Rapunzel★★★Theatre Peckham
RAPUNZEL at Theatre Peckham ★★★ “As a vehicle for the youth theatre to show their chops, Rapunzel is a very charming production” Theatre Peckham sits just a stone’s throw from the thoroughfare of Rye Lane, with its bustling array of salt fish sellers, street-preachers and salon owners. Their Christmas show
A Very Very Bad Cinderella★★★★The Other Palace
A VERY VERY BAD CINDERELLA at The Other Palace ★★★★ “Neil Hurst and Jodie Prenger’s writing is wild and lewd but is equally sharp, and intelligently plays with words” If you’ve been in the news this year, or are a showbiz personality of any sort, or even merely a major
Mother Goose★★★★Cambridge Arts Theatre
MOTHER GOOSE at the Cambridge Arts Theatre ★★★★ “this well-produced, entertaining and colourful show is perfect for anyone of any age to start engaging in live theatre” Cambridge’s favourite dame (Matt Crosby) returns to the annual pantomime, directed by Michael Gattrell, for festive fun in an outlandish display of costumes
The Time Machine – A Comedy★★★★Park Theatre
THE TIME MACHINE – A COMEDY at the Park Theatre ★★★★ “There is a playfulness that fits the season perfectly. Like a Christmas jumper. It is great fun, but any other time of the year you could never get away with it.” Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time
It’s a Wonderful Life★★★★★Reading Rep Theatre
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE at Reading Rep Theatre ★★★★★ “If you feel like a great big Christmas hug, go along and see this elegant and lovely show” Who hasn’t seen ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, the classic 1946 Christmas film directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart? It’s a hugely
Solstice★★★★Battersea Arts Centre
SOLSTICE at Battersea Arts Centre ★★★★ “Solstice may be a small show, but it has a large heart” Wild Rumpus’ show Solstice, now running at the Battersea Arts Centre, is an easy winner if you are looking for a show for young children this holiday season. It’s just big enough
Garry Starr Performs Everything ★★★½Southwark Playhouse Borough
GARRY STARR PERFORMS EVERYTHING at Southwark Playhouse Borough ★★★½ “an hour of squirm-inducing silliness you’ll want to bring all your friends to” Recently barred from the Royal Shakespeare Company, Garry Starr is on a mission to save theatre from the pretentious establishment who make Billy Shakes boring. To achieve this,
Potted Panto★★★★★Wilton’s Music Hall
POTTED PANTO at Wilton’s Music Hall ★★★★★ “Basically, you’ve just got to see it to believe it.” Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner (thereinafter referred to as Dan and Jeff) take on the task of presenting six-and-a-half popular pantomimes in the space of eighty minutes. They’ve been doing it for some
Aladdin★★★★Hackney Empire
ALADDIN at the Hackney Empire ★★★★ “Clive Rowe is truly the grand dame of panto dames” Stuff Shakespeare, Pantomime is probably my favourite theatrical tradition. There are not many other settings where you can have babies, grandparents, and long-suffering assorted other relatives entertained for a couple of hours by good
A Sherlock Carol★★★★Marylebone Theatre
A SHERLOCK CAROL at the Marylebone Theatre ★★★★ “one of the cleverest and most entertaining of the current festive productions” Sherlock Holmes was just thirty-seven years old when he was reported to have died in the Reichenbach Falls in 1891; having fallen to his death in a struggle with the
A Pissedmas Carol★★★★★Leicester Square Theatre
A PISSEDMAS CAROL at Leicester Square Theatre ★★★★★ “a rollicking good time” There’s nothing better to get you in the Christmas mood than a smashed Ebenezer Scrooge slurring his way through some festive pop songs while ranting about free range chicken eggs. ‘A Pissedmas Carol’ is a retelling of A
Ikaria★★★★Park Theatre
IKARIA at the Park Theatre ★★★★ “The performances are strong, with excellent chemistry and range” Ikaria is both the name of an idyllic Greek island, and the deeply bleak student halls where this play takes place. This dark juxtaposition is indicative of a script filled with ironic humour, but also
Sleeping Beauty Takes a Prick!★★★★Charing Cross Theatre
SLEEPING BEAUTY TAKES A PRICK! at Charing Cross Theatre ★★★★ “a fabulously silly night out of innuendo, double entendres and tongue twisting rhymes” Pantomime is one of Britain’s most enduring Yuletide traditions. Its origins go back to 16th century Italian Commedia dell’Arte although, as with most Christmas traditions, it was
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story★★★★Alexandra Palace Theatre
A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY at Alexandra Palace Theatre ★★★★ “The icing on the (Christmas) cake is Paul Wills’ set” You might think that an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” by Mark Gatiss, whose credits include ‘The League of Gentlemen’, ‘Little Britain’, ‘Inside No. 9’, ‘Sherlock’ and
A Woman Walks Into a Bank★★★★★Theatre503
A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK at Theatre503 ★★★★★ “there’s lots of laughs. In a doleful, what-can-you-expect-this-is-Russia kind of way” Roxy Cook’s A Woman Walks Into A Bank is a thoroughly delightful—yet pointed, in the way that Gogol’s Dead Souls is pointed—portrait of a corrupt and brutal society drunk on
What I Really Think of my Husband★★★Golden Goose Theatre
WHAT I REALLY THINK OF MY HUSBAND at the Golden Goose Theatre ★★★ “The play has the air of a work in progress, but the five strong cast give it substantial shape” Despite his literary success as a novelist and a poet, Thomas Hardy was quite a shy personality who
A Christmas Carol★★★★★The Old Vic
A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the The Old Vic ★★★★★ “The quality and theatricality of this production is unparalleled” Few pieces of literature have had such a profound impact on how we think of Christmas today as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Has the festive season truly begun unless you’ve read
She Stoops to Conquer★★★★Orange Tree Theatre
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER at the Orange Tree Theatre ★★★★ “It is the sharp wit and intelligence of the language that sustains the piece and cushions it from the risk of being labelled dated” Oliver Goldsmith’s period comedy, “She Stoops to Conquer”, was first performed in London a quarter of
Lay Down Your Burdens★★★Barbican
LAY DOWN YOUR BURDENS at the Barbican ★★★ “It was a genuinely mixed experience, and sometimes that is refreshing in its own way.” Billed as a piece of ‘radically tender dance theatre’ Lay Down Your Burdens is a brave, if peculiar, piece of immersive theatre. We are welcomed to a
The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It!★★★★Leicester Square Theatre
THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT!at Leicester Square Theatre ★★★★ “Lots of drama from prepared scripts, but also lots clever of ad libs from the performers when the heckling from the floor got too intense.” The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It! is an unusual piece of