I’ve been a fan of Tamsin Greig ever since the first episode of the criminally underrated Episodes, so I’d have been quite happy just watching her sit on stage—like Sigourney Weaver in that recent disaster of The Tempest. Luckily for all of us, Greig didn’t just sit. She took on some heavy material in The Deep Blue Sea and delivered it without theatrics or showy breakdowns—just pure pain and flashes of quiet fury.
Category: Culture
Mrs Warren’s Profession: Selling sin, buying freedom
George Bernard Shaw’s 1893 play Mrs Warren’s Profession is a bit of a mouthful. For the current production at the Garrick Theatre, the creative team trimmed the text, but it still feels a touch too long. That said, its core themes—sex work, limited opportunities for women, institutional hypocrisy—remain relevant in 2025. And when the cast is this good, you almost don’t mind the extra speeches.
My Master Builder: Grand design, poor execution
I’m all for reuse and recycling, but modern reimaginings of classic plays rarely work. More often than not, they feel like conceptual show homes: stylish on the surface, structurally unsound underneath.
Fiddler on the Roof: Tradition and change
Watching Fiddler on the Roof at the Barbican, in Jordan Fein’s production, was an unexpectedly personal experience. Hearing songs I once rehearsed myself, a quarter of a century ago, felt almost like opening an old diary. Yet this version was worlds apart from our school theatrical experiments.
East is South: Artificial intelligence, natural confusion
As a science writer covering AI, I couldn’t miss East Is South, a play about artificial intelligence penned by Beau Willimon, the mind behind House of Cards. I expected intricate dialogues on power, ethics, and responsibility. Indeed, the audience at Hampstead Theatre got exactly that—and then some. A lot more, in fact.
Ballet Shoes
British children’s books have a long tradition of subjecting their young characters to varying degrees of neglect, abuse, or outright peril. From Harry Potter crammed under the stairs to the nightmarish lessons handed out in Willy Wonka’s factory, no child is safe when a British author picks up a pen.
Only Fools and Horses The Musical: This time next year, we’ll be singing
Watching Vinnie Jones dance and hearing him sing wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card, yet here we are. It’s a surreal sight, but it somehow works in Only Fools and Horses: The Musical. I’ve never watched a single episode of the original series, but I still enjoyed it. The writing does all the heavy lifting, full of jokes that even outsiders like me can laugh at.
It rings for thee
The first warning bell rang during the opening act.
The audience responded with a polite murmur. A hefty man sitting in the back let out a loud grunt, several ladies rummaged through their handbags, fumbling to find the elusive silent mode button on their phones.
Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason
Some siblings argue over chores; Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, apparently, just master Chopin together. She’s a pianist born in 1996, he’s a cellist born in 1999—feel old yet? Their performance at the Barbican was nothing short of breathtaking, with a musical chemistry that made every note feel alive.
Peter the Great gets a Ukrainian paint job
In Deptford, there’s a monument to Peter the Great crafted by Mihail Chemiakin. Viewing it, much like encountering the artist’s other works, is a challenge that often leaves observers tearful—not from the depth of emotion it might inspire, but rather from its sheer lack of appeal.