Selected reviews by Clive Davis, chief theatre critic of The Times.
Clive was appointed chief theatre critic of The Times in 2020, taking over from Ann Treneman. He works alongside Dominic Maxwell, deputy theatre critic and theatre commissioning editor of The Times.
He has more than thirty years of journalism experience, having been a regular freelance writer for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Daily Express, New Statesman and Weekly Standard, covering music, radio, theatre and comedy. He started his career as a reporter and editor at West Indian World newspaper in Haringey, before joining the BBC as a news trainee.
Clive Davis is a media fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
More about Clive Davis:
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Marjorie Prime at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★★
"Anne Reid and Nancy Carroll are brilliant in a dystopian fantasy" "What Harrison has given us is a thought-provoking miniature…
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Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Sheer theatrical bliss" "Here’s a dream production that dares you to imagine that you’re in the coolest nightspot in the…
The Times
The Great British Bake Off Musical at the Noel Coward Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A fluffy show that’s risen beautifully" "This show has put on a tiny bit of weight since it opened in…
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The Merchant of Venice 1936 at the Watford Palace (2023)
★★★
"Shylock battles the blackshirts of the East End" "The director Brigid Larmour’s adaptation, based on an idea by Tracy-Ann Oberman…
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Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sheridan Smith’s charm conquers all" "Smith turns out to be a perfect fit for the role in the director Matthew…
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Oklahoma! at the Wyndham's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A brutal, controversial revamp with jagged edges" "Daniel Fish’s Tony award-winning production... is just the kind of experiment to set…
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Women, Beware The Devil at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★
"I feel sorry for the cast of this unholy mess" "The plotting is so erratic that I began to wonder…
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Trouble in Butetown at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"Wartime Cardiff comes to life" "For the second time running, the Donmar is offering a defiantly old-fashioned drama with the…
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Medea at the @sohoplace (2023)
★★★★
"Sophie Okonedo’s hellish descent into darkness" "In the end, it’s the auditorium that emerges as the most potent presence of…
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Sylvia at the The Old Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Beverley Knight shines in a stodgy suffragette show" "There are some stirring songs buried in the director Kate Prince’s hip-hop…
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Winner's Curse at the Park Theatre (2023)
★★
"Clive Anderson’s charm can’t save this strange show" "Well, its heart is in the right place, and Clive Anderson certainly…
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The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"A mesmerising epic, perfectly played" "This mesmerising chronicle of an American dynasty sweeps past like one of those gigantic freight…
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Linck & Mülhahn at the Hampstead Theatre (2023)
★★
"Love, trans rights and punk in 18th-century Saxony" "We’re passing through a phase where dramatists addressing the question of gender…
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On The Ropes at the Park Theatre (2023)
★★★
"No knockout punch in this boxing docudrama" "The scenes of his confrontations over his immigration status are harrowing, though, as…
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Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★
"Patricia Hodge shines in a dowdy drawing room drama" "The wonderful Patricia Hodge is just about incapable of giving a…
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The Fir Tree at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★★★
"A witty reboot of Hans Christian Andersen" "... Hannah Khalil’s adaptation doesn’t shy away from all references to death and…
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As You Like It at the @sohoplace (2022)
★★★★
"Cerebral and playful . . . there’s a lot to like" "Josie Rourke’s enchanting production, a shimmering blend of the…
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Mother Goose at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Ian McKellen delivers knockabout fun in a cheerfully chaotic show" "Ian McKellen had no end of fun in this cheerfully…
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Mandela at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★
"Bland musical says little about Mandela" "The great man surely deserved better than this. It’s always going to be a…
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Kerry Jackson at the National Theatre (2022)
★
"Less food for thought, more overcooked cliché" "Ripley gives a performance that’s painfully lacking in subtlety. Everything in Indhu Rubasingham’s…
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Hex at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Jewel box of a fairytale whose contents fail to sparkle" "It looked ravishing, but could I always tell you, hand…
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Orlando at the Garrick Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Nudges, winks and a pack of Woolfs make Orlando bloom" "Think of it, if you like, as the Bloomsbury Group…
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Othello at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A cold-eyed Iago and a menacing chorus dominate this tragedy" "In the end, the cascade of arresting visuals wins you…
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Best of Enemies at the Noel Coward Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"An enthralling political pub brawl" "... James Graham’s pundit wars drama explores the moral and cultural battles of the Sixties…
