While the costumes are delightful and the characters cheekily drawn, the full epic potential for this cabaret is never fully realised
The Book of Grace review – Suzan-Lori Parks delves into a divided America
The acting from Ellena Vincent, Peter De Jersey and Daniel Francis-Swaby is riveting but this play gets tied down in gothic horror and psychodrama
Artists shouldn’t be political? Here’s a show that challenges Britain’s creeping censorship
Brian Logan
Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, at the Arcola in London, tackles freedom of expression – with particular focus on Gaza, writes Brian Logan
April 2024
What (Is) a Woman review – like #MeToo never happened
Andrée Bernard’s solo show is a bizarre representation of one woman’s love life, minus depth and character development
January 2024
Don’t Destroy Me review – war is not over for fractured Jewish family
Seeking Michael Hastings, the missing man of British theatre
December 2023
Protest Song review – grief, rage and a singalong in Occupy movement drama
This timely revival of Tim Price’s monologue about a rough sleeper drawn into the world of activism leaves little space for vulnerability
November 2023
Sputnik Sweetheart review – Haruki Murakami’s love triangle staged in style
The enigmatic 1999 novel about three entwined lives is sleekly adapted by Bryony Lavery and sharply directed by Melly Still
October 2023
Laura Waldren wins Papatango new writing prize for Some Demon
The playwright and actor’s debut drama about life on an eating disorder unit will have its world premiere at the Arcola theatre in London next summer
June 2023
Duck review – young cricketer faces racist abuse in timely one-man play
In a week when English cricket was found guilty of deep-rooted racism, an affecting tale of discrimination dismissed as banter feels particularly profound
March 2023
Under the Black Rock review – nail-biting Belfast thriller
Tim Edge’s harrowing and darkly funny play starring Evanna Lynch has razor-sharp dialogue and swerving plot twists
February 2023
Afghanistan Is Not Funny: the comedian transformed by the war on terror
Henry Naylor travelled to Afghanistan in 2003 to research his fringe farce Finding Bin Laden. His sobering new show takes stock of the country’s fate since
September 2022
The Apology review – powerful tale of wartime ‘comfort women’
Kyo Choi’s shocking and intelligent play tells the story of a Korean woman who was forced into military sex slavery for Japanese troops at the age of 16
August 2022
The Boatswain’s Mate review – Ethel Smyth’s comic opera has atmosphere and sass
Grimeborn festival, Arcola theatre, London This lively revival of Smyth’s one-act opera lets the comedy shine although not all of her witty libretto carries
June 2022
Rainer review – a feverish rollercoaster ride around London
The week in theatre: The Glass Menagerie; Girl on an Altar; We Started to Sing
May 2022
We Started to Sing review – Barney Norris’s fragmented family ode
A tender series of vignettes explore family dynamics in Barney Norris’s personal play, but it needs some sand in the oyster
November 2021
Paint the stage red: plays about artists – in pictures
As the Young Vic announces it will premiere The Collaboration, Anthony McCarten’s play about Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, look back at shows about Picasso, Kahlo, Dalí and other great artists
August 2021
The week in classical: Chineke! Orchestra; Alcina – review
A once-lost work by Florence Price soars in the hands of Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. And minimalist Handel with thrills to spare
