Farm Fatale @ Southbank Centre

A post-apocalyptic world where clown scarecrows run a pirate radio station, playing their own compositions, and fighting against industrial farms who ruin the environment. Sounds like a normal night at the theatre right?

Philippe Quesne, one of France’s most renowned experimental theatremakers brought his Farm Fatale to the Southbank Centre to a crowd of mainly enthusiastic fans ready to take on something strange. Somewhere between the teletubbies and a deranged clown, the scarecrows aren’t meant to be cute or even really funny, although they are wildly endearing. Those looking for logic or even drama may find themselves wanting more — this is about creating a world and exploring the limits of this container with these characters, rather than driving dramatic moment. It is intentionally still, even when it moves. It takes time.

This isn’t for everyone. It is at the edge of failure in performance, testing the audience’s patience and attention, our willingess to suspend meaning making yet also have it thrust upon us. It was intensely weird. And I adored it.

Derrière on a G String - King's Head Theatre

This cleverly conceived production leverages the structure of cabaret with the language of dance to explore every day subjects to a heightened degree, with an inherently sexualised twist. The performers are collectively strong, creating spaces and moods through their physicality and choreography, yet somehow it feels more like a play without words than a dance performance. The vignettes are generally quite funny, but the best ones are those that don’t try to veer into social commentary, instead staying firmly in collective experiences, such as faux pas.

I’d definitely recommend seeing this show — it is a fun and entertaining 90 mins, although it could have benefitted from cutting maybe 1-2 of the scenes which started to drag. Nonetheless, an exceptionally conceived production.

Avenue Q @ Shaftesbury Theatre

The best thing about the 2026 London Revival of Avenue Q is that it doesn’t just show us Avenue Q as it was; it makes a few thoughtful tweaks, both to the text and to some of the interpretation, really considering what would now be some of the dated references and interpretations in the original when viewed with 2026 eyes.

Text edits make dramaturgical sense, and if you didn’t know the original an audience likely wouldn’t notice. How can a puppet sing about the internet being for porn, for example, without bringing in the context of AI or OnlyFans?

The more clever adaptations come in the directing, however. Christmas Eve, rather than being played as a woman wearing traditional, geisha reminiscent clothes and representing racist stereotypes, is instead a young cool immigrant, stylish and misunderstood for her accent, but earnest in her desire to fit in. She is Kurisa Masa Eve….who the characters mispronounce and misquote, but without malice, just with subtle American-centric trains of thought. It is microaggressions performed.

Similarly, the casting choices are smart — while the lead puppet voices are written for 6 separate actors, with puppeting doubling up for an extra hand, this production re-tracks the performers so that Lucy and Kate are the same actor, Rod and Princeton are the same actor, and Trekke and Nicky are the same actor. The result is virtuosic performances first of all, but also a subtle hint at the way each pairing is opposite sides of the coin. Lucy and Kate, the “angel and whore” dichotomy, and so on.

All of this adds up to a production that really stands up well, and is worth seeing — if for no reason other than a great belly laugh, which we all need these days.

Down To Chance @ Pleasance Theatre

Down To Chance is a quirky two hander that structurally is like a radio play, telling the story of an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska, shortly after the US purchase of the territory. The two actors portray an entire town’s worth of characters, leveraging props and incredible physicality and vocal work to give distinct, funny, charming characters life, at times for mere seconds.

What is truly inventive here is the use of sound. For a play about radio, it really leans into this mechanism, leveraging audio treatment to amplified sound to create different textures to the various radios we’re meant to hear from. What’s more, the core action of the play is to ask people to stay home and listen to the radio for information — and radios were placed on the tables around the cabaret style audience setup, with a mic pack plugged in so that they actually played this audio to your table, creating a delightful immersion, and bringing the audience closer to the action.

Charlie & Striptease @ Golden Goose Thatre

This production formed part of doctoral research on Central European Absurdist Theatre, and was made up of two short plays by Polish playwright, Mroczek, whose work was written and first staged during communism. Performed by the same 3 actors, the two plays center on similar themes.

