West End

Writer: David Greig, based on the book by Joe Simpson  Director: Tom Morris  Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Mountaineer Joe Simpson catalogued the climb from hell in his 1988 memoir Touching the Void, the multi-million selling book which was turned into an award-winning documentary film. Now it is the turn of theatre to tell the story of two climbers’ disastrous attempt to ...

Writer: Arthur Miller Co-directors: Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell Reviewer: Stephen Bates The Young Vic’s revival of Death of a Salesman earlier this year was widely praised for breathing fresh life into a classic, thought by many to be among the greatest plays of the 20th Century. Yet the title does not lie and, for all the production’s touches of ...

Music: George Stiles Lyrics: Anthony Drewe Book: Anthony Drewe and Elliot Davis Director: Will Keith Reviewer: David Guest A charming revamp of a classic fairy tale is casting a spell at Charing Cross Theatre in the run-up to Christmas – though cries of “He’s behind you!” have the potential to be taken the wrong way in this rather more adult ...

Writer: Brian Friel Director: Ian Rickson Reviewer: Scott Mattheman “I am a barbarian in this place,” Dermot Crowley’s Jimmy in Translations, “because I am not understood by anyone.” He is translating from Ovid, but the statement is one of Brian Friel’s defining themes in this play about Anglo-Irish attitudes. Translations is a common A-Level set text, which may account in ...

Writers: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman Directors: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s portmanteau horror play Ghost Stories has been phenomenally successful since launching at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2010. Several West End runs, touring and international versions, and even a feature film have followed. And still, the central mystery at ...

Writer: Peter Nichols Director: Simon Evans Reviewer: Maryam Philpott In times of crisis Brits are famous for a sense of humour and endless stoicism but while that “Blitz Spirit” may apply to times of war and national crisis, Peter Nichols semi-biographical 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, enjoying a rare outing at the Trafalgar Studios, suggests ...

Writer: Athol Fugard Director: Roy Alexander Weise Reviewer: Stephen Bates By 1950, the year in which Athol Fugard’s play is set, the political system of Apartheid was in its infancy, but the social attitudes around which it was founded had much deeper roots. Initially banned in the writer’s native South Africa, ‘Master Harold’…and the boys premiered in the United States ...

Book: John Weidman Music: David Shire Lyrics: Richard Maltby Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Films from the 1980s are the bedrock of musical theatre right now, something about their big-hearted themes, easy social messaging and optimistic storytelling suits the frothiest of genres perfectly. 9 to 5opened earlier this year following a popular run for Heathers: The Musical and soon a song-filled version of ...