17 h. ago A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – Nicholas Hytner’s revels return with bawdy, uninhibited mischief

Bridge theatre, LondonThe immersive setup brings the audience into the midst of the play’s shapeshifting unreality among a comedy-gold cast of magical charactersShenanigans reign in this neck of the woods. Boogying back to the Bridge after six years, Nicholas Hytner’s rollicking production of Shakespeare’s great comedy feasts on bawdy mischief and aerial antics. Radiating charisma, Emmanuel Akwafo’s uninhibited Bottom instructs his ragtag group of am-dram players to rehearse “most obscenely and courageously”. Hytner’s production, with somewhat more rigour and expertise, takes note.Bunny Christie’s luscious set of beds, leaves and trapdoors has us at once rising from the murky depths of the forest and floating among the clouds of sleep. Half the audience mill amid the foggy underland, skilfully shuffled by stage management, while the rest of us sit up among the fairies. The immersive setup complements the play’s shapeshifting unreality; in this world, we become another set of magical...

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19 h. ago A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bridge Theatre review: I can't remember enjoying a Dream more

This acrobatic, erotic, playfully queered version of Shakespeare’s comedy is even better than it was in 2019

Politics

22 h. ago The Reckoning review – shattering stories of invasion in Ukraine

Arcola theatre, LondonThe horrific reality of Russia’s invasion is recounted during the preparation of a Ukrainian salad in Anastasiia Kosidii and Josephine Burton’s playDuring the violent chaos following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a woman whose husband is missing receives a phone call from his number. Brief relief implodes when the speaker is not him but a stranger revealing that this device has been found beside a corpse covered by a tarpaulin.This is one of numerous shattering anecdotes in a play by Dash Arts, based on work by The Reckoning Project, which collects verbatim testimony from conflict victims with the aim of bringing prosecutions for war crimes.At the Arcola theatre, London, until 28 June Continue reading...

Events

37 h. ago In Praise of Love at Orange Tree Theatre review: real warmth with the cliches of the age

This Terence Rattigan play is about repression and marriage which has warmth beneath its study in non-communication

Events

7 d. ago Live Review: Alan Sparhawk at EartH Theatre in Dalston, London, UK

Live Review: Alan Sparhawk at EartH Theatre in Dalston, London, UK  Northern Transmissions

Society

7 d. ago Elephant at Menier Chocolate Factory review: Anoushka Lucas' play still captivates and provokes

Lucas is a soulful and magnetic interpreter of her own and others’ writing

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7 d. ago Jacob Alon: In Limerence review – dreamy story songs of myth and melancholy

(Island)The Scottish songwriter delivers a confident, well-expressed debut even if their songs sometimes stray into overfamiliar indie-folk territoryThe title of Scottish indie-folk musician Jacob Alon’s delicate debut album may seem ironic: the phrase describes an intense kind of desire, and Alon’s music can be shatteringly desolate and lonely, their voice and fingerpicked guitar conveying isolation and introversion with raw clarity. But In Limerence makes a strong case for its name: isn’t desire, Alon seems to ask, one of the most incurably lonely feelings of all? These story songs – about youthful infatuation, reckless hedonism and one-sided obsession – are brittle and wounded, each zeroing in on a different strain of disappointment or heartache.Alon was born in Dunfermline, Fife, a city tucked between pockets of forest, and they play up the organic, semi-mystical nature of their music, performing in wings and Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque wreaths; In Limerence’s lyric sheet is f...

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8 d. ago Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith review: a raucously funny and often moving family saga

Even when it stretches plausibility – those wigs! – this sprawling immigrant aspiration story is a pleasure to watch

Politics

9 d. ago Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie review: 'a tale of toxic masculinity, pettiness and hysteria'

In Charlotte Runcie’s new novel, set during the Edinburgh Fringe, an actress takes inventive revenge on a theatre critic who sleeps with her after panning her show. Review by Stuart Kelly

Events

9 d. ago The Frogs at Southwark Playhouse review: bursting with unfulfilled promise

Stephen Sondheim’s weirdest show gets its moment in the spotlight

Events

2 w. ago Mrs Warren’s Profession, Garrick Theatre review: Imelda Staunton in superb in the Shaw classic

Mrs Warren’s Profession, Garrick Theatre review: Imelda Staunton in superb in the Shaw classic  Time Out

Events

2 w. ago Mrs Warren’s Profession review; 'why does it feel so mechanical?'

Imelda Staunton stars opposite her real life daughter Bessie Carter in a George Bernard Shaw production that tends to drag even with huge cuts

Events

2 w. ago Dara Ó Briain's Re: Creation at Soho Theatre Walthamstow: a supercharged storytelling masterclass

The comedian delivers an emotionally charged and gripping tale of tracking down his birth father

Politics

2 w. ago The Crucible at Shakespeare’s Globe: 'classic study of hysteria and herd behaviour'

The Globe take on Arthur Miller’s endlessly relevant play with broad strokes

Politics

2 w. ago This bride looked to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Norman Lindsay for her woodland wedding

This bride looked to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Norman Lindsay for her woodland wedding  Vogue Australia

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2 w. ago The Rocky Horror Show review: Jason Donovan deals with malfunction like a true pro in flawless show

Review: The Rocky Horror Show was being played at

Economics

2 w. ago Nick Mohammed at Richmond Theatre review: powered by sparkly

The comedian balances the professional with the personal in a high energy evening that also mixes magic with extended comic set-pieces

Politics

3 w. ago Pear could see these 6ft 7in twins reaching new comedic heights at the Edinburgh Fringe

Props fly through the air in Patrick and Hugo McPherson’s chaotic new sketch show

Politics

3 w. ago The Deep Blue Sea at Theatre Royal Haymarket review: Tamsin Greig is shatteringly good

Terence Rattigan’s 1952 tragedy of quiet desperation is as potent as ever

Politics

3 w. ago 1536 turns Anne Boleyn’s downfall into a witty, wrenching parable of girlhood

The themes of female friendships, misogyny and the trickle-down effects of patriarchy are as present today as they are in this play set 500 years ago

Politics