Charlie (Karol in the original Polish) centres around what happens when the rules of civility and logic are abandoned. Structurally, it is rather similar to Ionesco’s The Lesson, but with the politics of his Rhinoceros. The promotional material indicated that it was prescient in the face of what’s happening in the US today, and in the post-show Q&A the team spoke about how this linked with the ICE shootings in Minnesota. I am not sure that the parallels felt particularly deeply thought; indeed, branches of American authority have been shooting people nonsensically in the street for decades. Additionally, there was no clear link to Americans — although I appreciate the sentiment of the link.

Striptease is slightly different in tone; two men who appear identical are thrust into a space without knowing how they got there, where a disembodied hand dictates their actions and behaviours. Their collective fear of one another, and of the hand, along with their disagreement on how to handle the situation and who to trust, was palpable.

Of the two, Striptease was the stronger piece, as it played more in nuance of the performance. For my taste, Charlie chose loud over heightened, with a bit more shouting than needed to demonstrate fear rather than create it.

I believe the experiment is around tools to bring absurdist theatre to the stage, to support actors….I’m curious to know the results.

Uccellini @ The Coronet Theatre

A beautiful story about those who are left behind. Uccellini explores what happens to individuals when someone close to them commits suicide — specifically, triplets, one of whom is gone, and the rift that creates, the emptiness. 

The play is performed in Italian with English surtitles, and the translation has clearly done with extreme care — the poetic nature of the languague is not lost, but clearly there for us even in translation. The three performers are all magnetic - they move in space with a smoothness characteristic of continental-trained actors. The body is central, the character exudes from the body with simplicity. 

The production leverages video in a fasciating way — a large square scrim sits close to the front, and acts as the fourth wall of the house (a window) but also as a projection screen, on which we see what they are seeing, both literally (forest) and imaginatively, with foxes and deer captured, projected large over the actors…..their haunting black eyes empty in the black and white night vision recording.  The script offers many questions, and few answers, but for the stunning epithet:

We are here.
This is how we are. 

An absolutely brilliant script from Rosalinda Conti, expertly performed and directed, from lacasadargilla. 

Fragments @ The Space

Fragments consists of three short pieces - two new works, and an adaptation of Macbeth. The three are performed by the same 3 actors in repertory, all in the same in the round configuration, with the same bench at the centre of the space.

The scripts could use a bit of dramaturgy but thematically the connections were clear. The performances were uneven and often shouty — and lacking in direction. I would have liked to see a benefit to staging in the round, but it didn’t add anything specifically, indeed it felt as though large swaths of the cavernous performance space went unused (unfortunately as The Space is a gorgeous building).

Overall a strong effort from the young company, but in need of an outside eye both for dramaturgy and direction. There wasn’t a programme on offer or online, so it was not possible to see whether there were any debuts at play.

Oh Mary! @ Trafalgar Theatre

Cole Escanola’s Oh Mary has been a hit in New York for awhile, and has now made the journey to the West End, with the first Mary played by Mason Alexander Park. The pre-show sets us up for a party, with dance music versions of music hall cabaret and musical theatre classics. The play opens following this in big, broad strokes - featuring silly, sex-driven bawdy humour, and larger than life performances from the cast. It is funny at first, however for me, it didn’t have enough variety in its approach to the bawdy and crass humour, hitting a majority of the jokes at the same pitch, meaning it grew old and samey. This is unfortunate. It isn’t easy to direct this style and keep it interesting across 90 minutes, and indeed, this production didn’t manage it. 

The changes in pitch when things change for Mary were lost to that sameness, meaning the play continued along at that level. It clearly worked for some in the audience, but the production lacked that unifying capability of a truly good comedy show where the audience’s incredulity at the jokes reaches a fever pitch. 

That’s not to take away from the performers themselves — I think the issue for me lay in the direction.

