The London Theatre Review

Surprise! We told you it wouldn't be long before another episode dropped into your feeds, and here it is – a special bonus pod from a busy bar in the centre of Edinburgh, where Nancy and producer Tim grab 20 minutes of chat time before plunging back into the frenzy of a city filled with 4,000 Fringe shows, alongside the Edinburgh International Festival, the art festival, the film festival, the book festival and the TV festival...Tim talks us through some of the best things he's seen so far, including clowns and singing dogs, and what he's looking forward to. And Nancy chats to one of the most influential theatre producers in the world, Francesca Moody, who brought Fleabag and Baby Reindeer to Edinburgh before nurturing them to become global success stories. She tells Nancy about the changing nature of the festival, the ethos behind her brilliant new venue Shedinburgh, and how she spots a hit. Don't forget you can still get tickets to our live show on 19th September at chelseaartsfestival.com! And follow us on Instagram for all the latest LTR news @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the series six musical finale, and the team go out with a bang -- well, a damp squib and then a bang. First up, Nick, Nick and Tim review Trainspotting the Musical at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Irvine Welsh's adaptation of his own epoch-defining novel, now given the West End musical treatment...and possibly one of the most misconceived shows any of them have seen in a very long time. Then it's across town to the Menier Chocolate Factory for Midnight at the Never Get, starring Tony Award winner Ben Platt, and the verdict couldn't be more different.Nick Curtis also speaks to the brilliant Phelim McDermott, Olivier Award-winning director of My Neighbour Totoro, co-founder of Improbable, whose new show Tao of Glass is a love letter to Philip Glass and to theatre itself. And Natalie Kassanga answers our Five Questions ahead of the Jonathan Larson Project at Southwark Playhouse. Now we're on a break! The London Theatre Review will return in September for our live show at the Chelsea Arts Festival. But there may be a bit of surprise podding before then...Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nick Clark and producer Tim are holding the fort while Nancy and other Nick are away, but to be fair to them they managed to bag some pretty great interviews before they disappeared...First up, Nick Curtis sat down with Aaron Sorkin — yes, the extraordinary writer of The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network, The Newsroom — ahead of his To Kill a Mockingbird adaptation returning to the West End. They talk about why his first draft was really bad, and whether the man who gave us Jed Bartlet's America still believes in it. Tim reviews The Oresteia at the Bridge Theatre, Simon Stone's long, blood-smeared, gleefully melodramatic update of the Greek tragic trilogy, set inside a glass box with David Morrissey, Mary-Louise Parker (also of West Wing fame!) and a scene-stealing Rosie Sheehy. Plus Nancy talks to John Studzinski about 25 years of the very influential and very necessary Genesis Foundation, the organisation that supported Ava Pickett in writing 1536, among many other early career artists and musicians...he also reveals what Katharine Hepburn told him about stage fright. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nick, Nick and producer Tim (filling in for Nancy who's on the other side of the Atlantic) sort the divine from the infernal in London theatre, starting with the resurrection of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium, starring Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder alongside Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) as the first in a roster of celebrity Herods. Then it's over to the Royal Court for Archduke, Rajiv Joseph's tragicomic fever dream about the teenage assassins who accidentally started the First World War. Grace Mouat, alumna of Six the Musical and currently appearing in Death Note at the Barbican, answers our five questions including an off-tune on-stage mishap.And Nick Curtis sits down with the legendary Harry Shearer - best known for his 23-odd voices in the Simpsons and for playing Derek Smalls in This Is Spinal Tap - alongside veteran sitcom writer Tom Leopold of Cheers and Seinfeld fame to talk about their new comedy musical Here Comes J. Edgar. There may be an appearance from C Montgomery Burns himself... Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nick, Nick and Nancy head to the National Theatre's Dorfman for Pride, Steven Beresford and Matthew Warchus's musical adaptation of the beloved 2014 film about the unlikely alliance between gay activists and Welsh miners during the 1984 strike. Then it's off to the Noël Coward for the RSC's transfer of Cyrano de Bergerac, with Adrian Lester in glorious form and Susannah Fielding turning Roxanne into something the gang have never seen before - hear her interview in episode three of this season. Nick Curtis talks to Anna Zavelson, the 22-year-old Texan who had never left North America before landing the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre. And Henry Lewis from Mischief Theatre answers our Five Questions ahead of The Comedy About Spies returning to the West End. