London Theatre Reviews

'Pantoland at the Palladium' review — Christmas with a little Donny Osmond flair

A self-aware show is always a good time, especially in panto season. So when Julian Clary introduces a scene in Pantoland at the Palladium by saying it's from Dick Whittington in 2017, everyone laughs it off, knowing full well this show isn't trying to be high art. A panto is simply for entertaining an audience and bringing families and friends together to laugh. Honestly who can blame Pantoland for being a night of much-needed light-hearted fun in these times? The best way to spread festive...

'Measure for Measure' at Shakespeare's Globe review — a surprising and delightful twist on the Bard's comedy

Shakespeare's prickly, ever-intriguing play Measure for Measure is given a genuinely fresh spin courtesy of Blanche McIntyre, the busy director marking her best production in years with this provocatively gender-flipped approach to a text that itself shifts moods on a dime. With Hattie Ladbury in superlative form as a quirky, diffident Duke who knows a thing or two about camouflage and deception, the staging follows on from Metamorphoses in a prime season so far at the Globe's indoor space.The...

'The Book of Dust - La Belle Sauvage' review — Phillip Pullman's tricky prequel struggles to find magic

Almost 20 years ago, Nicholas Hytner brought Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy to the stage in a memorable two-part production at the National Theatre. So, it's easy to understand the thinking behind this adaptation of Pullman's latest addition to the series at Hytner's new home — the Bridge Theatre. Unfortunately, it falls short of conjuring that same magic.In fairness to Hytner, and to adaptor Bryony Lavery, La Belle Sauvage is a tricky proposition. It's a prequel to His Dark...

'Bring It On' review — Amber Davies soars in Lin-Manuel Miranda's cheerleading musical

"Who wants to humiliate themselves on national reality TV?" says highschooler Danielle to new student Campbell, played by Love Island winner Amber Davies. When the first Bring It On film premiered in 2000, making a career out of a reality TV show seemed farcical. If Love Island didn't exist though, we may never have cast Amber Davies as Campbell, who soars in a role that she was born to play.Campbell is a senior at Truman High who is determined to lead her team to Nationals victory. Instead,...

'The Comedy of Errors' review — RSC offers top-notch Bard comedy

The Comedy of Errors is kind of like a Shakespearean comedy highlight reel. The play has everything you want from the Bard: Twins? Check. Mistaken identities? Check. A separated family? Check. So, spoiler alert, you're bound to get a night full of pratfalls, romance, and teary reunions? It's ideal for both Bard novice and experts alike. I took a friend to the Royal Shakespeare Company production, playing at the Barbican, who had never seen a Shakespeare play onstage beyond studying his works in...

'Four Quartets' review — Ralph Fiennes gives a relevant and moving performance of TS Eliot poetry

TS Eliot's dense, sprawling, four-poem cycle exploring time, faith, mortality, history, love, and everything in between doesn't exactly scream commercial theatre. And yet, thanks to a simply phenomenal performance by Ralph Fiennes, this passion project - which he toured earlier in the year - becomes an unlikely new West End gem. In an Eliot-worthy paradox, it's both challenging and serene, a whirlwind of ideas yet giving us the profundity of space, of silence.Written between 1935 and 1941, the...

'Life of Pi' review — a theatrical testament to creative brilliance

A teenage boy adrift at sea for 227 days with only a Royal Bengal tiger for company? Yann Martel's Booker Prize-winning philosophical novel Life of Pi is the ultimate adaptation challenge - which is what makes this triumphant Sheffield Crucible production, now playing in the West End, such a pleasure. It's a clear team effort: serious theatrical craft and creative brilliance that results in images of hallucinatory beauty.Hiran Abeysekera plays Pi Patel, who loses his family when the ship...

'La Clique' review — an intimate cabaret has fire, but lacks spark

Leicester Square is hell on earth. It's a crowded, noisy tourist trap, where crowds congregate to marvel at London's bright lights. Come the festive season though, and Leicester Square is transformed into a winter wonderland with its annual Christmas market. Sitting on the market's outskirts is the Leicester Square Spiegeltent, a specially erected performance space that's home to La Clique. The sizzling cabaret is a pick-n-mix of tantalising treats, and a show where — just like thinking about...

'Rare Earth Mettle' review — an appealingly acted play that deserves consideration

The Royal Court is no stranger to controversial plays, but this one - and now? That's one way of describing the faint air of disbelief surrounding Rare Earth Mettle, the Al Smith play that arrives trailing clouds of ill will generated by the name of its leading male character. That personage, an Elon Musk-like entrepreneur and mogul who names his inventions things like "Edison Evelyn", was originally called Herschel Fink as the play was making its way toward the Royal Court mainstage.Outcry...

'Manor' review — Moira Buffini's dark comedy wrestles with topical issues a little too bluntly

Moira Buffini's state-of-the-nation play is pegged to that irresistible trope: the dark and stormy night, with a group of strangers forced to seek shelter in a spooky manor house. Naturally it's a powder keg of personalities, and, with Chekhov's gun well established, a storm of violence is inevitable.However, Manor is a curious beast. It certainly nods to the eerie thriller: with the power out, the only light is flickering candles, and there's a ghostly presence upstairs - a possible remnant of...