Vincent in Brixton @ Orange Tree Theatre

Vincent in Brixton, Nicholas Wright’s award-winning 2002 play, is remounted at The Orange Tree, with an exceptional cast living within a beautiful design. As Orange Tree is in the round, the design positions us as the walls of the kitchen; within this kitchen, are a fully working stove and sink with running water. The cast prepare food, and aromas fill the air, lingering like subtext.

The performers are all strong, notably Niamh Cusack as Mrs Loyer, whose subtle shifts in emotion are exquisite to watch. The company as a whole fill the space with life beautifully, several of the company making their professional debuts with this production. Jeroen Frank Kales in particular stands out with a delightful performance as Vincent, someone I will definitely watch for in future.

While the design was beautiful, and the performances strong, I do wonder why this play, now. While it deals with issues contemporary to today — in particular loneliness and depression — it focussed more on the love story, and indeed didn’t even acknowledge those darker topics with support materials in the programme, I noted. While the production was good, I do feel it missed an opportunity to connect with the current moment in a more meaningful way.

The Tempest @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

What magic we have here. Such stuff as dream are made on.

Tim Crouch’s latest Shakespeare adaptation is at first glance, incredibly traditional; for those expecting immediate subversion, think again. Instead, the subversion comes more subtly; indeed the first moments of it feel so organic, I questioned whether it was planned or real….As the silliness of the plot unfolds, the commentary from within the production grows and grows.

Despite this irreverence, there is a magical and respectful quality to the choices; the language is paramount, at times repeated by multiple characters, or whispered by one as it is spoken by another. This is a story we’ve heard over and over again, one that echoes in our memories even if we don’t remember every beat.

In particular, the use of the Wannamaker Playhouse space is ingenious; Crouch’s direction uses every inch of the building, the echoes, the angles, the height….creating a world where the audience feel they too could jump up and participate.

This production isn’t about reverence to the Bard; it is about reverence to communion, to coming together. To breaking down barriers and exclusions. To joy.

Broken Glass @ Young Vic Theatre

I can’t say I went into this knowing Miller’s 1994 play set in 1938 New York; and yet, I don’t feel as though this production showed me anything new to justify the remount. While timely in its interrogation of what it means to be Jewish, and its consideration of how far away events affect us, it nonetheless felt none of the urgency I would have expected from this play in today’s climate. The set design tried to tie it to today — a modern water cooler and contemporary newspapers mixed in with old ones and 1930’s style clothing and hair styles. The anachronism of the design was an interesting approach, however the performances were clearly set in the period, so missed the opportunity to link this way, too. In a way, it felt like the play still lived in 1990s misogyny representing 1930s ideals. . . but without any 2026 perspective on these views.

The performances also felt uneven; at times it felt like the actors were in separate plays, and often a bit shouty. While other of Fein’s productions have been celebrated, I struggle to think positively about this one.

Salt @ Riverside Studios

Performed in the round, with 3 actors and some simple props, Salt is a new piece of old writing. That is to say that it tells a very old story, but in a uniquely modern way, leveraging physical theatre techniques and inventive sound created both by the actors themselves, and using the props in the space.

The piece as a whole is incredibly tightly rehearsed by writer-director Beau Hopkins; every moment and beat carefully considered, and performed to perfection by Emily Outred, Mylo McDonald, and Bess Roche. The 3 performers are equally matched, and equally engaging over the course of the play.

My only critique is the length; I would have liked to see it tightened into 90 minutes without intermission, rather than full-length with an interval. The energy of the script and production propelled so beautifully, that it felt like the end — indeed at least 6 people in the audience I was in did not come back after the interval, perhaps thinking it had ended.

Chiaru Shiota @ Hayward Gallery

There is an almost claustrophobic wonder about Chiaru Shiota’s work, shown in Hayward’s gallery. The exhibition focuses primarily on Shiota’s work with string, where what can only be kilometres worth of coloured string is used to create intricate webs around the room and around objects.

