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
December 2023
The week in theatre: Infinite Life; The Homecoming; Pacific Overtures – review
Chronic illness is captured to extraordinary effect in Annie Baker’s slow yet absorbing new play. Elsewhere, snarling Pinter lacks bite, while the songs eclipse all in rarely revived Sondheim
September 2023
Infinite Life review – Annie Baker’s latest production is timely but uneven
The Pulitzer-winning playwright’s drama follows a group of characters at a mysterious health retreat and is as audacious as it is unsteady
November 2019
The week in theatre: Light Falls; The Antipodes; Botticelli in the Fire – review
Sarah Frankcom signs off in Manchester with elegiac Simon Stephens and a little bit of Jarvis Cocker
October 2019
The Antipodes review – Annie Baker searches for the sting in the tale
Annie Baker: 'I like theatre because it’s so unprofitable!'
September 2019
Best culture of the 21st century
The 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century
A hip-hop history lesson, a dizzy Dahl musical and a continent-hopping barbershop … we pick the finest new works of theatre since 2000
June 2019
Female playwrights star in new National Theatre lineup
Season includes Kate Tempest reimagining of Greek classic and version of Guardian microplay Death of England
December 2018
Best culture 2018
Top 10 theatre shows of 2018
A gender-switch Company got Sondheim’s blessing, Sam Mendes probed the doomed Lehman dynasty and Austen had a sparkling rewrite. But the year belonged to Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins facing the anguish of dementia
March 2018
Circle Mirror Transformation review – sign up for Annie Baker's drama class
Circle Mirror Transformation review – naturalism without the social context
January 2018
John review – check into Annie Baker's gothic Gettysburg B&B
Baker’s play, set in a boarding house close to a battlefield, is a sinister piece of American gothic that taps into universal emotions
January 2017
What a night! Millennial playwrights pick this century's best shows
From the role-reversal minstrels in The Scottsboro Boys to a post-apocalyptic take on The Simpsons, rising dramatists choose the plays they can’t forget
December 2016
Best culture 2016
Michael Billington's top 10 theatre of 2016
Glenda Jackson ruled as Lear and Harry Potter left the West End spellbound but a three-hour drama set in an empty cinema tops our critic’s pick of the year’s best theatre
June 2016
Theatre blog
Plan your week’s theatre: top tickets
Five of the best… theatre shows
Five of the best… new plays
May 2016
Theatre blog
The Flick: Annie Baker's play about cinema is really a love letter to theatre
Baker’s heartbreaking Pulitzer-winner, is set in a doomed picturehouse but it’s really about how nothing beats the live theatrical experience
April 2016
The Flick; Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State; The Suicide – review
National Theatre roundup: romantic flutterings in a cinema ignite Annie Baker’s brilliant The Flick; and why do children join Isis?
The Flick review – echoes of Racine in a riveting play about love, lost souls and popcorn
Dorfman theatre, London Astonishing New York hit goes behind the scenes at a cinema to expose the desperate longings of its three young protagonists
From Pulitzer to popcorn: why Annie Baker is making the theatre world pause for thought
‘The best argument anyone has yet made for the continued necessity of the theatre,’ according to one US critic. As The Flick premieres in the UK, Annie Baker talks about art, awkwardness and bubble tea
