Author: The Reviews Hub - London

Writer: Tim Etchells Cold Sweat, performed by Forced Entertainment, is drastic, comical and absurd. Yet, the Sheffield-based company known for its mission of playing with possibilities in theatre and performance somehow manages to use the oddity of it all to create a subtle exploration of AI in our lives. The performance, which debuted in 2025, follows a similar format to their 2024 show Signal to Noise, where the artists lip-sync to AI voices speaking Tim Etchells’ wacky texts. The guise of a story lies in the setting: a room strewn with tinsel, discarded paper cups, boxes, overturned tables and blow-up…

Writer: August Wilson Director: Daniel Bailey Familiar to many from Denzel Washington’s 2016 film, Fences is the sixth in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle of 10 plays and dates from 1985. In Daniel Bailey’s hands, it’s visceral, intense and arresting. The plot gives us Troy (Ray Fearon), a refuse collector, trying to keep his temper and his family in 1950s Pittsburgh, when and where black people were definitely second-class citizens.  He has excelled at baseball but has been thwarted and served a 15-year prison sentence for murder. He’s also fathered a musical son (Michael Ahomka-Lindsay) by an early relationship. 18 years…

Conceiver & Director: Guillaume Pigé Theatre Re have an established reputation for thought-provoking and punchy physical shows, and their one-night performance of this work to a sprawling Hackney Empire packed to the rafters proves exactly why; The Nature of Forgetting is as joyful as it is stirring, and anyone looking for an exceptionally executed and accomplished show does themself a disservice by missing out here. The narrative is simple, albeit one that plays out with interesting non-linear flourishes. We start with Tom (Guillaume Pigé, also Creator and Director) getting dressed on his birthday, his daughter Sophie (Luna Tosin) assisting him…

Writer and Director: Giovanni Tortorici Giovanni Tortorici’s film about teenage kicks in Sicily ought really to be called Giulio rather than Ketticè. In a strong performance, Salvatore Gallina is the 16-year-old boy from a rich family. Despite a private school education, he’s struggling with his studies. He falls in with hard girl Ketticè (Ketty), who has a reputation for fighting and who lives in a tower block in Palermo. The two of them spend most of the film smoking dope. It’s not clear why Tortorici has chosen to set his brash movie in 2012. The kids all use Facebook, but…

Writer: Shirley Jackson Adaptor:  Stef Smith Director: Martin Constantine Not all love stories end in terror, but this one does. The latest rendition of The Haunting of Hill House is filled with both light and dark moments, but the latter is what’s sure to sink deep into the psyche and leave the audience haunted for weeks to come. The chilling tale preys on what lies in the darkness, whether it’s paranormal, secrets, or just mommy issues. Adapted from Shirley Jackson’s beloved horror novel by Olivier and BAFTA winner Stef Smith, The Haunting of Hill House sticks close to the original…

Writer: Caroline Williams Directors: Deborah Pearson and Caroline Williams With a familiar theatre red curtain, the stage is already set for this theatrical exploration of Chekhov’s Nina from The Seagull. When the curtain draws back, we see an actor on her mark, ready to audition and taking instructions from the director through a God mic. But when she reaches Chekhov’s line, ‘you should kill me rather’, fiction becomes reality. The power dynamic between the male director and female actor becomes a source of both humour and absurdity, as his increasingly ridiculous demands expose the darker undertones of manipulation. With each…

Writer: Samuel Pepys    Adaptor: Deirdre Shields Director: Judy Reaves  “The most remarkable account we have of ordinary lives in extraordinary times.” This is how director Judy Reaves describes Samuel Pepys’ famous diary. Deirdre Shields has adapted the diary and spliced it together with letters and music to create a vibrant portrait of mid-17th-century London. The results are strangely spellbinding. Edward Bennett plays Pepys and, despite an almost entirely static staging, manages to infuse his reading with the diarist’s own energetic zest for life. Pepys was only 27 years old when he started to write. Among the politics and violence,…

British Comedian Ahir Shah is 35 years old and riding high after decades of successful shows. His 2017 and 2018 stand-up sets were nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. His 2023 show Ends won the award and was made into a Netflix special. As in previous work, the last sections of Golden switchback from laughter to tears with moving meditations on family life. For his many fans, Shah’s relatable style and unadulterated honesty make an hour in his company an involving experience even when it’s not all jokes. Golden, despite its upbeat title, is a relatively serious show. Shah’s material…