The Trumpeter review – a vital dispatch from the siege of Mariupol
The last surviving member of a military band shelters from Russian bombardment in Inna Goncharova’s valiant attempt to capture the terrible essence of war
Channeling the Gamergate saga and the world of the online pickup artist, Van Badham’s disturbingly timely play offers dark laughs and rewarding nuance
February 2024
Jab review – Kacey Ainsworth and Liam Tobin lock horns in lockdown
An NHS worker’s marriage to her anti-vaxxer husband comes under pressure in James McDermott’s claustrophobic two-hander
December 2023
£1 Thursdays review – nightclubbing, sex talk and big decisions
A mix of sweet observations about female friendship and cheeky brazenness about sex, Kat Rose-Martin’s play finds two young women at a crossroads in their lives
November 2023
The week in theatre: Knocking on the Wall; To Have and to Hold; Mates in Chelsea – review
An exemplary staging of short plays by overlooked Ena Lamont Stewart; Alun Armstrong is at his hangdog best in Richard Bean’s warm retirement drama; and toffs get both barrels in a heavy-handed satire
August 2023
The week in theatre: The Effect; Makeshifts and Realities – reviews
Jamie Lloyd galvanises Lucy Prebble’s drama about two patients who on a drug trial, while a trilogy of pre-first world war playlets captures a forgotten world
July 2023
The Wind and the Rain review – love and whimsy in 1930s student comedy
The first professional production of Merton Hodge’s quippy drama in more than 80 years shows how a play can date
May 2023
A Brief List of Everyone Who Died review – a lifetime of loss
From childhood pets to octogenarianfriends,playwrightJacob Marx Rice addresses mortality in a warm and thoughtful play
March 2023
The best theatre to stream this month
The best theatre to stream this month: The Boys Are Kissing, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends and more
Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes Hans Christian Andersen on skates, a verbatim play five years in the making and poems from Ukraine
February 2023
One Who Wants to Cross review – nail-biting dread in a story of desperate migrants
This two-hander, translated from the French, has a hypnotic narrative power as it considers the refugees’ dangerous journey
December 2022
The best theatre to stream this month
The best theatre to stream this month: Age of Rage, A Scary Little Tempest and more
Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes Ivo van Hove’s epic, boisterous family fun and a dance fable for Christmas
October 2022
The Coral review – urgent parable of poverty and the one percent
Georg Kaiser’s century-old call for a societal reset may not always hit the mark, but it is given an invigorated panache by Collide theatre company
August 2022
Two Ukrainian Plays review – masterful framing of a nation’s tragedy
A ghostly tale and a potent monologue form a double bill that uses the 2014 conflict to remark movingly on current events
July 2022
The best theatre to stream this month
The best theatre to stream this month: Dancing at Dusk, Maryland and more
Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes international festivals, Gemma Arterton in The Duchess of Malfi and Christopher Plummer in The Tempest
May 2022
Bliss review – relentlessly grim drama haunted by the ghosts of war
Hunger and disease stalk Russia in the aftermath of conflict in this play based on a story by Andrey Platonov
April 2022
The Straw Chair review – a shocking 18th-century story of injustice
This slow-moving drama inspired by the life of Lady Grange explores the historical control of women and changing attitudes to mental health
December 2021
Yes So I Said Yes review – an angry loyalist’s dog’s life
This crackling production of David Ireland’s caustic portrait of a troubled former gunman is close up and in your face
November 2021
Yes So I Said Yes review – prepare to be appalled
The Sugar House review – a tough story of poverty’s legacy
July 2021
Lockdown culture
I’ve been cast as bitchy theatre critic Mr Snarl – it’s a role I couldn’t turn down
Michael Billington
Starring in a Zoom production of the play Masks and Faces tested my acting skills – not to mention my singing
