Theatre


I currently write two regular monthly columns on theatre: one for Prospect Magazine as their theatre critic, and one for The Stage, drawing in part on my experience as Chair of the Drama Section of the UK Critics’ Circle.

Prior to the pandemic, I was the New York Review of Books‘ resident London theatre critic, and I had previously spent several years as the junior theatre critic at The Times, reviewing for that paper two or three times a week. I have also contributed theatre reviews to The Spectator, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. As a theatre programme obsessive, I regularly contribute programme notes to theatre and opera venues, and welcome inquiries about potential work in this area.

As Critics’ Circle Chair, I organise our prestigious annual Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, the only awards made in British theatre purely on the basis of professional theatre critics’ votes, and without any input from vested interests within the industry. We successfully relaunched in April 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic with a ceremony at London’s Ham Yard Hotel. I also maintain an active interest in arts philanthropy. I can date the moment I fell in love with theatre to a Joanna Laurens production at the Gate Theatre, W11. Consequently, I founded a Young Supporters’ Network at the Gate and have sat on their Development Working Group, which means that this is the only venue at which I now exclude myself from reviewing.



Hamlet, Barbican Theatre, re-reviewed

Posted on Aug 26, 2015 | 0 comments

given this Hamlet‘s unusually long and controversial preview period, The Times sent me back to review the production later in the run. This is an extended version of the edited text that appeared in The Times, 26 August 2015. I also enjoyed many of the other reviews and the extended conversation around...

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The Three Little Pigs, Palace Theatre, W1

Posted on Aug 12, 2015 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 12 August 2015 George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have history with pork. Betty Blue Eyes, their musical based on the pig-rustling film A Private Function, was a droll delight (the pig was voiced by Kylie Minogue). When Betty Blue Eyes closed early in adverse commercial conditions, it...

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Hamlet, Barbican Theatre, EC2Y

Posted on Aug 6, 2015 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 6 August 2015 The Times ran several cuts of this text in different editions: this is the full text, as filed. The Times also published a leader on the decision to review a preview, here, and the newspaper always speaks best for itself. This was a quick review for the overnight...

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Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain — Part Three! Garrick Theatre, WC2

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 31 July 2015   My brother and I were both into history as children. He wanted to be an archaeologist when he grew up, so he could dig about in the mud all day; I wanted to be an Erasmian scholar so that I could read the Greek gospels. If your children are of the first sort,...

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Brainstorm, National Theatre Temporary Space

Posted on Jul 24, 2015 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 24 July 2015   Our narrator steps on stage. She’s confident, wise and articulate. So far, so professional. Except that Gracia Kayindo is 18 and, with candour unheard from most adult performers, invites us on a journey through the teenage brains of this ten-strong cast —...

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American Idiot, Arts Theatre, WC2

Posted on Jul 23, 2015 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 23 July 2015   George W. Bush, of course, was the original American idiot. Green Day’s 2004 album, American Idiot, was the anti-war movement’s hopeless howl, the music of choice for suburban adolescents with barely a prospect but to rage against the machine. Bush still...

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