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this special bonus episode of the pod, Nancy went to talk to writer/performer Jordan Luke Gage and director Paul Foster about the new musical Redcliffe running at Southwark Playhouse. Jordan has spent the last three years writing the show, and he also stars in it - musical theatre fans will have seen his amazing performances in Bonnie and Clyde, Heathers, &Juliet and Titanique.Set against the backdrop of 18th Century England, the musical is based on the true story of William Critchard and Richard Arnold who met in Redcliffe, Bristol. It's an epic, funny and moving tale of forbidden love during the persecution people faced for hundreds of years.Plus you can hear Jordan sing one of the beautiful songs from the show, Void of Love.You can find out more about the show on Instagram @redcliffemusical and find us @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is French translation week as Nick, Nancy and Tim took refuge in the blissful air conditioning of London's theatres to review The Misanthrope at the National — Martin Crimp's rhyming-couplet update of the Molière play with Sandra Oh on ferocious form — and The Truth at the Apollo, Florian Zeller's gleefully French sex comedy starring Stephen Mangan, Janie Dee, Ardal O'Hanlan and Sarah Hadland. Plus Nick spoke to playwright Rajiv Joseph about Archduke at the Royal Court and working with Robin Williams. And Desmonda Cathabel answered our five questions ahead of playing Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a pretty special guest interview this week: somehow we got Willem Dafoe on the phone from Venice, where he's now in his second year as artistic director of the Biennale Theatre Festival. Long before Spider-Man villains and Wes Anderson ensembles, Dafoe was a downtown New York theatre kid, spending four decades with the experimental Wooster Group, and he is as brilliant on the subject of live performance as you'd hope. He also tells Nick Curtis why he's 'very turned on right now'...In reviews, the Old Vic's all-female Glengarry Glen Ross gives us plenty to chew over — is gender-swapping David Mamet's toxic-masculinity classic illuminating or just a clever exercise? — while A Fine Idea at the Arcola tackles the murky world of international aid with righteous research.The delightful and ridiculously versatile Paul Chahidi talks about playing opposite Sandra Oh in Martin Crimp's reimagined The Misanthrope at the National.And we dig into a stacked week of theatre news: a new James Graham play about Keynes (John Maynard, not Milton), the Shaftesbury Theatre's renaming in honour of Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen's much-anticipated return to the stage at The Yard.Talk to us on Insta and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A mixed bag of horror, comedy and drama this week...First up, Martina Laird's debut play Driftwood arrives at the Kiln: set in a Port of Spain gentleman's club on the eve of Trinidad's independence, it's bursting with ideas, a stellar cast, and a second act that gets quite mad. Then the gang reviews Under the Shadow at the Almeida. Leila Farzad is magnetic as a woman trapped in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, stalked by something that may or may not be a jinn (and may or may not have rubber fingers).Producer Tim Bano sits down with Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris to discuss how War Horse, one of the most successful pieces of theatre ever made, came into being almost 20 years ago. It went very wrong before it went very right...And Patricia Allison, Sex Education's Maeve, is at the Orange Tree in Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy. She answers our Five Questions. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War Horse is back...After nearly two decades, the show that transformed theatre has returned to the National Theatre. Nick, Nick and Nancy discuss whether it still hits, and why it might matter even more right now. Plus young critic Dash returns to the pod to give his verdict from the stalls of the Olivier. We also review Cole Porter musical High Society at the Barbican, starring Helen George as Tracy Lord, a role made famous by both Grace Kelly and Katharine Hepburn, alongside Felicity Kendal, Freddie Fox and Nigel Lindsay.Isis Hainsworth — who lit up the Old Vic's Arcadia and just won the Ian Charleson Award — joins Nancy for a conversation about imposter syndrome and Tom Stoppard's terrifying cleverness. And Martina Laird answers our five questions ahead of her play Driftwood at the Kiln. