Susannah Clapp

Erin Doherty, Stephen Mangan and Nicola Walker rise to the challenge in Mike Bartlett’s witty dissection of a throuple. And Roger Allam makes a magnificent Churchill in Howard Brenton’s broad-brush latest

Hundreds of hours of original plays have been cut from the corporation’s programming in recent years. If the trend continues, a valuable training ground for writers will be lost

Luke Thallon is a compelling, all-at-sea Hamlet, Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston sizzle as Beatrice and Benedick, while Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey is a bit too much the overreaching king

Chris Bush’s insightful take on the trans experience drifts into the fantastical; Tamsin Greig and Celia Imrie spar as discomfited daughter and unabashed mother

Cate Blanchett is magnetic – and maddening – as faded actor Arkadina in Chekhov’s supreme play about writers. Plus, James Graham’s bracing real-life drama of actions and consequences hits home

A bold revival of Ionesco’s play about the dangers of conformity rings all too true. And Hitchcock’s murderously droll back catalogue is turned into a stylish, suspense-free song and dance

Robert Icke’s pulsating new drama about the 2010 hunt for killer Raoul Moat boasts a powerhouse performance from Samuel Edward-Cook. And a sharp-edged Covid vax drama fails to inject enough nuance

Unfinished at the time of his death in 2021, Stephen Sondheim’s ambitious fusion of two Buñuel films is unmissable but loses itself as the music dies

London theatre reviews from UK newspaper The Observer. Here's a selection of reviews of London shows from the theatre and arts critics at The Observer newspaper.

Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Raison triumph as Henry Irving and Ellen Terry in Grace Pervades, which shows how character is made on and off stage