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Henry V at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2022)
★★★
"A back-to-basics staging" "Here’s a Shakespearean chronicle reduced to basics by a young cast. Squeezed into the confines of the…
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A Sherlock Carol at the Marylebone Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A very merry mashup of Dickens and Doyle" "As a murder mystery, it’s a tad convoluted, admittedly, yet the production…
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The Sex Party at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★★
"Snogging and stereotypes in Terry Johnson’s limp Islington farce" "The first thing to point out is that, this being a…
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Blackout Songs at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Hypnotic performances lift a tale of alcoholic destruction" "A bleak exercise in self-deception, then; yet what gives momentum to Guy…
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A Christmas Carol at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Adrian Edmondson makes an excellent Scrooge" "Adrian Edmondson takes the role of Scrooge this time, and it’s a pleasure to…
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Not One of These People at the Royal Court Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Theatre meets art installation in a play for 299 voices" "In this new work, directed and designed by Christian Lapointe,…
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Fisherman's Friends: The Musical at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★★
"This heart-on-sleeve show is quite a catch" "Crammed with sea shanties, this heart-on-sleeve portrait of the fishing community in Port…
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Mary at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Lots of cut and thrust but we rarely feel real lives are at stake" "Douglas Henshall, star of the TV…
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Elephant at the Bush Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Brief but intense play addressing the intricacies of colour and class" "Lucas has a sharp ear for the vocabulary which…
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Tammy Faye – A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★
"Not much to praise the Lord about in Elton’s show" "She was a larger-than-life figure, yet Tammy Faye Bakker emerges…
The Times
A Single Man at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Isherwood’s tale impresses on stage" "Tom Ford’s film of Christopher Isherwood’s novel added layer after layer of designer gloss to…
The Times
My Son’s A Queer, (But What Can You Do?) at the Garrick Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Charming but slender confessional" " It’s principally in a couple of simple gestures — no more than sudden extended pauses…
The Times
My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Animated whimsy takes to the stage with aplomb" "If you’re an admirer of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli movies, you’re almost…
The Times
The Band's Visit at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★★
"Musical finds gentle harmony in desert tale" "These characters seem to be on the long and winding road to nowhere.…
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The Boy with Two Hearts at the National Theatre (2022)
★★
"Simplistic, clunking agitprop" "If it were a touring production in schools you’d happily cheer it on — after all, it’s…
The Times
Blues For An Alabama Sky at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Good-looking but overlong tale of strivers and hustlers" "Vintage songs and music composed by Benjamin Kwasi Burrell are an integral…
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Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★
"An intense, volcanic performance" "Gary Owen’s monologue forces you to pay this young woman full attention. In the handsome surroundings…
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John Gabriel Borkman at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★
"Simon Russell Beale shines in Ibsen’s leaden melodrama" "It’s a measure of Beale’s charisma that he persuades us to follow…
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Jews. In Their Own Words at the Royal Court (2022)
★★★
"An uneven ‘theatrical inquiry’ into antisemitism" "Drawing on an idea from the actress Tracy-Ann Oberman — an outspoken commentator on…
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The Crucible at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Erin Doherty is a convincingly frenzied ringleader" "Here, the performances all round are more variable, and some of the directorial…
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Eureka Day at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Helen Hunt adds star power to satire of liberal sanctimony" "This is the play that would have helped to keep…
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Cages at the Riverside Studios (2022)
★
"An interminable, flat-footed dystopian musical" "I wonder if someone should be selling hallucinogenic drugs at the door? It’s certainly hard…
The Times
Handbagged at the Kiln Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A flight of fancy in Queen’s encounters with Thatcher" "... if Buffini’s satire is full of mischief and gossip, it…
The Times
The Snail House at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★
"Well-crafted, but there’s a hole at the centre" "There are lots of themes swirling in the air, but do they…
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The Clothes They Stood Up In at the Nottingham Playhouse (2022)
★★★★
"Alan Bennett with delightful barbs" "The humour is delicious, as you would expect, but there’s a streak of raw pain…
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The Clinic at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★
"A laboured essay in identity politics" "A provocative question lies at the heart of Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s latest offering: how much…
The Times