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After becoming one of Broadway's biggest sleeper hits and an absolute social media phenomenon, Beetlejuice the Musical has landed at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End. Nancy, Nick and producer Tim ventured to the Netherworld to see what all the fuss is about. The gang also headed Stratford East for The Harder They Come, the reggae-soaked, infectious, bass-rattlingly loud stage version of the 1972 Jamaican film classic. Spoiler: one of them didn't quite make it to the end, for reasons entirely beyond their control...Nick Curtis interviews the wonderful Susannah Fielding — you'll know her from This Time with Alan Partridge, from stealing every scene she's in on Tom Jones, or from making Daddy Issues compulsively watchable — and she's about to open opposite Adrian Lester in the RSC's Cyrano de Bergerac at the Noël Coward. And comedian and playwright Rosie Holt answers our Five Questions ahead of Churchill's Urinal, her new play about a sentient toilet possessed by the spirit of Winston Churchill. As you do.Plus, the gang get obsessed with Sting, Shaggy and the real Cyrano de Bergerac...Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nick, Nick and Nancy review Alexander Zeldin's Care at the Young Vic - a compassionate, unflinching look at life in an elderly care facility, starring the magnificent Linda Bassett - and the RSC's new musical The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind @sohoplace, the extraordinary true story of a 13-year-old who built a windmill to save his Malawian village from famine. Plus Nancy talks to the brilliant Leila Farzad about her role in Under the Shadow at the Almeida, a supernatural thriller set during the Iran-Iraq War. And Liv Hill, one of the lead trio in 1536, answers our Five Questions. If you want to get in touch, email [email protected] or follow us on Instagram @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's only been a few weeks since we went away, but so much theatre has happened in the meantime...Nick Curtis, Nick Clark and Nancy Durrant are back to fill you in on all the goings on in London. And we kick off the season with a stellar episode: we review Gary Oldman's return to the stage for the first time in 40-odd years as he takes on Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape at the Royal Court. The play we couldn't stop talking about all last year has transferred to the West End - Ava Pickett's blistering, hilarious Tudor drama 1536 - but does it live up to our memories of it first time round?And the star of Top Gun Maverick and A Complete Unknown, the fabulous Monica Barbaro, talks to Nick Curtis about her stage debut in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre alongside Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville. She talks about turning to the stage, how it feels to play difficult material eight times a week, and how you sprint in a lavishly designed ball gown. Plus artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe Michelle Terry answers five questions. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even though we are officially on a break, we couldn't resist gathering together some of our favourite people for a bonus episode to tide you over until the new season begins. The incredible Giles Terera, who has starred in the UK premieres of Hamilton and Avenue Q among many other musicals, but is just as well known for his Shakespearean performances, talks about Clint Dyer's production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which has just opened at the Old Vic. Gwyneth Keyworth was one of our favourite guests from the last season, so we asked her back to answer our five questions as she continues to perform in the National Theatre production of Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk. And Ryan Calais Cameron, the brilliant writer of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy and Retrograde, tells us what it means to him to be appointed the first patron of Camden People's Theatre. We will be back soon, but in the meantime you can keep up with our theatregoing thoughts on Instagram or watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emergency episode alert! After last night's 50th Olivier Awards - broadcast on the BBC for the first time in decades - the gang give their verdict on the winners, the losers, the dramas and the dresses. Hint: the bear swept the board... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a big week. The fifth season comes to an end with no Nick Clark - he's on holiday - but instead a Nick, a Nancy, a producer Tim AND two big starry shows to round things off: two of the most exciting young actors around, Noah Jupe and Sadie Sink, play Shakespeare's star crossed lovers in Robert Icke's take on Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter theatre, and Aidan Turner and the peerless Lesley Manville revive Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre under director Marianne Elliott. Plus Nick Curtis talks to veteran stage and screen actor Henry Goodman about his return to Arthur Miller for a revival of The Price - as well as what it was like to actually work with Miller. And Eleanor Worthington-Cox answers five questions including one of the best (or maybe worst) onstage mishaps we've heard so