Selected reviews by Sarah Hemming, theatre critic for the Financial Times.
Previous roles include theatre editor of The Independent for five years, and was founding joint-editor of The List magazine in Scotland.
Sarah has also written about theatre for most of the UK’s national broadsheet newspapers and wrote the official National Theatre Guide. She has also appeared on BBC Radio 4, and presents platform talks and discussions with artists, including the National Theatre’s Platforms series.
Sarah teaches drama criticism at the British American Drama Academy.
More about Sarah Hemming:
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Pygmalion at the The Old Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Shaw’s drama is still relevant but the staging is problematic" "The pipes and moustaches of Bernard Shaw’s Edwardian England may…
The Financial Times
The Little Big Things at the @sohoplace Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Based on Henry Fraser’s best-selling memoir, this is a true story, transformed by Nick Butcher (music and lyrics), Tom Ling…
The Financial Times
Red Pitch at the Bush Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Red Pitch is a model of brilliant new writing" "... Williams draws a funny, affectionate and tender portrait of young…
The Financial Times
Cuckoo at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Cuckoo brings the kitchen sink drama into the age of mobile phones" "Michael Wynne’s new play, Cuckoo, mischievously evokes domestic…
The Financial Times
Dr Semmelweis at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"The flashback structure can feel unwieldy, but Morris skilfully pulls against that, finding the moments of comedy while drawing you…
The Financial Times
Beneatha’s Place at the The Young Vic (2023)
★★★
"Like Hansberry, Kwei-Armah keeps the action in a domestic setting, raising questions about home, belonging and power. " "It’s a…
The Financial Times
Crazy For You at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Five stars for Crazy for You — a daft, dizzying musical that revels in the joy of theatre" "... at…
The Financial Times
Song From Far Away at the Hampstead Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Gentle, truthful, immensely touching" (Hampstead Theatre) "In this compassionate, subtly composed monologue, we meet Willem (Will Young), another man suspended…
The Financial Times
A Playlist For The Revolution at the Bush Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Huge political themes roll through A Playlist for the Revolution too, another new play with a tight personal focus and…
The Financial Times
A Strange Loop at the Barbican Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A Strange Loop is a dazzlingly clever multi-layered musical" "A Strange Loop, which takes its title in part from a…
The Financial Times
Mrs Doubtfire The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Another eccentric 1993 movie also finds musical voice in the shape of Mrs Doubtfire, adapted by John O’Farrell and Wayne…
The Financial Times
The Pillowman at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Making Katurian a woman in Matthew Dunster’s production subtly changes the dynamic. Allen is the only female character in a…
The Financial Times
Dear England at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"James Graham scores a winner with exhilarating football play" "James Graham’s epic new play" "This glorious, generous, rollercoaster of a…
The Financial Times
The Third Man - A Musical Thriller at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★
"We hear a snippet of Anton Karas’s Harry Lime theme just once in Trevor Nunn’s new staging of the seminal…
The Financial Times
Frank and Percy at the Theatre Royal Windsor (2023)
★★★
"There’s plenty of comedy here... But there’s also a delicate exploration of the challenge of risking your heart in later…
The Financial Times
Romeo and Juliet at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Frecknall’s staging, driven by dance, seethes with the restless energy of youth. It’s the friction between vitality and the ever-present…
The Financial Times
42nd Street at the Sadler's Wells Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Joyous 42nd Street rides a wave of dazzling hoofing" "... Jonathan Church’s joyous production makes sure you barely care. This…
The Financial Times
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Shakespeare's Globe (2023)
★★★
"The shadows have become deeper and the questions more piercing in Elle While’s staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Again,…
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The Comedy of Errors at the Shakespeare's Globe (2023)
★★★★
"Daft farce haunted by shadows" "The Globe takes on a nautical flair for Sean Holmes’s highly enjoyable staging of The…
The Financial Times
Brokeback Mountain at the Soho Place Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Ashley Robinson’s intimate adaptation of Brokeback Mountain" "... it was a short story by Annie Proulx. It’s that story that…
The Financial Times
Once On This Island at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Once On This Island... gets an exuberant, witty staging at the hands of talented director Ola Ince and her wonderful…
The Financial Times
August in England at the Bush Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Lenny Henry shines in the wonderful, shocking Windrush drama August in England" "Henry, delivering his script with the twin weapons…
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The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Richard Burton and John Gielgud’s dramatic encounter brilliantly portrayed in The Motive and the Cue" "There are fireworks and fights…
The Financial Times
Retrograde at the Kiln Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sidney Poitier is embroiled in blacklisting and betrayal in Retrograde" "The dramatist, who wrote the beautiful, poetic For Black Boys...,…
The Financial Times
Ain't Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations at the Prince Edward Theatre (2023)
★★★
"The Temptations are the latest pop legends to get the jukebox treatment in Ain’t Too Proud, a show bubbling with…
The Financial Times
The Secret Life of Bees at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Whitney White’s eloquent staging, often bathed in honey-coloured light by Neil Austin, is marked by radiant performances — particularly from…
The Financial Times
Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A beautiful new staging of Brian Friel’s play at the National Theatre" "The National Theatre’s beautiful new staging of Dancing…
The Financial Times
A Little Life at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Harrowing performance in a troubling drama" "There’s been a lot of talk about Norton’s onstage nudity, but it’s his naked…
The Financial Times
Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Lyric Hammersmith (2023)
★★★★
"Fury-edged comedy" "Tom Basden’s riotous new version brings the satire right up to date and could not be more topical:…
The Financial Times
For Black Boys Who Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy at the Apollo Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Ryan Calais Cameron’s beautiful meditation on black masculinity" "It takes the rough guise of a support meeting, with six black…
The Financial Times
Further than the Furthest Thing at the Young Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A volcanic contemporary classic" "... this elusive and intriguing piece quickly acquired the status of contemporary classic and it arrives…
The Financial Times
Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Five stars for a high-energy, finger-snapping Guys & Dolls" "... Nicholas Hytner’s sensational revival of Guys & Dolls. This is…
The Financial Times
The Merchant of Venice 1936 at the Watford Palace (2023)
★★★★
"Shakespeare confronted and reassessed in The Merchant of Venice 1936" "... it’s sometimes in the new plays and the most…
The Financial Times
Romeo and Julie at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A radical, funny modern tragedy at the National Theatre" "Owen sets the story of two teenage lovers in contemporary Cardiff,…
The Financial Times
Standing at the Sky's Edge at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Five stars for Standing at the Sky’s Edge, an exhilarating, big-hearted musical" "... Chris Bush’s Standing at the Sky’s Edge…
The Financial Times
Phaedra at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"This is Phaedra in a blistering new version of Seneca’s tragedy by writer and director Simon Stone." "This world of…
The Financial Times
The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sam Mendes’s magnificent 2018 staging of The Lehman Trilogy returns to London’s West End with a terrific new cast as…
The Financial Times
Linck & Mülhahn at the Hampstead Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A true story of gender noncomforming makes rich, playful drama" "... Thomas has crafted a drama that’s rich and witty…
The Financial Times
2:22 A Ghost Story at the Lyric Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Now it is former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl’s turn to get spooked. She does a good job: she’s convincingly scared…
The Financial Times
The Unfriend at the Criterion Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Social awkwardness is a staple of British comedy and there is much about The Unfriend that is very amusing, although…
The Financial Times
Alex Edelman: Just for Us at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★★★
"... as a Jewish New York comedian, he once spent an evening at a meeting of white supremacists. The specifics…
The Financial Times
George Takei's Allegiance at the Charing Cross Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A gripping musical about Japanese internment — review" "It is a joy to see the Star Trek icon George Takei…
The Financial Times
A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Paul Mescal is brilliantly brutal in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre" "Led by three outstanding performances —…
The Financial Times
Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★★
"This 1941 drama might feel creakily of its period in places, but the frustration that drives it comes spilling off…
The Financial Times
As You Like It at the @sohoplace (2022)
★★★★
"Wintry enchantment with besotted lovers" "... a gorgeous staging of As You Like It at the Soho Place theatre" "Josie…
The Financial Times
Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre (2022)
★★★
"It is, unsurprisingly, the songs that drive the story, many of which are gorgeous." "This is not a version that…
The Financial Times
Mother Goose at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Irresistible" "Harvey’s script is wreathed with the obligatory double-entendres and political jokes" "At the centre of it all is the…
The Financial Times
Mandela at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★
"Mandela at the Young Vic has exhilarating choreography but insufficient depth" "... it’s a musical with huge political import and…
The Financial Times
Disney's Newsies at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Paperboy walkout makes for a striking musical in Newsies " "... its depiction of what is essentially an exploitative gig…
The Financial Times
Hex at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Complicated and macabre fairytale ‘Hex’ at the Olivier" "Fairy tales are often macabre, testing out our deepest fears, and this…
The Financial Times
Orlando at the Garrick Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Emma Corrin is luminous in gender-switching fantasy Orlando" "Bartlett’s affectionate, witty stage adaptation of Woolf’s groundbreaking 1928 novel is in…
The Financial Times
Othello at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A searing staging of ‘Othello’ at the Lyttelton" "Giles Terera’s Othello is the only black actor in a white cast,…
The Financial Times
Best of Enemies at the Noel Coward Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Five stars for Best of Enemies, a scintillating, perfectly-timed play" "James Graham’s show is a hit" "James Graham’s brilliant play…
The Financial Times
Henry V at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2022)
★★★★
"More national soul-searching is on the agenda for Holly Race Roughan’s intense, stripped-down version of Henry V. Productions of Shakespeare’s…
The Financial Times
The Sex Party at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★★
"‘The Sex Party’ disappoints" "A sex party, it turns out, is just like any other party in that no matter…
The Financial Times
Blackout Songs at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Witty and toxic show at Hampstead Theatre" "... this drama about addiction is witty, warm and unpredictable, combining classic romcom…
The Financial Times
