WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Menier Chocolate Factory
WHEN: 20/11, press night 2/12, runs to 5/3/16. Transfers to Savoy Theatre and runs 9/4/16 – 2/7/16.
In July we declared that Imelda Staunton was giving the best performance in the West End in Gypsy.
WORTH A LOOK: ****
WHERE: Trafalgar Studios
WHEN: 19/11 runs to 13/2
This 50th anniversary production of Harold Pinter’s unsettling play has attracted a stellar cast including Gemma Chan (who starred in Channel Four’s Humans), John Simm, Gary Kemp and Keith Allen.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: National Theatre
WHEN: 11/11 (matinee), runs to 5/3/16
The unforgettable stage transformation from 21st century office to Forest of Arden is our abiding memory from this playful production by Polly Findlay.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 12/11, runs to 21/11
We’ve seen Bertie Carvel within a few short months as a doomed king in ancient Greece (Bakkhai), a cheating modern day husband (TV’s Doctor Foster) and now a brutish American 20th century ship labourer.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHERE: Dominion Theatre
WHEN: 10/11, runs to 2/1/16
It is unfortunate for the West End’s highest charging musical that publicity has centred on its £240 top-priced tickets.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Adelphi Theatre
WHEN: 4/11 (matinee), running to 28/5/16
We saw the first Kinky Boots London preview in August, it opened in September to near universal 4* reviews and we decided to return on a matinee in November to give it our full critical appreciation.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Theatre Royal Haymarket
WHEN: 31/10 (matinee), runs to 23/1/16
Samuel Foote was an 18th century theatre manager/actor who may have won royal status for the venue in which this play is being staged yet also lost a leg in an accident but continued to tread the boards.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE: The Barbican
WHEN: 31/10
It’s the end of the last night of 100 or so performances and Benedict Cumberbatch is onstage and on the verge of tears – thanking the audiences across the 12-week run at The Barbican for donating more than £100,000 to Save The Children for Syrian refugees.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Arcola Theatre
WHEN: 23/10 to 14/11
The state of tabloid journalism was tackled most recently in the National’s production of Great Britain but is done so far more vividly and successfully here.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: National Theatre
WHEN: 17/10, runs to 21/10
We’ve seen three plays written by Patrick Marber this year: the revival of Closer at the Donmar, the non-league football-inspired Red Lion at the National and this Turgenev adaptation at the same venue, which is the most successful.