far. We'll be back soon for another season...in the meantime there may be some bonus content dropping into your feeds. And keep an eye on all the latest updates on Instagram and see what we look like on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Self Esteem aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor returns to the stage for the second time: after playing a singer on the verge of a breakdown when she took on the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 2023, now she plays an alcoholic singer on the verge of a breakdown in David Hare's 1975 play Teeth 'n' Smiles - the gang give their verdict. They also review Kimberly Belflower's Tony-nominated hit US play John Proctor is the Villain currently at the Royal Court. Plus the delightful Gwyneth Keyworth chats to Nancy about starring in the National Theatre production of Summerfolk, which we all loved last week, and how when she grew up she originally wanted to be...a vampire. And stage legend Clive Rowe answers our five questions. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Nancy and the Nicks head to Hampstead Theatre for Aaron Loeb’s ROI (Return on Investment), where cancer has potentially been cured, and there's lots of money to be made. Plus the gang are at the National Theatre for Summerfolk, Maxim Gorky’s caustic portrait of the pre-revolution Russian middle classes, eating, drinking and complaining their way towards a fairly inevitable reckoning.Theatre Royal Stratford East's artistic director Lisa Spirling talks to Nick Curtis about her debut season, which has already got off to a stunning start with the harrowing Here There Are Blueberries, and continues with Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy. Plus, Beatrice Penny-Touré, currently starring as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, answers our five questions. Follow us, watch us, chat to us @thelondontheatrereview on Insta and YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Nancy in Mexico on the trail of Frida Kahlo, producer Tim steps in to join the Nicks as they discuss The Holy Rosenbergs at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Marie and Rosetta @sohoplace. Matt Willis from Busted chats to Nancy about taking on the role of the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, and the Orange Tree Theatre's artistic director Tom Littler answers one listener's question about which plays are chosen for revivals and why. Follow us on Insta and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Sheen's first production for his new company Welsh National Theatre is Our Town, the classic American play by Thornton Wilder transposed to Wales. Nick, Nick and Nancy give their verdicts. They also visit the Young Vic for Broken Glass, one of Arthur Miller's late plays in which a woman becomes paralysed after reading about the horrors of Kristallnacht. Nick Curtis talks to director Monique Touko about having three plays on simultaneous: Marie and Rosetta, The Boy at the Back of the Class and Jaja's African Hair Braiding. And Bridgerton's Hazel, aka Gracie McGonigal, answers five questions as she stars in Into the Woods as a very bolshy Red Riding Hood. Find us on Instagram and YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the gang review Bird Grove, the George Eliot origin story that nobody was quite sure they needed. How did Mary Ann Evans become one of the most famous novelists of all time? Did she fall in a vat of radioactive acid? Or get bitten by a radioactive spider? No, the answer is much more church-focused. They also visit the Donmar Warehouse for Anna Ziegler's new play Evening All Afternoon about a mother/daughter relationship and functionally extinct rhinos. Mad Men and Billions star Maggie Siff talks to Nick Curtis about playing CS Lewis's lover, the poet Joy Davidman, in Shadowlands at the Aldwych Theatre, and award-winning actress Nancy Carroll answers five questions.Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The biggest show of the year so far has finally opened, with puns about sucking and biting in full flow. Yes it's Cynthia Erivo's one-woman Dracula, adapted and directed by Kip Williams, in which the Wicked star plays all 23(ish) parts. So as Nick, Nick and Nancy sink their teeth into their review, does it get their blood pumping? Or will they B negative?Downton Abbey and Paddington treasure Hugh Bonneville plays CS Lewis in the West End transfer of Shadowlands. The inimitable Jenna Russell, who brings emotional charge and huge class to every show she stars in, talks to Nick Curtis about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. And Laurie Kynaston, currently in Terence Rattigan's Man and Boy at the National Theatre, answers five questions. Follow us on Instagram or watch us on Youtube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the gang is talking about walking as they make a pilgrimage to Theatre Royal Haymarket for new musical The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, based on the beloved book by Rachel Joyce with music by Passenger. They also had a dose of