Gabriel Byrne: Walking with Ghosts at the Apollo Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Entertaining tale of booze, burn-out and stardom" "In a monologue based on his unusually fluent autobiography, published two years ago,…
The Times
Antigone at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★
"A nuance-free attempt to match Sophocles with politics" "Inua Ellams’s attempt to marry Sophocles with 21st-century British politics paints a…
The Times
Silence at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"Good as Indian history, less good as drama" "Rose Revitt’s minimalist set, adorned with screens and the occasional item of…
The Times
The Narcissist at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Ambitious, witty but frustratingly uneven" "It’s trying to say too much. Christopher Shinn’s play about a disillusioned, not to say…
The Times
All's Well That Ends Well at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon (2022)
★★★
"Selfies and memes in a high-energy update" "Is it possible to make complete sense of this “problem play” for a…
The Times
Into The Woods at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★
"Terry Gilliam’s ‘cancelled’ Sondheim is sheer spectacle" "The visuals are what linger in the memory. The moment you enter the…
The Times
All of Us at the National Theatre (2022)
★★
"A well-intentioned drama becomes a rant" "Martinez’s anger is palpable throughout, but the piece is so stacked against the evil…
The Times
The Great British Bake Off Musical at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham (2022)
★★★
"The Musical review — a sugar-and-spice recipe with no soggy bottoms" "This celebration of a TV institution may be no…
The Times
Identical at the Nottingham Playhouse (2022)
★★★
"Parent Trap musical has promise, but no spark" "... all its charm, it still looks like a show in need…
The Times
The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2022)
★★★
"A fantastical, and functional, trip to Narnia" "That awful moment when Aslan the lion is put to death is still…
The Times
Sister Act at the Eventim Apollo (2022)
★★★
"Beverley Knight doesn’t quite hit the heavenly heights" "Knight works tremendously hard as the audience cheers her on, but her…
The Times
101 Dalmatians at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Wild woofs of approval" "Kate Fleetwood makes a full-throated villain, and in Timothy Sheader’s jaunty production the political subtext (there’s…
The Times
Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"The National has a comic hit on its hands" "Kerry Howard is superb as her sharp-tongued maid, Lucy, who indulges…
The Times
Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Bruised lovers charm amid simmering Italian chic" "In John Heffernan and Katherine Parkinson, we get a charming pair of slightly…
The Times
Crazy For You at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Be dazzled by this infectious Gershwin musical" "With Susan Stroman, who created the original choreography, at the helm as director,…
The Times
Peaky Blinders: The Rise reviews at the Camden Garrison (2022)
★★★
"Throw yourself into a turf war with Tommy Shelby" "As far as period details go, it’s the effing sardine’s whiskers.…
The Times
Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"No question about it: this remains the best show in town." "If there’s one production I’d prescribe to a person…
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Patriots at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★
"Tom Hollander does turn in a commanding performance" "A play that is an unwieldy combination of docudrama and thriller with…
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The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★★
"A touch of opera gives Deborah Warner’s Shakespeare real magic" "Nicholas Woodeson’s Prospero .. doesn’t hit a false note" "In…
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The Seagull at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★
"Emilia Clarke can’t rescue this airless Chekhov" "Emilia Clarke ...turns in a perfectly fine performance. Indira Varma is even more…
The Times
Richard III reviews - RSC Stratford at the Stratford Upon Avon (2022)
★★★
"The RSC’s first disabled king breaks another barrier" "There are some powerful supporting performances as well, especially from Minnie Gale…
The Times
Mad House at the The Ambassadors Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Bill Pullman and David Harbour excel in a twisty family drama" "The first hour or so delivers an absorbing blend…
The Times
That Is Not Who I Am at the Royal Court Theatre (2022)
★
"A thriller that utterly fails to generate any tension" "The blurb describes the piece as a “slippery thriller”, yet Kirkwood…
The Times
The Southbury Child at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Our thespian prayers answered" "There are some plays that keep you talking well into the night. Stephen Beresford’s study of…
The Times
A Dolls House, Part 2 at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"Sympathies shift in this dark thought experiment" "Nora herself doesn’t emerge as an entirely likeable figure. Having built a new…
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Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Harry Hill’s manic humour demolishes the former PM" "To call Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s portrait of the former prime…
The Times
Britannicus at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★
"Power politics in ancient Rome around the water cooler" "This modern-dress interpretation — dominated by the majestic figure of Agrippina,…
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The Unfriend at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★
"Creaky sitcom jokes make Steven Moffat’s play a trial" "The Unfriend starts promisingly enough as a study in middle-class embarrassment."…
The Times
The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Hollywood star pulls off a touching turnaround" "All praise to Adams .. for taking on a role that has tested…
The Times
Legally Blonde The Musical at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Go with an open mind and you’ll be blown away" "Moss has repackaged the show in a way that brings…
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Passion at the Hope Mill Theatre (2022)
★★★
