THEATRE REVIEW: High Society starring Helen George, Felicity Kendal, Julian Ovenden & Freddie Fox at Barbican Theatre

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 23 May (matinee), opens 3 June and runs through 11 July 2026 and then tours through 14 November 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Helen George (Love In Idleness, Menier) may still be best known for TV’s Call The Midwife and is the central character here as Long Island socialite Tracy Lord planning a June 1938 wedding to accountant George Kittredge.

  • Read on for reasons including how this production maintains the general standard of this venue’s traditional summer musical blockbuster revival
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THEATRE REVIEW: Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster, Robert Lindsay, Gary Wilmot & Felicity Kendal at the Barbican

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: matinee Sunday 25 July 2021, opens 4 August, runs to 17 October

RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute matinee)

Sutton Foster won a Tony for her portrayal of nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the 2011 Broadway production and there are 2 moments here at this 3rd preview where she spurs the enthusiastic audience into mid-show standing ovations.

  • Read on for reasons including how Foster’s chemistry with Lindsay as public enemy Moonface Martin is a delight
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THEATRE REVIEW: Lettice and Lovage starring Felicity Kendal and Maureen Lipman

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Menier Chocolate Factory

WHEN: 5/5, press night 17/5, runs to 8/7

Author Sir Peter Shaffer wrote this three-act play for Dame Maggie Smith in 1987, when we first saw it, and it won her a Tony.

  • Read on for reasons including which of its stars took two prompts on this second preview

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