daddy issues with Terence Rattigan's little-revived play Man and Boy at the National. Director, writer and theatremaker Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu talked to Nick Curtis about directing the late Chadwick Boseman's play Deep Azure at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Andor star Elizabeth Dulau answered five questions. Follow us @thelondontheatrereview on Insta and Youtube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few months on from his death, Tom Stoppard's dazzling play Arcadia comes to the Old Vic and puts the brains of Nancy, Nick and Nick to the test - that's if Mr Clark is able to get across Albert Bridge and make it to the recording on time...Then it's back to the eighties for shell suits, ripped bodies and all kinds of excess - and that's just from the LTR gang - as they review American Psycho The Musical at the Almeida. Plus producer Tim talks to musical theatre icon Keala Settle, whose rendition of This Is Me from The Greatest Showman has been watched and streamed by hundreds of millions of people, about taking a break from musical theatre for the moment to star in her first straight play, Mrs President. She plays Mary Todd Lincoln at the Charing Cross Theatre. And writer Miriam Battye answers five questions. Follow us on Instagram or watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boo!! This week Nancy and the Nicks are cowering behind their large, slightly warm glasses of chardonnay as they experience the stage adaptation of supernatural horror Paranormal Activity. Two out of three critics were terrified - listen to find out who has nerves of steel. The trio also take in Luke Norris's harrowing play Guess How Much I Love You at the Royal Court, and Nick Curtis talks to Fiona Button, currently starring in one of Tom Stoppard's masterpieces Arcadia at the Old Vic. Plus, Arty Froushan takes a break from murdering people in a well-tailored suit as he plays Patrick Bateman in American Psycho: The Musical and answers our five questions. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on Youtube @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With pistols drawn and chaps on, Nancy and the Nicks review the stage version of classic Western film High Noon. It's been adapted by the legendary Hollywood screenwriter Eric Roth (Dune, Benjamin Button, Forrest Gump) and stars Billy Crudup and Denise Gough. Then it's back further into the American past with Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola's ridiculously silly Broadway smash play which very much does not tell the story of Mary Todd Lincoln. She may still be the wife of Abraham in Cole's telling, but she's also an alcoholic and frustrated cabaret star. But no fear, because Nick Clark talks to academic Catherine Clinton who has written a definitive biography of Mary Lincoln to get some of the facts straight. And Nick Curtis catches the brilliant actress Rosie Sheehy in a break from rehearsals for new play Guess How Much I Love You by Luke Norris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What better way to start the new season than with an absolutely jam-packed episode full of the most exciting things in theatre right now? Nancy, Nick and Nick are back and they are reviewing the mega production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre as well as Alan Ayckbourn's 1986 play Woman in Mind starring Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan at the Duke of York's. The brilliant Mason Alexander Park has taken on the deranged role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the West End transfer of Cole Escola's Broadway smash hit Oh, Mary! They took time out of drinking paint thinner to talk to Nick Curtis. The extraordinary Denise Gough - Olivier Award winner for her roles in People, Places and Things and Angels In America, currently appearing in High Noon - answers our five questions. And because this is the first episode of the season, and we thought you deserve a treat, we have an extra five questions interviewee, the great Forbes Masson, who is performing in Orphans at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest season of the podcast may be over, but 'tis the season for things like presents and surprises - so here is both! Just in time for Christmas, enjoy this bonus episode in which producer Tim talks to Paddington writer Jessica Swale and Julian Clary slips away from playing King Julian in his panto at the Palladium to answer our five questions. Happy Christmas and thanks for listening this year. The London Theatre Review will return... