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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  • The Phantom of the Opera

    Stop a person on the street and ask them to name a West End musical, they'll probably say one of two things: Les Mis, or The Phantom of the Opera. The latter has been impressively running non-stop at Her Majesty's Theatre for over 3 decades now, but does Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical still have the same sense of wonder as it did all that time ago. There's no question that it's a complete classic: the story tells of the titular phantom who haunts an opera house, the tales of his presence in the...

    His Majesty’s Theatre
  • Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

    If you drew up a list of everything you wanted from a Tina Turner musical, you wouldn't be disappointed by Tina, which gets its world premiere at the Aldwych Theatre. It's got the anthems, it's got the moves, it's got the hair. But on a deep-dive into the life of one of the world's best-selling recording artists, we witness some of the moments of genuine turmoil she's had to endure on her way to stardom.Born Anna Mae Bullock, the young Turner grew up in the small Tennessee town of Nutbush, whose...

    Aldwych Theatre
  • 2017 was certainly a banner year for new musicals: not just the UK premiere of Hamilton, of course, but also the homegrown thrills of Everybody's Talking About Jamie (which transferred from Sheffield's Crucible to the Apollo), The Girls (which originated at Leeds and came to London's Phoenix Theatre), The Grinning Man (which transferred from Bristol Old Vic to the Trafalgar Studios) and the utterly delightful Romantics Anonymous (at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). Those all contained original...

    Gielgud Theatre
  • Everybody's Talking About Jamie

    Here's a new and distinctively British musical that could give the imminent arrival of Hamilton from Broadway a serious run for its money, and is just the refreshing breath of fresh, inclusive air the West End needs right now. Sure, there is also currently Kinky Boots, also from Broadway but set in Northampton, that revolves around how a down-at-heel shoe factory (pun intended) is saved when it turns to manufacturing boots for drag queens. But Everybody's Talking About Jamie does something even...

    Apollo Theatre
  • Witness for the Prosecution

    When Witness for the Prosecution premiered in 1953, it was one of Agatha Christie's proudest moments. Originally a short story, she had been convinced to turn it into a play set in a courtroom - an element that only played a small part in her initial story. This new production of her play focuses on that courtroom element, transforming London County Hall into the historic Old Bailey.And it steps up to the job. The set truly immerses you in the setting, with the bench and witness box at one end...

    London County Hall
  • The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole at the Menier Chocolate Factory

    There are plenty of shows about how tough growing up can be. Matilda, Curious Incident, even Mosquitoes currently running at the National. But it would be difficult to find one as brilliantly British and as rip-roaring as The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. The show is based on Sue Townsend's 1982 book (which later became a TV series) about Adrian, a 13-and-three-quarter year-old boy living in Leicester. Thatcher's in Number Ten and Reagan's in the White House, but politics is the last thing on the...

    Ambassadors Theatre
  • When you take a tale as old as time, the main challenge for a theatre director is to tell it in a fresh and newly imagined way. Sally Cookson's interpretation of the classic J.M. Barrie tale is certainly an innovative theatrical experience, but one that at times seems a little unfocused and overstuffed. A show-stealing performance by Anna Francolini as Captain Hook (and Mrs. Darling), however, saves the play from walking the plank.Cookson's production is filled with colour and gender-blind...

    London Palladium
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber is on another roll right now. The undisputed King of the West End musical has just seen his 1971 show Jesus Christ Superstar win this year's Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical (for the summer revival at the Open Air Theatre that has now announced it is to return there in 2017) and The Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 30th anniversary in the West End last month. Meanwhile, in New York the latter is the longest running musical in Broadway history, and when...

  • Photo credit: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child London 2021-22 (Photo by Manuel Harlan)

    Just as Hamilton has been all-pervasive on Broadway since it opened there last summer, there's been little talk of anything but Harry Potter's official stage debut over here since the first announcement was made revealing that it was on its way over a year ago. (There was previously a small two-man fringe show called Potted Potter that raced through all the books to date in 70 minutes that transferred from the Trafalgar Studios small house to the Garrick where it was Olivier nominated in 2012,...

    Palace Theatre

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