Elephant at the Bush Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"This clever, subtle piece draws on Lucas’s own experience as a young female musician of mixed heritage: endlessly told to…
The Financial Times
Tammy Faye – A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Elton John’s delirious glitz-bomb of a musical" "With book by James Graham and lyrics from Jake Shears, the show about…
The Financial Times
A Single Man at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Reade’s adaptation, directed by Philip Wilson, skilfully catches the strange dislocation of grief" "Fraser Steele’s excellent, angular, awkward performance precisely…
The Financial Times
@sohoplace at the @sohoplace (2022)
"Risk pays off as new West End theatre opens" "[Marvellous] is a perfect fit for @sohoplace’s softly lit auditorium, an…
The Financial Times
Marvellous at the @sohoplace (2022)
★★★★
"Risk pays off as new West End theatre opens" "To name a play Marvellous might seem like a risk. To…
The Financial Times
My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Magical staging of a much-loved film at the Barbican" "The stage responds with its number-one asset: the audience’s imagination. The…
The Financial Times
Good at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"David Tennant grips in 1930s-set ethical drama Good" "'We probably are good,' says David Tennant’s Halder, meditatively, towards the end…
The Financial Times
The Doctor at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Easy answers come under scrutiny again in Robert Icke’s The Doctor. The pandemic delayed its transfer to the West End…
The Financial Times
The Band's Visit at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"“Welcome to nowhere,” sing the locals, as they warn their unexpected visitors that this is a place where nothing happens.…
The Financial Times
The Boy with Two Hearts at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Amit Sharma’s production has a fable-like quality, with the cast of five narrating the tale and acting out all the…
The Financial Times
Blues For An Alabama Sky at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A wonderful, bittersweet staging at the National Theatre" "The skill of Cleage’s writing and of Linton’s warm, beautifully paced production…
The Financial Times
Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★
"This revival arrives amid a political storm about possible cuts in public spending by Liz Truss’s government. That the play…
The Financial Times
John Gabriel Borkman at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★★
"This is kind of distilled Ibsen: a combination of bitter black humour, detailed psychological acuity and wild symbolism. Rather than…
The Financial Times
The Crucible at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A curtain of rain teems down around three sides of the stage, creating a shimmering blue veil between the residents…
The Financial Times
Eureka Day at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★
"Culture wars go ballistic in Eureka Day at the Old Vic" "With Eureka Day, Spector is wading into the hornets’…
The Financial Times
Handbagged at the Kiln Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Comedy about the Queen and Thatcher has new layer of poignancy" "Some plays have topicality thrust upon them." "... while…
The Financial Times
The Snail House at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★
"Richard Eyre’s debut falls flat" "As a bruising summary of the many problems besetting current Britain and of polarised public…
The Financial Times
The Clinic at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Racism tears apart a family in ‘The Clinic’" "You’re expecting a drama about racial inequalities in healthcare — and we…
The Financial Times
Antigone at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★
" Love fights the law" "The script bristles with topical references and running through it is a plea for nuance…
The Financial Times
Silence at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★
"A powerful play about partition" "As testimony, it is a moving and immensely powerful piece of theatre. As drama, however,…
The Financial Times
Who Killed My Father at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Grief and poverty furiously warp a father-son relationship" "... it’s a one-man show. But in Hans Kesting’s superb performance, there…
The Financial Times
I, Joan at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★★
"This is clearly not the definitive Joan — it is a Joan: a dramatic character, a version, an exploration. It’s…
The Financial Times
The Narcissist at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★
"It’s that splintered and toxic public arena that Shinn seeks to portray, and this gripping, if fitful, play is at…
The Financial Times
All of Us at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"All of Us is a state-of-the-nation play: a frank, often funny, often shocking drama about what it is to be…
The Financial Times
The Tempest at the Shakespeare's Glob (2022)
★★★
"The Tempest at the Globe is gaudy, playful and smart" "This is a vibrant production and the ensemble achieve great…
The Financial Times
Chasing Hares at the Young Vic (2022)
★★★
"Sonali Bhattacharyya’s new play asks searching questions about the gig economy, workers’ rights and the effectiveness of theatre in addressing…
The Financial Times
Sister Act at the Eventim Apollo (2022)
★★★
"At the helm now is Beverley Knight as Deloris and what a fabulous job she does, blasting the heavens with…
The Financial Times
101 Dalmatians at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★
"It doesn’t match up to some of this venue’s outstanding musical revivals, but this big-hearted family show is as benign…
The Financial Times
Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A bittersweet summer cocktail with some peachy parts and laugh-out-loud slapstick scenes." "Godwin’s production is sweet, sparky, sexy, sombre and,…
The Financial Times
Crazy For You at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Deliriously daft musical is revived in Chichester" "This deliriously daft George and Ira Gershwin musical is just the latest gem…
The Financial Times
Patriots at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Putin and Berezovsky play chilling power games in Patriots at the Almeida Theatre" "Tom Hollander and Will Keen excel in…
The Financial Times
Richard III reviews - RSC Stratford at the Stratford Upon Avon (2022)
★★★★
"The RSC’s Richard III is a powerful portrait of savagery" "The production features a magnetic central performance from Arthur Hughes."
