Tenet
Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated futuristic thriller, Tenet, is in cinemas now. Laurence Green weighs up whether it is worth the admission fee.
The Visit
A grotesquely funny, undeniably elegant (slightly overlong) visionary revenge play with star turns from Lesley Manville and Hugo Weaving. Laurence Green reviews.
The Welkin
Science versus superstition, and an inadequate legal system against mob hunger for justice are two themes in Lucy Kirkwood’s gutsy new play, The Welkin. Laurence Green reviews.
Teenage Dick
A flawed but interesting modern meditation on the lust for power that manages to blend Shakespearean rhetoric with everyday speech. Laurence Green reviews Teenage Dick.
Film review: So Long My Son
Laurence Green reviews Wang Xiaoshuai’s ambitious family chronicle of changing lives, set against the most turbulent events in recent Chinese history.
Dear Evan Hansen
A show that captures the dilemma of the alienated teen – but doesn’t succeed in getting the viewer to surrender to its emotional involvement.
Beanpole
An absorbing, thought-provoking movie, set in post-war Leningrad, that seems like a strong contender for Best Foreign Film at the forthcoming Oscars. Laurence Green reviews.
Hansard
Alex Jennings and Lindsay Duncan elevate this satire on late-Eighties Toryism at the NT’s Lyttelton Auditorium.Laurence Green reviews.
Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear – the Musical!
Laurence Green immerses himself in the psychedelic colours and sounds of this wisecracking, rib-tickling, side-splitting phantasmagoria.
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Rice/Lloyd Webber-penned classic still feels fresh and vibrant and provides an entertaining and thought-provoking experience for audiences of all ages, writes Laurence Green.
Europe
David Greig’s 1994 drama remains a timely warning about the dangers of a divided Europe, writes Laurence Green.
The Starry Messenger
Laurence Green finds the eagerly awaited The Starry Messenger a play that fails to drum up much interest in or empathy with the characters and the situations they face.
Rosmersholm
This timely revival of Ibsen’s Rosmersholm “is a piercingly relevant work of personal and political passion, ambitious, complex and dramatically compelling. It might now in our troubled, searching times have found its right moment.” Laurence Green reviews.
I Spy With My Little Eye Something Beginning With Why Have You Been Sleeping With My Wife: A Play by Christopher Bliss
With dad jokes flying left right and centre and some nice physical comedy, this is a show for those who have never truly grown up and long may they remain! Gabriel Wilding reviews.
Fiddler on the Roof
The resurgence in ant-Semitism ensures a timeless resonance to Trevor Nunn’s revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre, writes Laurence Green.
Waitress
“A truly tasty treat, bringing an uplifting celebration of love and laughter to the West End stage.” Laurence Green reviews Waitress at the Adelphi Theatre.
Tartuffe
This fresh, funny and thoughtful production shows that Tartuffe has lost none of its sparkle, writes Laurence Green.
Home, I’m Darling
Home, I’m Darling is a finely tuned, thought-provoking comedy about a mini revolution in deepest suburbia, with a superb central performance by Katherine Parkinson. Laurence Green reviews.
Sweat
Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer prize winning ‘Sweat’ flits seamlessly between humour, heartbreak and trauma and emerges as a deeply profound and moving piece of work, writes Laurence Green.
Theatre review of the year 2018
Laurence Green selects his top 10 theatre productions from a year which saw a resurgence of quality musicals and some memorable reworked classics.
Hadestown
Laurence Green finds Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown to be a tightly choreographed and genuinely inventive show that pitches romanticism against pragmatism and idealism against cold reality.
Company
Marianne Elliott puts marriage under a contemporary microscope in this enjoyable re-imagining of Sondheim’s Company. Indeed, this is company you should definitely keep, writes Laurence Green.
Antony & Cleopatra
Antony & Cleopatra is both epic and intimate with shining performances from Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as the titular leads showing that passion and politics are best kept apart. Laurence Green reviews.
Six
An exuberant, vivacious, highly original musical that is simply a joy to watch from start to finish! Laurence Green enjoys Six. a punkish romp with the wives of Henry VIII.
The King and I
The King and I, the 60-year-old Rogers and Hammerstein classic redressed with gorgeous sets and needle sharp choreography, is a sensory treat writes Laurence Green.
Nightfall
A rural farm is the backdrop for Barney Norris’s slow burn study in grief, heartbreak and betrayal. Laurence Green reviews.
Mood Music
“Joe Penhall’s play, Mood Music, asks questions of the music industry – specifically how can two people claim credit for one song – but falls short in terms of both tension and depth” writes Laurence Green
The Plough and the Stars
A cast of fine actors do their best to convey the depths of characterisation in this updated production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars but the poignancy of the piece is missing, writes Laurence Green.
Summer and Smoke
Patsy Ferran is a revelation in a mesmerising new production of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke. Laurence Green reviews.
Lady Windermere’s Fan
“A truly cherishable comic performance”, Laurence Greens reviews Kathy Burke’s production of Lady Windermere’s Fan.
Cinderella
A successful revival of a timeless classic, Laurence Green reviews Matthew Bourne’s new production of Cinderella.
The Woman in White
Thom Southerland’s reworking of Wilkie Collins’s classic thriller The Woman in White is a feast for the eyes and the ears, writes Laurence Green, and a perfect Yuletide treat!
Albion
Albion is a flawed but finely nuanced comedy of middle class manners writes Laurence Green.
Young Frankenstein
Laurence Green succumbs to the charms of the kitsch musical parody Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre.