Circle Mirror Transformation review – Annie Baker’s drama class is a lesson in power-play
Directed by Róisín McBrinn, this 2009 play is an absorbing study of group dynamics, deepened by intricate dialogue and superb acting
April 2024
In the Land of Saints and Sinners review – Liam Neeson finds cowboy spirit in Donegal
Kerry Condon plays a potty-mouthed IRA gang leader and Neeson is the quiet antihero in this action thriller set at the height of the Troubles
October 2022
Hamlet review – slick tragedy fuelled by fury
With inky backdrops, jagged sound and frenzied violence, John Haidar’s production stars Billy Howle as a prince emanating unhinged anger
December 2021
Faith Healer review – Aidan Gillen is mercurial and mysterious in Brian Friel’s classic
Gillen, Niamh Cusack and Nigel Lindsay deliver haunting monologues in director Joe Dowling’s affectingly sombre production
November 2021
The Seven Pomegranate Seeds review – Euripides tied in knots
Overly stylised theatrics mar this revival of Colin Teevan’s monologues featuring Medea, Phaedra and others from ancient tragedies
October 2021
The Q&A
Niamh Cusack: ‘I’m fine without more money, sex or fame’
The actor on the politician she despises, her fear of flying, and getting caught short in the Cotswolds
March 2021
When stages are dark, theatre lives on in your memories
Charlotte Higgins
Since last March I have been remembering a lifetime of plays. Each one has reminded me what we’re missing
January 2021
TV review
Marcella review – Anna Friel thriller doesn't shock like it used to
ITV’s troubled, amnesiac detective is back – deep undercover in Belfast – but the credulity-stretching twists are just too much this time around
November 2019
My Brilliant Friend review – Elena Ferrante's twisting tale of heroines for our age
Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack perform the central roles with magnetic force in this frenetically comic adaptation of Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet
March 2019
Built on violence: adapting The Remains of the Day for stage
The Remains of the Day review – gorgeous but unsubtle
February 2019
The Remains of the Day review – Ishiguro tale of shame resonates today
Barney Norris’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Booker winner about the perils of blind duty speaks to modern Britain
March 2018
Macbeth review – Eccleston is every inch the rugged soldier
The G2 interview
Christopher Eccleston: ‘I gave Doctor Who a hit show and then they put me on a blacklist'
August 2017
The Ghoul review – brooding Brit indie withholds too much information
This exasperating psychological thriller, executive produced by Ben Wheatley, is moody on the surface but glib on the subjects of depression and paranoia
March 2017
My Brilliant Friend review – intensity wins through
My Brilliant Friend review – triumphant staging of Elena Ferrante's quartet
December 2016
Ghosts review – Niamh Cusack is compelling in deft, dark Ibsen
The melodrama is kept at bay in Polly Findlay’s fine production of David Watson’s new version
November 2016
Ghosts review – Niamh Cusack is outstanding in intense Ibsen
Seemingly located in the only fjord in range of Weatherfield, Polly Findlay’s powerful revival features some fine performances
September 2016
Unfaithful review – sexual encounters of the half-credible kind
Niamh Cusack and Matthew Lewis are part of a quartet of characters whose unfulfilled lives throw them together in Owen McCafferty’s play about infidelity