The first room is keys and a door, evoking the feeling that if only one could find and disentangle the right key, we would be able to pass through, or close off. Feelings of futility, of overwhelm, and yet simultaneously a lightness — the task is impossible, and it is not your responsibility, you simply must go on.

Chiaru Shiota - Threads of Life

The next room has string hanging from the ceiling, like a magical fringe, which has caught up bits of paper. You can read some of the letters, each in a different script - and upon reaching the end of the room we learn they are from visitors to the exhibition in different cities, writing letters of thanks. There are letters of encouragement, of forgiveness, of love. As you walk through the maze-like arrangement of a path, the papers are suspended as if these feelings of gratitude are falling down upon you.

Chiaru Shiota - Letters of thanks

We pass through a stairway area to transition into the final, most compelling room. Black string engulfs beds in various states of disarray. I understand that at various points, performers will sleep in these beds, and can’t help but wonder how they get into the web. The string webs here are their most claustrophobic, like darkness coming down around them. It is dark work, but interesting.

Chiaru Shiota - During Sleep

Dreamscape @ Omnibus Theatre

Dreamscape is a captivating and inventively told story, based on the true story of Taisha Miller, a young American woman who was killed by police while unconscious in her car. Told entirely through the language of hip hop culture, both in what is said and how it is said, as well as what we see, Dreamscape tells us a story without telling us all of the exposition. It gives us the story of this young woman, her hopes and dreams, her life….all while allowing us to slowly piece together what has senselessly happened to her.

The merger of language, rhythm, and movement are exceptional, and it performed to perfection by the company. The production is spellbinding and completely compelling — and leaves you reflecting deeply on the news stories of today, where police violence against Black and Brown bodies has not subsided.

This is an absolute must-see — and you still can, when it is up at the Arcola in July & August 2026

Here There Are Blueberries @ Theatre Royal Stratford East

Moises Kaufman’s latest Pulitzer-finalist play, Here There Are Blueberries, picks up his trademark documentary theatre style to explore the real life events surrounding the discovery of a photo album of Nazi officers in their day to day at Auschwitz, during World War 2. The script follows the investigations of the research archivists at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, who are made aware of the album and undertake to identify the individuals, dates, and times of the photographs, while wrestling with the moral dilemma of of whether to display these photographs.

The cast are well rehearsed, and move around the stage in deftly smooth choreography; the stage space itself transforms from an office to various rooms, while at times through the way projection is leveraged, it is as if we’re looking at the inside of a microphiche. The real photographs are like characters in the play; as the individuals are discussed, very clever lighting design focuses our attention on specific individuals or areas, taking what’s effectively 90 mins of exposition and translating that into the excitement of a true crime podcast.

It was particularly interesting to think about the timing of this production; it was first written and premiered in 2018, in the shadow of Trump’s first presidency, which came with Islamophobic policy and a subjugation of women in the US. It has continued, and today feels just as compelling to hear these stories of the everyday nature of the lives of these individuals relayed in American accents, while the US government build camps and arrest individuals on the street for the colour of their skin or perceived passport. These photographs were made public in 2007, in what feels like a wildly different time.

This production is slick and timely, and could drop into a West End theatre at the blink of an eye. I hope it does, so that more people have the opportunity to reflect on the insidiously “normal” behaviour of the perpetrators of some of the worst crimes against humanity….and what t is happening right before our eyes once again.

Cohen, Bernstein, Joni & me

This is a biographical solo play with music, following the life and career of New Zealander Deb Filler, framed around her encounters with music and the people who make it. Simply set with a stool and two guitars, supported by projections of real family photos on a small screen behind, Deb paints the picture of her experiences around the world — from a small girl singing Judy Garland songs in a talent show to an accomplished musician creating a documentary in Toronto after visiting Auschwitz with her dad who survived the camp.

Deb’s performance is playful and engaging — but it is at its best when she expresses through song, armed with her guitars. There are some lovely moments of audience participation and even sing along, which are quite heartwarming.

