This fairytale story concerns an old beggar woman who offers a spoilt, selfish prince a rose in return for shelter from the cold night, but he refuses. She warns him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. However, when he does not help her, she turns in to a beautiful woman and then casts a spell on the young prince, turning him into a beast and casting a spell on his castle and all his servants, who are turned into utensils and furniture! She leaves him the rose and...
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London Theatre Reviews
Read the latest London theatre reviews on the newest openings across the West End and beyond. Discover more about the latest must-see West End shows, Off-West End productions, and why you need to see shows in London. Scroll through our full theatre reviews listings of London musicals, plays, and live events from our London Theatre critics.
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- Review of Equus
Review - Equus
Call me an old cynic, but I can't help feeling that someone just couldn't resist the opportunity of making shed loads of cash by having Daniel Radcliffe - the young actor who's played the lead in all the Harry Potter films to date - get his kit off in this play. With the enormous media coverage the production has already received, I'm sure I could write about a totally different play here - as indeed every other reviewer and critic could too - and it wouldn't make even a minor dint in the...
Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap', opened in the West End on the 25th November 1952, which means it has been running for over 50 years making it the world's longest running play - an incredible achievement for any play and one that the producers are rightly proud of. In the course of the first 50 years, according to the programme notes, over 10 million people have seen the show and over 395 tons of ice cream have been sold!So what is the show's success? Part of it has to do with the fame of...
There's no question that Thriller Live is a genuine crowd-pleaser. But is it the answer? It depends on what you want the West End to stand for. Is it a place to showcase the best in world theatre, or just a home for mindless but colourful variety spectacles?Actually, let's not to be too snobbish. There's room for both. I may personally miss the fact that the Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue -- one of the best, most perfectly proportioned playhouses in town -- has been lost to straight plays...
NOTE: These are older reviews - the cast has changed many times!It has been nearly 6 years since I last saw "The Woman In Black", so I thought it was about time I went to see it again to ascertain whether it is still as fresh as when I last saw it. The answer is a resounding yes!This thriller, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill, has been running at the Fortune Theatre since February 1989 and one can see why as it is a thrilling ghost story that has you jumping out of your...
I wince every time our prudent Chancellor boasts about growth. Producing more goods and services does not necessarily equate to 'being better off', or more importantly, to being happier. Growth also has a significant impact on global warming and increases the pressure on natural resources, and it's often fuelled by borrowing. More people than ever are now up to their consumerist eyeballs in debt, with record numbers seeking protection from creditors by filing for bankruptcy. It's a situation...
Hampstead Theatre is fast becoming the go-to London address for new American plays originated amongst the vibrant Broadway and off-Broadway producing companies to receive their U.K premieres at. Two years ago they scored a hit (and a subsequent West End transfer) with David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, a penetrating portrait about being reminded of your roots and past when you've seemingly left them behind, and now the theatre has produced Lindsay-Abaire's earlier play Rabbit Hole, which...
Round The Horne was a popular BBC radio comedy sketch show which regularly pulled in huge weekly audiences of 15 million listeners. It ran for four series from 1965 until 1968 and consisted of a regular line-up of performers, including Carry On star Kenneth Williams. The show has now been brought back to life by Producer/Director Tim Astley, Artistic Director of the Apollo Theatre Company, recreating some of its best sketches by using material from the original radio broadcasts. For some, this...
It's been fifteen years almost to the week that I first saw Disney's The Lion King in what was its first year in the West End. I don't think even Disney could have predicted that sixteen years later the show would still be London's most popular musical, selling out performances eight times a week and playing to packed crowds.Judging the show against the current climate of the West End, I worried some of the magic may have faded, but Julie Taymor's staging and costume design remains some of the...
The Donmar musical - like those at the Menier Chocolate Factory — used to be a regular fixture, both under Sam Mendes and then Michael Grandage. Now Josie Rourke at last seizes the initiative and makes her own musical theatre directing debut at the theatre she now runs, and scores a bulls-eye winner with her first foray into the genre.It helps that she's chosen a winner to begin with: to be precise, a Tony and Laurence Olivier Award winner for Best Musical for its original Broadway and West End...