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Review of ‘Million Dollar Quartet’: “Plotless musical features sixteen tons of emptiness”
They’ve got Elvis. They’ve got Johnny Cash. And they’ve got Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. The only thing they don’t have is a plot. Call me fastidious, but without one of those, your chances of having a musical are slim—even Andrew Lloyd Webber, despite his dramatically insubstantial Cats and Starlight Express, will tell you…
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Review of ‘Man to Man’ (Royal Court, 2026): “Tilda Swinton is still the man of the hour despite Urwin’s lack of action”
I wonder what it felt like to watch an emerging Tilda Swinton take the first major steps of her theatrical career in a play about gender bias, famine, and survival in Nazi Germany. I can see why some would fall in love with the piece. But more importantly, I can see why her portrayal was…
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Review of ‘Night City’: “Urban drama is still not the talk of the town, but it has a neon-bright future”
This isn’t the perfect piece. In fact, it requires some restructuring, and the storyline should be tightened. But it has a strong pulse. One that resonates deeply with the viewer and exposes the writer’s sharp eye for human relationships and social commentary. In the end, it’s no more than an ordinary tale about ordinary people…
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Review of ‘Woody Sez’: “Biographical musical goes down the wrong dramaturgical road, and it feels bad”
He deserves to be celebrated. And celebrated, he is. Beautifully. Passionately. Sometimes, even remarkably. But not flawlessly. Far from that, in fact. The creative team is unlikely to change anything. The show played at the Ed Fringe over a decade ago, then came to London, and subsequently toured across the US, returning to its second…
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Review of ‘Bloodsport’: “Modern-day Iliad screams loud, but it has no stentorian voice”
A Greek tragedy is unfolding on the stage at Stratford East. If the gods of theatre are keen to seek retaliation, I cannot blame them. In the end, it is a mediocre play. Even worse, it butchers one of the finest ancient narratives the Western world has ever coined, and it has virtually nothing to…
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Review of ‘The Children’ (Lyric Hammersmith, 2026): “Nuclear tragedy misses some of its core”
I can’t stop thinking that the whole premise, message, and even title of this show come across as if they’re honouring (or written by) Helen Lovejoy. Yes, I mean the one from The Simpsons. Fortunately, it has nothing to do with puritan morality but her determination to protect the younger. And the fact that the…
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Review of ‘Rope Drop’: “Disneyland cabaret homage is no E-ticket attraction, but it has a fast pass”
It’s become fashionable to hate on Disney adults. Some argue that their entertainment is aimed at kids and kids alone, and you should move on once they hit puberty. Others claim that grown-ups’ admiration for The Big Cheese and everything it manufactures is almost sectarian and requires psychological examination. And others (probably, the majority) are…
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Review of ‘Jane Eyre: A Musical’ (Southwark Playhouse, 2026): “Poor, obscure, plain, and little adaptation is also soulless and heartless”
From (half of) the directional team that brought you Les Misérables, here comes a show that won’t fail to let you down. Yes, I’m aware of what most critics said when the “unsellable French musical” premiered at the Barbican — and of how, 40 years later, it continues to prove them wrong. But as a…
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Review of ‘Crybabies: The Scaring’: “Horror parody show is frightfully hysterical”
There are three possible outcomes when making a horror story: it can be either terrible, terrific, or terrifying. This one happens to be the last two. Despite the humour (and trust me when I say that there’s A LOT of that), you’ll still find a few solid screamers in it; if you don’t believe me,…
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Review of ‘Holy Fool’: “Shostakovich-themed play brings no harmony — but it doesn’t conflict either”
It’s difficult enough to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour play following a first-thing flight from New York for writers Rosalind Adler and Lea Sellers to make things worse. And worse, they make them — to a point where the tedium becomes torturous. Bear in mind that the plot is set during Stalin’s oppressive regime. But ironically,…
