Theatre


I currently write two regular monthly columns on theatre: one for Prospect Magazine as their theatre critic, and one for The Stage, drawing in part on my experience as Chair of the Drama Section of the UK Critics’ Circle.

Prior to the pandemic, I was the New York Review of Books‘ resident London theatre critic, and I had previously spent several years as the junior theatre critic at The Times, reviewing for that paper two or three times a week. I have also contributed theatre reviews to The Spectator, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. As a theatre programme obsessive, I regularly contribute programme notes to theatre and opera venues, and welcome inquiries about potential work in this area.

As Critics’ Circle Chair, I organise our prestigious annual Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, the only awards made in British theatre purely on the basis of professional theatre critics’ votes, and without any input from vested interests within the industry. We successfully relaunched in April 2022 after the Covid-19 pandemic with a ceremony at London’s Ham Yard Hotel. I also maintain an active interest in arts philanthropy. I can date the moment I fell in love with theatre to a Joanna Laurens production at the Gate Theatre, W11. Consequently, I founded a Young Supporters’ Network at the Gate and have sat on their Development Working Group, which means that this is the only venue at which I now exclude myself from reviewing.



See Me Now at the Young Vic, SE1

Posted on Feb 20, 2017 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 20 February 2017 There are rules to sex work. The participants in See Me Now agree on most of them: “Never use your real name”; “Get the money first.” Otherwise there’s less of a consensus. Pan never carries sharp objects, in case they’re used against her. B, however,...

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Henry V at Southwark Cathedral, SE1

Posted on Feb 8, 2017 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 8 February 2017 You would be forgiven for forgetting, but 2015 marked 600 years since Henry V’s longbow-led victory at the Battle of Agincourt. More conspicuously, 2016 marked 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. Over the past few years Antic Disposition have honoured the...

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Made In India at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Posted on Feb 2, 2017 | 0 comments

British theatre is getting to grips with the drama of modern fertility struggles. The Young Vic’s astonishing reworking of Yerma returns this summer; last June Gareth Farr’s tour of The Quiet House deftly explored the strain on a couple undergoing IVF. Satinder Chohan’s new play, Made in India,...

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‘Hamilton’ hype highlights our transatlantic differences

Posted on Jan 27, 2017 | 0 comments

written for the Financial Times, 27 January 2017 The Founding Fathers may have been American, but this week, with no apparent sense of irony, Theresa May made them British. Speaking to Republican leaders in Philadelphia, the prime minister had only praise for the signatories of the US Declaration of...

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The Doppel Gang at Tristan Bates, WC2

Posted on Jan 20, 2017 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 20 January 2017 Great collaborations are often spawned at drama school; so too are the most foppish of flops. The programme note for The Doppel Gang tells us that as drama students at the University of Central Lancashire, Peter Stone and Jake Urry enjoyed a physical comedy module...

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Birthday Suit at Old Red Lion Theatre, EC1

Posted on Jan 18, 2017 | 0 comments

reviewed for The Times, 18 January 2017 High-flyer Diane has only been with the company a week and she’s eager to impress. So she is thrilled when senior office bod Richard (played by Liam Bewley) suggests that she drop by his 40th birthday party on Friday. Yet Richard doesn’t seem sure how to...

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