London Theatre Reviews

'The Choir of Man' review — a drink-fueled evening of pop music favours song over substance

Home is where the pub is in the much-travelled The Choir of Man, the paean to sensitive blokes boozing and singing that is chancing a perch in the West End. Much of the rest of the world (Australia and America included) have already experienced this venture, which started at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, and one can immediately see it as a perfect fit north of the border during festival season, its patrons fuelled by a pint or two or four.In the harsher glare of London's commercial...

'Six' review — there’s no way you should miss the queens’ new home

Welcome back, Queens! Or rather welcome to your new home. After runs at the West End's Arts and Lyric Theatres, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss's girl-power hit is now happily installed in the Vaudeville, whose intimacy works like a charm for a production fuelled by its relationship with its devoted fans. But you don't have to be a lifelong member of the Queendom to lose your heart (or head) to Six.Four years on from its Edinburgh Fringe debut, the show still feels like a breath of fresh air. If...

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' review - a coming-of-age tale that exemplifies magical realism

The monsters are back. Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel came to life at the National Theatre in 2019 and now, following a Covid delay, is weaving its magic over the West End. And this piece is magical in every sense: in the way that Gaiman delves into other worlds and locates the enchantments in our own, as well as the transformational power of theatre, on full display in Katy Rudd's spectacular production.Joel Horwood has deftly adapted the story for stage. It centres on the unnamed Boy, now an...

'Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)' review - irreverent Austen adaptation makes for a fun night out

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there will always be yet another Jane Austen adaptation in our future. Entering a crowded field, as jam-packed as a society ball, is Isobel McArthur's karaoke-fuelled version of Pride and Prejudice, which premiered in Glasgow in 2018 and then toured before coming to London. Its irreverent merriness is definitely a welcome addition to the West End, and makes for a fun night out, but I'm less convinced that it has a unique take on a very familiar...

'Indecent Proposal' review - a musical misfire needs more work

It's back to the drawing board for Indecent Proposal, the bewildering new musical that has arrived at Southwark Playhouse in what would appear to be far from any sort of finished state. Many will know the title from the 1993 film, with Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Robert Redford, in which a billionaire (Redford) pays $1 million to secure sex with Moore: largely derided at the time, the movie rode the coattails of Pretty Woman (itself now a stage musical) conjoining far-fetched fantasy with...

'Brian & Roger - A Highly Offensive Play' review - the beloved podcast brings laughter and tears to the stage

We all know someone that spouts rubbish to appear cool as a way of masking their vulnerabilities. But what if that person sent you on a constant string of wild goose chases in the hopes of getting rich quick? Giving advice comes easy for Brian, and a bumbling Roger is all too eager to listen. These two men may have met at a support group for recently divorced men, but it's quickly apparent they need more than weekly sessions to help one another.The Brian & Roger podcast first aired in 2018,...

'‘night, Mother' review - Stockard Channing brings empathy to a challenging play

An agelessly watchable Stockard Channing is reason enough to see 'night, Mother, the challenging Marsha Norman play that I first saw on the Harvard campus in 1982 in a production that went on to Broadway and a Pulitzer Prize and that looks less likely with time ever to be equaled. Part of that has to do with the shifting landscape surrounding a play that, were it written now, would raise as many questions as it answers: Why isn't the emotionally bereft Jessie Cates, the daughter in Norman's...

'Mum' at Soho Theatre review - portrait of motherhood struggles to find balance

Motherhood is a rife subject for drama and high stakes. Just take a look at some of today's popular television series like Motherland or Working Moms. It's often dramatised on the stage, with a production of the Pulitzer winner 'Night Mother, currently running up north at Hampstead Theatre. So Morgan Lloyd Malcom's Mum at Soho Theatre is in good company. Malcolm doesn't hold anything back in this raw script about a new mother navigating life with an infant who doesn't sleep, a prying...

'The Shark is Broken' review - A murky 'Jaws' backstory with impressive visuals and familial bond

This 2019 Edinburgh Festival smash has belatedly arrived on the West End, trailing wreathes of glory and with onward American destinations presumably in its sights. So I hope it's not overly churlish of me to admire the venture in principle while pointing out that Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon's three-hander, with Shaw himself leading the cast, is hardly the first north-of-the-border sensation to look somewhat exposed in the altogether different glare of the West End. Put another way, The Shark is...

'Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical' review - Arinzé Kene shines as the reggae superstar

How to demystify the icon that is Bob Marley, to separate the man from the mantles placed upon him: reggae superstar, Black hero, poetic advocate of peace and love, ganja-smoking Rasta inspiration, or cool dude splashed across T-shirts and posters in student halls? It's a struggle that this intermittently powerful new show both tackles head on and embodies in its own flawed form.Lee Hall's book is at its weakest when it follows the jukebox bio-musical model, racing breathlessly through Marley's...