The biggest story in the USA in 1924 was the kidnapping and gruesome murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks by two rich students from Chicago, Nathan Leopold Jr and Richard Loeb, which became known at the time https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/thrill-me-the-leopold-loeb-story-waterloo-east-theatre/

We Will Rock You remains a curious fixture of the musical theatre landscape, enduring in popularity despite a formula that, at least in this iteration, feels increasingly dated. The production is housed in a venue https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/we-will-rock-you-orchard-west-dartford-review/

Given the famously intimate scale of the Old Red Lion Theatre, I initially found myself wondering how a production as expansive as The History Boys, with its sizeable cast and richly layered text, could possibly be https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-history-boys-old-red-lion-theatre-review/

Very much a city show for city dwellers, there’s an entire musical number about the sights – and smells – of New York. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/avenue-q-shaftesbury-theatre-review/

For regular visitors to this website and readers of our reviews, you would have seen that my esteemed colleague Chris Omaweng reviewed this very show just fourteen days ago, so why am I back there https://www.londontheatre1.com/theatre-news/kinky-boots-dining-experience-colonel-saab-london-coliseum/

Off to the White Bear Theatre in Kennington once more, this time to see a new play by Mercy Brewer called Trl. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/trial-white-bear-theatre-review/

Upon entering the auditorium, transformed into the lively interior of The Sun Inn public house, the audience is immediately immersed in a scene of convivial chaos. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/heart-wall-bush-theatre-review/

An Evening Without Kate Bush (tagline: ‘she isn’t here, but you are’) is a cabaret phenomenon that celebrates the music, legacy and fanbase of Kate Bush. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/an-evening-without-kate-bush-underbelly-boulevard/

The apparent laissez-faire approach to theft and pickpocketing these days, including a case where a supermarket worker was dismissed from his job for physically intervening to stop a shoplifter, only underlines the nostalgia this https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/oliver-gielgud-theatre-review/

I must confess that, until seeing this wonderful 'juke-box' musical, Johnny Cash and June Carter were just names to me. Not any more, having just heard over 35 of their best songs in this imaginatively wr https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-johnny-june-theatre-royal-brighton-review/

There are many non-professional theatre groups in the London area, and it is always good to welcome another, especially one based at The Glitch in Waterloo and boasting a predominantly youthful cast who can imb https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-witch-and-the-whistleblower-the-glitch-review/

This new production of Iphigenia, directed by Serdar Bilis and translated by Stephen Sharkey, successfully blends fiction with reality to “create a piece that asks piercing questions about how we choose to live our lives.” https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/iphigenia-arcola-theatre-review/

Set on the edge of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Revel Puck Circus delivers an engaging and accessible circus experience that feels both intimate and lively. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/a-glimmer-daze-gambit-queen-elizabeth-olympic-park/

Desire, Defiance, Decapitation. The famous York Hall, home of British boxing, is a fitting venue for Salome. An opera with a knockout punch. Many boxers have suffered cuts and knockout blows here, but none has been decapitated. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/salome-york-hall-review/

Bren Gosling's Invisible Me is a delightful, uplifting play that makes me look forward to reaching the age of 60. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/invisible-me-southwark-playhouse-borough-review/

There is always going to be a sense of expectation around an adaptation of Ibsen’s 1879 play. The original text was once considered shocking for its portrayal of marriage, and its final moment contains one of the most famou https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/a-dolls-house-almeida-theatre-review/

Although the venues we visit aren’t important when it comes to reviewing a show, I will admit there was a tingle of excitement as I had my first visit to Underbelly Boulevard Soho. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/apparently-ugly-underbelly-boulevard-review/

Horrible Histories, as a book series by Terry Deary, has been extremely popular with readers of all ages for many years. It is not a surprise that it also became popular on stage, as well as a cleverly https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/horrible-histories-live-and-dead-the-concert-brighton-dome/

I knew something of the Latin American community in London – for a few years, I worked in Elephant & Castle, and when the World Cup rolled around, there were about as many people in the local pubs backing Colo https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/my-uncle-is-not-pablo-escobar-brixton-house-review/

Talking Heads has been a staple for both stage and screen for as long as I can possibly remember. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/talking-heads-white-bear-theatre-review/

As a dancer, I have always believed, even as a youngster, that dance should be for everyone. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/company-of-elders-mixed-bill-2026-lilian-baylis-studio/

The musical Flyby benefits from having a highly talented and hard-working cast of five, as well as an imaginative set design by Libby Todd, lighting by Ben Jacobs and only occasionally too overwhelming sound design by K https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/flyby-southwark-playhouse-borough-review/

I’d be the first to admit that ballet isn’t my favourite art form, but I am a big fan of Carmen, Bizet’s opera, which in turn was based on Prosper Mérimée’s novella. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/carlos-acostas-carmen-richmond-theatre-review/

The annual London Soundtrack Festival, now in its second year, was established to celebrate the “ever-increasing interest and enthusiasm for film, TV and games music” in a city that is widely acknowledged as “o https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/homegrown-heroes-from-bond-to-thunderbirds-review/

This production has an aura of authenticity about it, in terms of the costumes, the mannerisms, and the choice of accompanying music. The play itself is also authentic. Ken Ludwig’s play is based on his parents’ exch https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/dear-jack-dear-louise-arcola-theatre-review/

