Gregory Doran’s RSC production of Measure for Measure is a subtle and absorbing account of a play that gets weirder with every viewing.
‘Shines a harsh light on contemporary Indian culture’: WHEN THE CROWS VISIT – Kiln Theatre
When The Crows Visit is a powerful new play, and Indhu Rubasingham’s production is a notable success for the Kiln Theatre.
‘Friel’s characters are allowed to blossom’: TRANSLATIONS – National Theatre
Brian Friel’s Translations is a rich and complex play and, in Ian Rickson’s production which returns for a second run in the Olivier, its layers are drawn out through the performances of a high class ensemble ensemble.
‘Churchill’s fine writing has the cast to match’: GLASS. KILL. BLUEBEARD. IMP – Royal Court Theatre
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp creates an essential piece of new writing – edgy, haunting and disconcertingly relevant and Caryl Churchill, at the age of 81, is still the playwright for our times.
‘Gets the atmosphere right’: BARTHOLOMEW FAIR – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Bartholomew Fair is full of energy and highly entertaining throughout, while making no attempt to glamorise the city’s underbelly.
‘Too many issues for any one play to carry’: THE DOCTOR – Almeida Theatre
Robert Icke’s final production for the Almeida, after spectacular successes including Mary Stuart, Andrew Scott’s Hamlet and The Wild Duck, is a complete reworking of a play by Arthur Schnitzler. He rips the original play, Professor Bernhardi, out of its turn-of-the-century Vienna setting, and drops it into the information age in The Doctor.
‘A deeply alarming message’: SEA SICK – Edinburgh Fringe
In Sea Sick Alana Mitchell tells, in an engaging lecture, the story of how she, as a journalist, came to be investigating this little known, devastating climate change phenomenon.
‘Gives a voice to those who need it most’: WHO CARES – Edinburgh Fringe
A fierce indictment of cuts and callous indifference, Who Cares? comes straight from the mouths of young carers in Salford.
‘An entirely compelling evening’: EQUUS – Trafalgar Studios
Ned Bennett has created an entirely compelling evening, which reveals new layers to Peter Shaffer’s play Equus that we can now only see because we have changed as a society since it was first performed – a sure sign of a classic.
‘Does not fully live up to its clever concept’: WIFE – Kiln Theatre
Samuel Adamson’s take on A Doll’s House is an ambitious play, sometimes overly so, which delivers fascinating moments but has a tendency to fall short.
‘Startling & exceptional piece of theatre’: FREEMAN – Touring
Freeman is a startling and exceptional piece of theatre and its run in Streatham was a coup for the still relatively new Streatham Space Project theatre.
‘Ingenious, chaotic & highly enjoyable’: HUMAN JAM – Camden People’s Theatre
Human Jam is precisely the type of show Camden People’s Theatre should be producing: fully engaged with its community, angry but imaginative, chaotic and messy, and shining a strong, searching light on those in power.
‘A succession of distinctive performances’: THREE SISTERS – Almeida Theatre
Rebecca Frecknall’s rich production of Three Sisters takes place in a bubble of unreality, both alluring and doomed to burst.
‘Remarkably funny & unexpectedly painful’: DIE! DIE! DIE! OLD PEOPLE DIE! – Battersea Arts Centre
Ridiculusmus is at the top of their game and Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!, complete with fart jokes, is an absolute must-see for anyone who wants to be awed by what two men on a small stage can achieve.
‘A rare & honest examination of mistakes made in the public gaze’: THE LONG WALK BACK – Touring
Dougie Blaxland’s taut, probing and beautifully structured play The Long Walk Back explores Chris Lewis’ rise and fall, one that is unique in the world of cricket and without many other sporting parallels.
‘A quietly, utterly absorbing play about child abuse’: DOWNSTATE – National Theatre
Bruce Norris, previously best known for race drama Clybourne Park takes on social taboo issues without a pause.
‘People won’t be forgetting this in a hurry’: CYPRUS AVENUE – Royal Court Theatre
Cyprus Avenue uses shock tactics to show us the horror within, but it is a comedy with depth, perceptiveness and a touch of genius.
‘Beautifully balanced & unusual piece of theatre’: BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO – Donmar Warehouse
It is easy to see why a film set mainly in a recording studio is so suited to the stage and Tom Scutt has created a beautifully balanced and unusual piece of theatre in Berberian Sound Studio.
’An evening of meandering chat’: SHIPWRECK – Almeida Theatre
Annie Washburn’s new play Shipwreck is intended as a reckoning with Trump. The show pitches itself as a invitation to dinner with the 45th President, but unfortunately would be better described as an evening of meandering chat with a cast of confused New York liberals.