressive splenetic flourishes, he doesn’t attain the recent greatness of Ben Whishaw and David Tennant in the part.’

The Times’ Clive Davis (3★) mischievously reported, ‘Jonathan Bailey gives us a monarch who is forever teetering on the edge of hysteria, with a touch of camp too…a surprising amount of laughter kept rippling through the stalls…Had we stumbled into a pilot episode of Blackadder?’

Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out (3★) was lukewarm: ‘Bailey’s king…at his best presents the air of a smug but inept middle manager’. He continued: ‘There is interesting territory to be explored in the hinterlands between Richard’s supposedly divine appointment and his mediocrity as a person. But too often Hytner’s production gets lost in them.’

The Stage’s Sam Marlowe (3★) felt Jonathan Bailey rose above the production: ‘The staging is solid rather than exceptional. But Bailey makes a transfixing Richard, his plight engaging to the last, despite the nastier excesses of his capricious behaviour.’