"a Sondheim revival for completists only" "There’s nothing wrong with Michael Strassen’s gossamer production: Ruthie Henshall does herself justice in…
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Oklahoma! at the Young Vic Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Stirring singing in a reworked classic" "In the final moments, Arthur Darvill’s Curly, decked out in a white suit and…
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Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends at the Sondheim Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"A star-spangled, unforgettable tribute to Stephen Sondheim" "Excuse me if I gush, but this was one of those nights where…
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Macbeth at the Longacre Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Daniel Craig swaps Bond for the Bard" "The director Sam Gold gives us an irrepressibly imaginative modern-dress production that is…
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Funny Girl at the August Wilson Theatre (2022)
★★
"it looks and sounds merely average" "Watching Feldstein trying to get to grips with the larger-than-life personality of the vaudeville…
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The Corn is Green at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Escaping the valleys in a tale of its time that can still seduce" "Nicola Walker impresses as Miss Moffat, a…
The Times
Punchdrunk: The Burnt City at the One Cartridge Place (2022)
★★
"The fall of Troy has never been so neon — or bewildering" "In their new London home — factory buildings…
The Times
Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★
"Anti-woke jokes fall flat in modern Restoration comedy" "Panto season seems to have arrived earlier than usual. Mike Bartlett’s new…
The Times
The 47th at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★
"Echoes of Shakespeare as Trump makes comeback" "It’s an entertaining but uneven pageant held together by a barnstorming performance by…
The Times
To Kill A Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Rafe Spall is stunning in new take on classic" "Hats off to Aaron Sorkin. While the official title may be…
The Times
Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Uneven tale of all-powerful planner fails to reach heights" "Much like Hare’s 1980s press satire, Pravda, Straight Line Crazy is…
The Times
The Human Voice at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★
"Modest monodrama is crying out for a splash of colour" "Ruth Wilson is on stage for all of 70 minutes,…
The Times
Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre (2022)
★★
"Sexual identity study is about as plausible as Bridgerton" "...the central conceit is about as plausible as the average episode…
The Times
Maria Friedman & Friends - Legacy at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★★★★
"Musical theatre’s most insightful star pays homage to the greats" "Now that Barbara Cook is no longer with us it’s…
The Times
The Collaboration at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Day-glo portrait of two pop art titans packs a real punch" "If there are comic moments, the play — soon…
The Times
Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Crackerjack hits coated in several tons of rhinestones" "As a spectacle, Moulin Rouge! has a lot going for it. Derek…
The Times
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) (2021)
★★★★
"Sinister Redmayne and sumptuous set are a seductive combination" "Eddie Redmayne may be the star — and he’s mesmerisingly good…
The Times
Best of Enemies at the The Young Vic (2021)
★★★★★
"James Graham’s captivating drama is raw and timely" "Here come the gladiators. We’re used to seeing partisan talking heads tear…
The Times
The Book of Dust at the Bridge Theatre (2021)
★★★
"Cosmic epichas strings attached" "Neutrals will be scratching their heads over the plot twists but can at least enjoy Samuel…
The Times
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) at the Criterion Theatre (2021)
★★★
"An irreverent but overlong look at Jane Austen" "McArthur’s script, mixing bawdy anachronisms with a sprinkling of karaoke-ish pop songs,…
The Times
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical at the Lyric Theatre (2021)
★★★
"A little off the beat" "... the flaws in this celebration of Jamaica’s greatest musical export may not prove fatal.…
The Times
Back to the Future at the Adelphi Theatre (2021)
★★
"Classic stalls like an old DeLorean" "In the end, though, it’s like sitting in a musty, 40-year-old DeLorean and discovering…
The Times
Frozen The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)
★★★★
"A visual feast to warm even the coldest of hearts" "The first thing to say about Michael Grandage’s elegant production,…
The Times
Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"Fairytale ending for show that must go on" "With a book by Emerald Fennell, who won an Oscar for the…
The Times
Jersey Boys at the Trafalgar Theatre (2021)
★★★
"the storyline wanders but Ben Joyce is a revelation as Frankie Valli" "Better shows have come and gone. This one…
The Times
Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"It’s been a while, but this nanny goes down a storm" "There are plenty of reasons to go for a…
The Times
Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre (2021)
★★★★★
"Bubbly wit and stylish fun: it’s just the ticket" "It’s the musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after…
The Times
Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre (2020)
★★★
"Overlong and clunky, but there was much to admire in the performances" "The old revolving stage has been jettisoned. Instead,…
The Times
Cirque Du Soleil - Luzia at the Royal Albert Hall (2020)
★★★
"Luzia is a typical example of the Canadian franchise that has assumed multiplex movie proportions" "Production values remain grandiose, colourful…
The Times
& Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre (2019)
★★
"Shakespeare on steroids is not for the sober" "This musical inspired by Shakespeare’s tale of star-cross’d lovers is, you see,…
The Times
DEAR EVAN HANSEN at the Noel Coward Theatre (2019)
★★★★
"Witty songs light up tale of teenage trauma" "if the prospect of spending an evening contemplating the perils of peer…
The Times
📷 Main photo: Critics - Clive Davis
