Oliver! review – divine yet danger-averse revival could be renamed Fagin!
‘A moment to create the country they dreamed of’: Labour’s 1945 landslide becomes a play for today
June 2024
The Caretaker review – Pinter’s grim drama played more for laughs
Justin Audibert’s revival nails the playwright’s humour better than his despair while Ian McDiarmid brings a balletic grace to the stage
May 2024
Coram Boy review – hectic melodrama about the Georgian-era baby trade
The House Party review – teenage debauchery brings Strindberg to Saltburn
April 2024
The Other Boleyn Girl review – the sexual strategising of the conniving Boleyn family brought sharply to life
Mike Poulton’s adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel shows how the sisters refuse to be passive victims
October 2023
The Inquiry review – drama about a Whitehall cover-up hints at deeper stories left untold
Despite fine acting, Harry Davies’ political thriller about a contaminated water scandal fails to plumb the depths of its characters
News reporting requires a clear topline – that’s a more demanding task for a dramatist
Harry Davies
My first play tells the story of a public inquiry, but resists being distilled into the plain statement of facts that journalism depends on
‘It’s ludicrous’: Ian McKellen sparks debate over trigger warnings in theatre
While many criticise content guidance in art and literature, others argue they help people make informed choices
September 2023
Quiz review – Rory Bremner is an uncanny Chris Tarrant
A delightfully performed and finely crafted revival of James Graham’s fresh and funny play about the Millionaire cougher case, which critiques the TV industry and trials by media
The week in theatre: Never Have I Ever; God of Carnage – review
An evening of drinking turns dangerous in the sharply funny debut play from The Guilty Feminist’s Deborah Frances-White. And the set is the star in a heavy-handed revival of Yasmina Reza’s tale of parents at loggerheads
‘Make them laugh – or they’ll kill you’: my riotous play about a dangerous drinking game
As her play about toxic secrets and old friends hits the stage, the host of The Guilty Feminist podcast explains how studying Wilde and Shaw showed her the subversive power of laughter
August 2023
Observer New Review Q&A
Actor Susan Wokoma: ‘We all want to be married to Emma Thompson, don’t we?’
The week in theatre: Rock Follies; The Crown Jewels – review
July 2023
Au revoir Provence, bonjour Sussex: how art and wine are reviving the quintessentially English county
Home to 138 vineyards and many cultural landmarks, the region is now promoted to tourists who may be fond of southern France
The week in theatre: Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors; Cuckoo; The Sound of Music – review
Gillian Slovo’s new verbatim play about the 2017 tragedy is overpowering theatre that doubles as activism; a comedy of iPhone-fixated family dysfunction is hilariously relatable; and the hills are alive again
The play’s the thing – but its success depends on the theatre too
Michael Billington
The Sound of Music review – climbs ev’ry mountain, ticks ev’ry box
Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? review – moving account of a Black female playwright in 60s London
June 2023
‘If you get your phone out, I’m going to lose it’: Charlie Stemp, Britain’s musicals megastar
He’s a West End fixture who’s already been compared to Fred Astaire. As he prepares to hop from Mary Poppins to the Gershwin musical Crazy for You, Stemp talks rowdy audiences, ice baths, and taking the bus in ballet tights