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another season of the London Theatre Review comes to an end with a HUGE episode in which we unveil the inaugural London Theatre Review Awards: our pick of the very best shows of the year, the result of long and passionate arguments, to champion the productions, writers and performers that have stayed with us throughout the last twelve months. Find out who the deserving winners are...As if that weren't BIG enough for the season finale, we also review Paddington the Musical, the most hotly anticipated show of the year, which has a lot to live up to given those brilliant film adaptations. AND we take a look at the very first stage adaptation of a John Le Carré novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, running at @sohoplace. Plus Nick Curtis managed to sneak in an interview with the very exciting director Jordan Fein who is taking on the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical Into the Woods.And George Blagden answers our five questions with a great story about unfastened trousers.Then that's it for this year. There may be a sneaky surprise Christmas drop but apart from that, you will see The London Theatre Review again in January after we have all stuffed ourselves with mince pies and sherry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than a decade after his stupendous production of A View From The Bridge, director Ivo Van Hove returns to Arthur Miller with All My Sons starring Bryan Cranston and Marianne Jean Baptiste. David Eldridge's trilogy of plays about relationships comes to an end with End at the National Theatre. And Nick Clark speaks to Éanna Hardwicke who is about to star in Playboy of the Western World by JM Synge, also at the National - although Nick seems a little more interested in the fact Éanna has just played Roy Keane in a new film, Saipan. Ruby Ashbourne Serkis answers five questions ahead of appearing in Tom Stoppard's play Indian Ink, and Tim pays tribute to Stoppard, whose death was announced this week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bit of a shambles this week as cancellations and illness got in the way of reviews but here, nevertheless, are reviews of the hotly anticipated new musical Coven at the Kiln Theatre about the Pendle Witch Trials and Porn Play at the Royal Court starring Ambika Mod. Paapa Essiedu chats to Nick Curtis about starring in All My Sons alongside Bryan Cranston, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tom Glynn-Carney and Hayley Squires. And Jackie Clune answers five questions with a great Mamma Mia! mishap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy Durrant, Nick Clark, and Nick Curtis offer themselves as tributes this week to review The Hunger Games at the new and massive Troubadour Canary Wharf theatre. On the complete other end of the spectrum, and the other side of London, they take in Nancy Farino's debut play Fatherland at Hampstead Theatre's teeny downstairs studio. Nick Clark gets very excited because he talks to the wonderful Saskia Reeves, managing not to talk just about Slow Horses, but also End, David Eldridge's new play which Saskia stars in alongside Clive Owen at the National. And Toby Stephens takes a break from buckling his swash as Captain Hook in Wendy and Peter Pan at the Barbican to answer five questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy’s back from her holidays to join Nick Curtis and Nick Clark for a packed episode of reviews, interviews, and theatre gossip, including their thoughts on the big reveal of the week: how the Paddington musical is creating the bear live onstage. The team tackle Tom Morris’s starry Othello at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with David Harewood and Toby Jones, and head to the Park Theatre for Hannah Doran’s debut drama The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights. Plus Nick Curtis chats to Pearl Chanda about playing Hedda Gabler in Tanika Gupta’s bold new adaptation at the Orange Tree, and Hiran Abeysekera answers Five Questions including a brilliant worst moment on stage involving wet underpants (which seems to be becoming something of a theme in this podcast). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Nancy away (possibly raving in Ibiza), producer Tim Bano steps into the co-hosting chair alongside Nicks Clark and Curtis for a packed episode. The trio take flight with the RSC’s enchanting Wendy and Peter Pan at the Barbican, and dive into the glossy, satirical world of 1980s privilege in The Line of Beauty at the Almeida. Nick Curtis chats with Andy Nyman about his double West End whammy—starring in The Producers and co-creating Ghost Stories. Plus, Matthew Rhys channels Richard Burton in Five Questions ahead of his one-night-only performance at the Old Vic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the team review Nicola Walker’s searing performance in Nick Payne’s The Unbelievers at the Royal Court, and Kip Williams’ dazzlingly bonkers reimagining of Jean Genet’s The Maids at the Donmar Warehouse. Nick Curtis interviews rising star Jasper Talbot about leading The Line of Beauty at the Almeida, and Tamzin Outhwaite answers five questions from backstage at the Young Vic with a fantastic/terrifying story about the worst thing that's ever happened to her onstage. Plus, a look ahead to the National Theatre’s 2026 season and a quiz about the origins of the Donmar’s name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the team review Samuel D. Hunter’s Clarkston at Trafalgar Theatre, starring Heartstopper’s Joe Locke, and Katherine