There are a few moments that drag, and the overall script could be tightened up slightly through the middle, but on the whole it is the kind of show I can imagine my parents grinning through. A heartwarming and hopeful 90 minutes.

I Do @ Malmaison London (Dante or Die for Barbican)

Guests arrive in the hotel lobby, and are split into groups with an usher, signified by a buttonhole flower of different colours. We are then quickly briefed by the usher, who acts as our guide, up the stairs, and into a hotel room where the party has begun. The script is a collection of 6 15 minute scenes which overlap, taking place in 6 separate rooms on the same hotel floor. As we progress from one room to the next, elements of the story reveal themselves, reminiscent of Alan Ayckbourn’s Norman Conquests. Indeed in a similar way, the depth of the relationships grows, and our perceptions of behaviours change.

The timeline of the script is quite impressive, and the performance a feat of stage management and direction. The entire company work as a unit to craft deep and meaningful performances in these tiny rooms, with audience often right under their noses (at times literally). The choreography of the scenes to re-set themselves, leveraging the character of “the cleaner” to reset time and space, but also to provide a point of view on the activities, is a clever device.

This is a remount of the 2013 production, and an exceptional one. I wouldn’t argue that it is doing anything particularly NEW in the world of immersive, but indeed it did it quite well.

The Lost Library of Leake Street @ The Glitch

While billed as a Christmas story, The Lost Library of Leake Street is much more. Told by two actors who are transformed through the stories held by objects, the script jumps through time to tell these stories. The production is housed in the basement space in The Glitch — long and narrow with the audience in alley style along two walls, with shelves and objects filling every corner of the space. The detail in the set design is delightful, but more exciting was the lighting design which despite limited technical capacity, leveraged the use of practicals, fairy lights, and some well-placed theatrical lighting to focus our attention and create the magical worlds where these stories live.

The two performers were equally matched. There was a gentle energy about the performances — where so many performances these days are high energy and large, both actors were soft and subtle in their embodiment of the characters. They let the words to the work, letting themselves be the conduit for the story.

The relationship to the space and the engaged complicity of the audience made this seem different to so much other work we see these days. While no single element felt innovative in itself, the relationships and connections between them made it so.

The Boline Inn @ Hope Theatre

The Boline Inn is a new piece of time-bending theatre, which brings together a group of women who converge on an inn in Scotland, conjuring power in various ways. While the themes are of magic and feminine power, the structure is largely linear and play-like. Where the script plays with time, it sticks with form — I think it could have benefitted from a departure from linear understandings of story. Early in the script there is a thread of Madonna’s music bringing the characters together, however this doesn’t materialise into anything other than to firmly set the most contemporary of the characters in the 1980’s….again this feels like a missed opportunity.

The company is made up of recent graduates, all of whom do good work here. And while I have critiques, I still think there is something in this script that bears development and further exploration. I hope it can get some space to breathe and grow into the delightfully empowering and form-challenging piece of theatre that’s in there.

Dick Whittington and his Cat @ Harrow Arts Centre

Immersion Theatre are back at Harrow Arts Centre this panto season with a high-energy Dick Whittington and his Cat. As usual, the production includes a chorus rounded out by local youth performers, supporting the leading actors through some hilarious slapstick and punny jokes.

The action is tightly directed; the performers squeeze every ounce out of the jokes, and the pace of the bantering dialogue is breakneck, yet easy to follow. Unfortunately the musical direction was a bit uneven — while some songs were perfectly balanced and deftly rehearsed, others felt strained and with imbalanced harmonies. There was an unevenness to the mic quality as well, meaning that at times it was too loud, and at times too quiet.

This is unfortunate as these two elements undermined what was otherwise a very enjoyable panto.

Standout performances for me were Philip McParland as Cecily Sweetlove (whose costumes were out of this world) and Ben J Packer as Timmy the Tomcat, who was the energetic yet anchored glue of the cast. His capacity to be high energy yet complete genuine was exceptional, and his in-script improvisation for audience interaction was very strong.