Critics - Natasha Tripney

Natasha Tripney – London Theatre Critic

Selected reviews by Natasha Tripney, International Editor of The Stage

Natasha is International Editor of The Stage, and formerly reviews editor and joint lead critic.

In 2011, she co-founded Exeunt, the online platform for theatre criticism and was its editor until 2016. As a freelance arts journalist, she contributes regularly to the Guardian and has written for the Independent, the BBC, Time Out and Tortoise.

She has a special interest in the arts and culture of the Western Balkans and has written for Lonely Planet, Nachtkritik and Kosovo 2.0.

Her novel was longlisted for the 2021 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize.

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Word-Play at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)

★★★
"Meditative" "Thoughtful, if sometimes frustratingly opaque, play about the impact of the language we use" "Hussain’s play – during the…
The Stage
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For Black Boys Who Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy at the Apollo Theatre (2023)

★★★★★
"Exhilarating and emotionally rich exploration of Black masculinity and mental health" "There’s a moment in Ryan Calais Cameron’s moving choreopoem…
The Stage
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On The Ropes at the Park Theatre (2023)

★★★
"Absorbing and infuriating" "The human cost of the Windrush scandal is explored in an absorbing and infuriating, if sometimes sluggish,…
The Stage
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Antigone at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)

★★★
"A valuable message blunted by heavy-handedness" "This adaptation reflects our current political climate more than any other production on in…
The Evening Standard
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Who Killed My Father at the The Young Vic (2022)

★★★★
"Understated and socially engaged" "Engaging and accusatory monologue delivered by the gently compelling Hans Kesting" "Though the pacing is at…
The Stage
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Sister Act at the Eventim Apollo (2022)

★★★
"Genuinely uplifting" "[Knight] brings vocal heft and requisite presence to the role – though she’s far more engaging when inspiring…
The Stage
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Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre (2022)

★★★
"Strives to be heartfelt but doesn't stick the landing" "Entertaining but relentlessly frothy transposition of Sheridan’s comedy to wartime Britain"…
The Stage
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Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre (2022)

★★★
"Stylish, summery and deliciously designed" "Godwin’s style can sometimes feel aggressively slick, but for all its surface gloss this is…
The Stage
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Much Ado About Nothing at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (2022)

★★★
"Sunshine after a hard winter" "The wartime setting, at times, feels a bit like dressing, primarily an excuse to strew…
The Stage
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Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)

★★★
"None of its blows land strongly" "Stirling best understands how to handle the material, pitching her performance at the right…
The Stage
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The 47th at the The Old Vic (2022)

★★★
"Bertie Carvel is magnificent" "Mike Bartlett’s new blank verse play about the 2024 US presidential election is not always satisfying…
The Stage
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Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre (2022)

★★★
"Frank and funny" "Taron Egerton and Jonathan Bailey star in a stylish, savage but surface-skimming production of Mike Bartlett’s play…
The Stage
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The Collaboration at the The Young Vic (2022)

★★★★
"Humanises artistic icons" "For a play about mould-breakers, it’s structurally and dramatically formulaic, but McCarten has a real knack for…
The Stage
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Magic Goes Wrong at the Vaudeville Theatre (2020)

★★★
"Mischief theatre's entertaining fusion of magic and comedy" "Funny and entertaining, if under-powered, fusion of magic and comedy. Though it…
The Stage
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Cyrano de Bergerac at the Playhouse Theatre (2019)

★★★★
"Words are everything in Jamie Lloyd’s stripped-down and shaken-up Cyrano" “Martin Crimp’s adaptation plays fast and loose with Edmond Rostand’s…
The Stage
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Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2019)

★★★★
"Stylish, intimate and superbly performed" "All three actors are at ease with the rhythms of Pinter's language and at filling…
The Stage
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All About Eve at the Noel Coward Theatre (2019)

★★★
"A stylish but functional production" "Though Van Hove’s adaptation sticks pretty closely to the original, it strips a lot of…
The Stage
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Red at the Wyndham's Theatre (2018)

★★★
"Alfred Molina is superb" “Taut revival of the play about Mark Rothko that highlights its limitations as well as its…
The Stage
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An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre (2018)

★★
Jonathan Church’s An Ideal Husband feels like it’s going through the motion. It’s capably played for the most part but…
The Stage
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The Girl On The Train  (2018)

★★
"Lacking in tension" "If you were coming to the production with little knowledge of the source material, you’d struggle to…
The Stage
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