As we come to terms with the humiliation of not being able to send a single warship to the Gulf, it's all the more pertinent to revel in Adam Preston’s one-man biography of our greatest naval commander, Admir https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/horatio-nelson-fever-and-fire-theatre-at-the-tabard/

Jim Cartwright’s 1989 play Two is set in a pub of the sort that was once everywhere: a mahogany bar, old-school pumps dispensing mild, bitter and stout, spirits lined up in optics behind the counter, and a dartboard on the wall. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/two-park-theatre-review/

Waitress is one of those very rare breeds: a touring production which is actually far more successful in every way than its West End staging. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/waitress-the-musical-theatre-royal-brighton-review/

The Unicorn’s first major co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company is a breathtaking triumph. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/a-midsummer-nights-dream-unicorn-theatre-review/

Not much is known for certain as to precisely what was said at a 1941 meeting in Copenhagen (hence the play’s title) between Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) (Damien Molony) and Niels Bohr (1895-1962) (Richard Schiff). https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/copenhagen-hampstead-theatre-review/

London Theatre 1 was invited to the Camden People’s Theatre to watch the final dress rehearsal for this new and ambitious work written and directed by Zishen (Cindy) Gao. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/visa-drama-and-other-disasters-camden-peoples-theatre/

Edward II is one of Christopher Marlowe’s least-performed plays today, and some may say it is easy to say why. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/edward-ii-jack-studio-theatre-review/

Lifeline at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant is ambitious. With music by Robin Hiley and a book by Becky Hope-Palmer, this production covers two separate stories. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/lifeline-southwark-playhouse-elephant-review/

The thing about these characters embracing tolerance and understanding is that there’s so much of it in this play that it becomes less riveting than it otherwise might have been. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/eggs-arent-that-easy-to-make-riverside-studios-review/

Well, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary wasn’t very helpful. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-authenticator-national-theatre-review/

By all criteria, The Nutter Next Door is an archetypal piece of fringe theatre. Two actors, a relatively minimalist set, few props, a simplistic sound and lighting plot, and less than an hour in duration. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-nutter-next-door-hen-chickens-theatre-review/

In a fascinating programme note, Christopher Hampton describes the birth of Les Liaisons Dangereuses over forty years ago: how the RSC originally intended it for their main stage at Stratford, until they read it https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/les-liaisons-dangereuses-national-theatre-review/

Duck Williams has grown up on his Grandpa’s stories about Halcyon – a mystical, possibly mythical place somewhere out in the American Midwest. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/id-rather-be-a-cowgirl-the-glitch-review/

I missed Sunny Afternoon during its celebrated two-year run in the West End, so I was genuinely delighted to finally catch it at the beautiful Richmond Theatre as it launches its UK and Ireland tour. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/sunny-afternoon-richmond-theatre-review/

Set in 1969, this play with songs is a surprisingly (at least to me) engrossing look at a part of the live entertainment industry that resonates decades after the show’s events, and indeed decades after it was first https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/teeth-n-smiles-duke-of-yorks-theatre-review/

Disney Theatrical Group has announced that Broadway’s Bradley Gibson will lead the company of Hercules as is completes its run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. https://www.londontheatre1.com/theatre-news/bradley-gibson-west-end-debut-in-hercules-theatre-royal-drury-lane/

Prep school over in the United States takes on a different meaning to prep schools in Blighty – the American definition is a school largely designed to prepare its students (always ‘students’, never ‘pupils’) for ‘college’, that https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/choir-boy-stratford-east-review/

Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile does exactly what it sets out to do: it entertains! In fact, it is hugely entertaining - one just sits back, very relaxed, and enjoys the next 160 mi https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/death-on-the-nile-theatre-royal-brighton-review/

If we could give 10 stars, we would! Every single thing about this show was utterly sensational. Faultless to the end, beautiful, moving, funny - the true dictionary definition of what a musical is. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/waitress-the-musical-new-wimbledon-theatre-review/

Much thought and attention to detail have gone into this revival of Kinky Boots the Musical - the massive London Coliseum stage is used well, while some nifty stage design ensures more intimate scenes aren’t swall https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/kinky-boots-the-musical-london-coliseum-review/

Set in the 1980s, this drama is centred on the conflict between Brenda Dean, the General Secretary for the Society of Graphic and Allied Trades, and infamous newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/in-the-print-kings-head-theatre-review/

I hugely enjoyed this production of The Talented Mr Ripley when I saw it elsewhere in October 2025, and I jumped at the chance to see it again. https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/the-talented-mr-ripley-eastbourne/

Drama about drama, this is a play that examines the recent trend towards adapting true stories, usually involving at least an element of trauma, to the stage. If something is based on a true story, that sure https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/this-is-not-about-me-soho-theatre-dean-street-review/

Dreams, Desires and Dangers. I have lived in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames for nearly forty years and have reviewed numerous productions at Richmond Theatre, but I hadn’t, until yesterday, been on a guided tour https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/richmond-theatre-guided-tour-review/

There’s something about sitting down and listening to a double CD cast recording, following along with the lyrics, and even taking the time to read the synopsis contained in the album’s notes. And there are https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/next-to-normal-original-london-cast-recording-review/