Moar's gripping Ragdoll at Jermyn Street Theatre based on the trial of Patty Hearst. Nick Clark chats to Kate Phillips about starring in Conor McPherson’s haunting revival of The Weir, and we hear from Munya Chawawa about his inspiring Black Boys Theatre Club. Plus, a double dose of Five Questions from Bridgerton star Yerin Ha, who's currently on stage in The Maids at the Donmar, and director Matthew Xia whose production of The Harder They Come is at Theatre Royal Stratford East. @thelondontheatrereview Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the LTR gang dive into Robert Hastie’s fresh and funny Hamlet at the National Theatre, with Hiran Abeysekara as a manic, compelling Prince and Francesca Mills delivering a revelatory Ophelia. Susan Sarandon makes her UK stage debut in Tracy Letts’ Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic, but she's matched by Andrea Riseborough and Rosie McEwen in a starry ensemble cast. Nancy chats to David Shields about starring in James Graham’s deeply moving play Punch, now at the Apollo, and the team remember the formidable Patricia Routledge. Plus, five questions with Nathaniel Parker and a Hamlet-themed quiz.Talk to us @thelondontheatrereview on Instagram! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the gang have been to see The Importance of Being Earnest as it transfers to the West End, with Olly Alexander and Nathan Stewart Jarrett starring alongside Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell. Plus they catch Rizzle Kicks singer Jordan Stephens in his stage debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane alongside Tamsin Outhwaite at the Young Vic. And Rosy McEwen chats to Nick Curtis about playing alongside Susan Sarandon and Andrea Riseborough in Tracy Letts's play Mary Page Marlowe at the Old Vic. Plus we put five questions to the brilliant Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́, who answers them while cooking her tea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy Durrant, Nick Clark and Tim Bano head to the National for Indhu Rubasingham’s first production as its new artistic director, Nima Taleghani’s bold, chaotic new spin on Euripides's Bacchae. Guinness (and a small one) all round as they settle in for Brendan Gleeson’s spellbinding West End debut in Conor McPherson’s chilling ghost story The Weir at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Plus Nick chats to Nathan Stewart-Jarrett playing Jack (or is it Earnest?) in The Importance of Being Earnest (or is it Jack?), while Oliver Johnstone, currently starring in Romans at the Almeida, is subject to our five random questions. Follow us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking off our new season in style with The London Theatre Review's first ever LIVE episode, recorded at the Royal Court Theatre on Saturday 20th September 2025 as part of the Chelsea Arts Festival.Nick, Nick and Nancy have been itching to get back into the groove after a long summer break, and what better way to do it than with a live episode of the podcast featuring star of One Day and This Is Going To Hurt, the incredible Ambika Mod, as well as the Royal Court's artistic director David Byrne. Plus reviews of two of the most exciting new shows in London, The Lady From The Sea at the Bridge Theatre starring Alicia Vikander and Andrew Lincoln, and Born With Teeth and Wyndham's Theatre with Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel. Huge thanks to Chelsea Arts Festival and to the Royal Court for having us. For more theatre tips and the latest news, or if you want to say hi, follow us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes we're on a summer break but we need to tell you that our live show at the Royal Court on September 20th at 12pm is selling fast and if you want to buy a ticket you'd better do it sharpish!The gang will be chatting to Ambika Mod (star of One Day and This Is Going To Hurt) and Royal Court artistic director David Byrne, as well as reviewing two of the hottest shows in London. For one lunchtime only, LTR will be LIVE!https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-london-theatre-review-live-with-ambika-mod-david-byrne/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the big, sexy season finale the gang review Burlesque the Musical at the Savoy Theatre. Are the rumours about its troubled previews true? Susie Miller's new play Inter Alia follows her huge hit Prima Facie, so how does this second play set in the judicial world with a difficult to pronounce Latin title fare? And Jeevan Braich who plays Rusty in the huge production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park tells Tim Bano about being cast on Tiktok, dropping out of school and what it takes to roller skate around a huge stage eight times a week while dressed as an anthropomorphic train. We'll be back in September - in the meantime don't forget to get your tickets to our live show on 20th September at the Royal Court Theatre https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-london-theatre-review-live-with-ambika-mod-david-byrne/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Sheen