The Financial Times
Jitney at the Old Vic Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Theatre review — a superbly acted revival of August Wilson’s Jitney at the Old Vic"
The Financial Times
Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera) — a premier painted in broad strokes" "his lively show at the Park Theatre,…
The Financial Times
The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York's Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Amy Adams stars in a sensitive staging of The Glass Menagerie" "This is a staging that eschews melodrama — but…
The Financial Times
The House of Shades at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Anne-Marie Duff is magnificent" "Steel’s play pulses with care and fury for the people left behind by global economic shifts…
The Financial Times
Oklahoma! at the Young Vic Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Oklahoma! is stunningly reimagined at the Young Vic — plus more London theatre reviews" "Ending with a rousing, determined delivery…
The Financial Times
Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Mark Rylance’s Rooster makes a stunning return in Jerusalem" "Jez Butterworth’s drama is exhilarating, dazzling and darker than ever in…
The Financial Times
Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Jodie Comer is a tour de force in Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre"
The Financial Times
Punchdrunk: The Burnt City at the One Cartridge Place (2022)
★★★★
"Punchdrunk’s The Burnt City is a stunning immersion in the fall of Troy" "... at the core is a moving…
The Financial Times
Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★
"Restoration comedy romps into the 21st century in Scandaltown" "Leading the fray is Stirling, who is a joy as Lady…
The Financial Times
The 47th at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Bertie Carvel is a jaw-droppingly good Donald Trump in The 47th at the Old Vic" "Mike Bartlett’s bold new drama…
The Financial Times
To Kill A Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"To Kill a Mockingbird — stirring drama celebrates and scrutinises Harper Lee’s novel" "It’s in his exchanges with Calpurnia that…
The Financial Times
The Human Voice at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Ruth Wilson shines in a beautiful, flawed revival of The Human Voice" "You start to long for a script that…
The Financial Times
Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Moulin Rouge! — jukebox musical is thin on plot but rich in spectacle" "Peppered with good performances (Pennycooke’s Toulouse-Lautrec particularly…
The Financial Times
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) (2021)
★★★★★
"Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley thrill and chill in sensational Cabaret" "Finally, the party gives way to the Party and…
The Financial Times
Best of Enemies at the The Young Vic (2021)
★★★★★
"Best of Enemies — James Graham’s gripping culture-war drama" "It dramatises the 1968 televised debates between William F Buckley Jr…
The Financial Times
The Ocean at the End of the Lane at the Duke of York's Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"The Ocean at the End of the Lane — love, loss and monsters at the Duke of York’s" "The stage…
The Financial Times
Frozen The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)
★★★★
"Frozen stage musical combines icy spectacle with human warmth" "Drawbacks aside, this is a joyously delivered story of the transformative…
The Financial Times
Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella is a gorgeous glitterball of a show" "The songs are memorable and writer Emerald Fennell brings…
The Financial Times
Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre (2021)
★★★★★
"Anything Goes offers the delirious delight of a musical in full sail" "Kathleen Marshall’s production of Cole Porter’s effervescent 1934…
The Financial Times
Vassa at the Almeida Theatre (2019)
★★
"It somehow falls flat" "Everyone is so grotesque and larger-than-life right from the beginning that it grows wearisome." "There are…
The Financial Times
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg at the Trafalgar Theatre (2019)
"Startling in its frankness" "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg...is still, in Simon Evans’ revival, startling in its…
The Financial Times
Solaris at the Lyric Hammersmith (2019)
★★★★
"David Greig’s fascinating, funny and moving stage version of Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 sci-fi novel" “Starts slowly, gathers in intensity as…
The Financial Times
Fiddler On The Roof at the Meniere Chocolate Factory (2018)
★★★★
"Trevor Nunn’s production bursts from the stage — but there’s a chill wind blowing, too" ‘Yes, there is whimsy here…
The Financial Times
Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre (2017)
★★★★★
"A playful and dazzling work of art" "Lin-Manuel Miranda’s exhilarating musical holds a mirror up to the world of the…
The Financial Times
📷 Main photo: Critics - Sarah Hemming
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