Raucous and risqué fun that’s really well done This is the second year that the King’s Head Theatre (KHT) has put on special 18+ performances of its otherwise family-friendly Christmas pantomime. It was my first time visiting the KHT in its current venue, which opened in 2024 in a new building behind the King’s Head […]
The Snowman, Peacock Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s Seasonal Hit Returns The Snowman: in a word, charming. The stage production of Raymond Briggs’ tale of a young boy’s friendship with a snowman and their fantastic Christmastime flight to the North Pole has been packing the Peacock Theatre for 28 years and counting; it’s not unthinkable that some of the young […]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
A violent take on a timeless comedy The smell of mulled wine sticks in the nostrils at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse ahead of The Globe’s latest staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – but the production itself is no warming affair. Shakespeare’s beloved comedy takes on the eternal themes: love, jealousy, and unreality. The action […]
Ballet Black, Shadows
Shadows and Serial Killers in a New Double Bill Ballet Black’s Shadows is a gripping double bill that shows a company in fine form and again highlights its commitment to commissioning new, tailor-made work. Its two component pieces, A Shadow Work and My Sister, The Serial Killer, are brand new this year and have […]
A Christmas Carol – The Old Vic
Charles Dickens’s classic story, A Christmas Carol is brought to vivid, enchanting theatrical life in a production directed by Marcus Warchus and adapted by Jack Thorne.
Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre
Ballet Shoes Shines Bright on the Olivier Stage This Christmas Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes has always carried a glow of nostalgia, not least for me, as my mother adored the novel and the Fossil sisters helped spark my early love of theatre. This festive season, the story returns for a second run at the National […]
Porn Play – The Royal Court (The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs)
A fascinating exploration of the relationship between female pleasure and pain Starting with its name, Porn Play by Sophia Chetin-Leuner unapologetically aims to be wittily bold and shockingly different. It certainly succeeds at this, even though its attempts are at times too on-the-nose, albeit not in a sexually gratuitous way. What the title belies is […]
The Nutcracker, The Royal Ballet
A Magical Christmas Treat at Covent Garden Nothing says Christmas like The Nutcracker; and nothing says truly magical, transporting, transcendental Christmas like The Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Sir Peter Wright’s incomparable production of the Christmas ballet, regularly spruced up since its premiere just over 40 years ago, has officially opened the festive season at a […]
Marking Time with Nico Muhly
Three Choreographers Inspired by Nico Muhly’s Music Marking Time with Nico Muhly shows the very different responses of three choreographers – Michael Keegan-Dolan, Maud Le Platec and Jules Cunningham – to the music of the American composer. These responses range from the brilliantly wacky to the dispiritingly vacuous. The programme is the third in […]
Partenope – English National Opera at the London Coliseum
A Cocktail of Wit, Style and Baroque Fireworks in Partenope. English National Opera’s new production of Partenope bursts onto the stage with a vibrant mix of musical brilliance and mischievous theatricality. Handel’s witty and unconventional opera dazzles from the very first moments, and ENO embraces its playful spirit with infectious energy and bold imagination. The […]