returns to the National Theatre to reprise his role as NHS founder Aneurin Bevan. Nancy, Nick and Nick give their verdict. They also head to the Globe (Nick Clark narrowly avoided a thorough summer soaking) to see Shakespeare's stupidest play The Merry Wives of Windsor. And Beth Steel, whose fantastic play Til the Stars Come Down has just transferred to the West End, talks to Nick Curtis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zachary Hart from hit play Stereophonic - about a 70s rock band recording their second album - tells Nancy what it's like to play a drug-addicted, alcoholic bass player while also performing live music with the onstage band. He also talks about working with Cate Blanchett in The Seagull. The gang review the adaptation of Malorie Blackman's seminal book Noughts and Crosses at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, and the transfer of Beth Steel's play Til The Stars Come Down at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been in the crowds on Argyll Street to watch the balcony scene, and now we've been inside the Palladium too and finally the LTR team are ready to give you their bumpe review of Jamie Lloyd's production of Evita, the show that no one can seem to stop talking or thinking about. Expect strong reactions, disagreements, and loads of superlatives. Janie Dee pops by to talk about her show Beautiful World Cabarets which blends stunning renditions of songs with stories of the climate emergency. And the gang review Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel at the Donmar Warehouse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For some reason, Nancy decided to abandon theatre for a few days and instead take to a tent in a field in Somerset for some big music festival...but not before she managed to catch Hercules in the West End, Disney's latest screeen-to-stage adaptation. She and the Nicks give their verdicts, with some cross words about Roman gods and goats' feet. Producer Tim joins the gang to review the Almeida's production of Eugene O'Neill's final play A Moon For The Misbegotten. It stars Ruth Wilson, David Threlfall and Michael Shannon and is very rarely revived...is there a reason for that? And Tim also heads to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to talk to the new stars of Wicked in the West End, Zizi Strallen who plays Glinda and Emma Kingston who plays Elphaba. They give their thoughts on the new Wicked trailer... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Star of His Dark Materials, Luther and so much other stuff, the incredible Ruth Wilson, talks to Nick Curtis about starring in a very little-revived Eugene O'Neill play A Moon For the Misbegotten. She also talks faith, creativity and roles for older women. Nancy is very excited because the show she saw and adored on Broadway, Stereophonic, has just transferred to the West End. For legal reasons it is very much NOT about Fleetwood Mac making Rumours...but the band members are packing up, shacking up and falling out - it's written by David Adjmi with songs by Arcade Fire's Will Butler. And 25 years after its original production, Sarah Kane's play 4.48 Psychosis is being revived at the Royal Court in London in exactly the same space, with the same director and cast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Profane rockstars, metaphorical elephants and childish innuendoes - don't say we don't bring the variety on LTR. This week, with Mr Clark away, producer Tim steps in to review Just For One Day the Live Aid musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre alongside Nick and Nancy, as well as Miss Myrtle's Garden at the Bush Theatre. Nick also chats to the very multi-talented Anoushka Lucas - blowaway star of 'sexy' Oklahoma! and Jesus Christ Superstar - whose debut play Elephant is back on the London stage at the Menier Chocolate Factory after two sellout runs at the Bush Theatre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the gang review Fiddler on the Roof at the Barbican, The Comedy About Spies at the Noel Coward, and Nick Curtis chats to Heartstopper's Corinna Brown about starring the new production of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses at the Open Air Theatre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imelda Staunton and Bessie Carter (from Bridgerton) take to the stage together in George Bernard Shaw's play Mrs Warren's Profession? How do mother and daughter fare playing mother and daughter? Nick Curtis, Nancy Durrant and Tim Bano review the production at the Garrick Theatre. Plus they head to the Royal Court to see After the Act, a musical about Section 28 which banned the 'promotion of homosexuality' in schools and local authorities. And the lovely John O'Farrell has a chat with Nick about his huge musical successes including Mrs Doubtfire which has just closed, the Live Aid musical Just For One Day which is about to open, and Something Rotten which will finally have its UK premiere next year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.