Selected reviews by Claire Allfree, a journalist and arts critic for the Telegraph, the Daily Mail and more.
Claire Allfree is an arts journalist for the Telegraph, and writes for publications including the Daily Mail, The Independent, Metro, MSN UK and The Times.
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Telegraph Bio & Articles | MuckRack
Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play at the Young Vic theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A terrifically spiky send-up of Asian stereotypes" (Royal Exchange Manchester) "Premiering at the Manchester International Festival, this bracing debut is…
The Telegraph
Rebecca at the Charing Cross Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Daphne du Maurier collides with Phantom of the Opera" "This musical take on the great thriller tries hard but neither…
The Telegraph
A Mirror at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"The more you stare at it, the less there is to see" "Jonny Lee Miller is on fine form in…
The Telegraph
The Effect at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A fiery play that explores and questions 'lab-made' love" "Jamie Lloyd's production forms a kaleidoscope of questions for audiences as…
The Telegraph
The Empress at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (2023)
★★★
"A splendid Queen Victoria – but history is messier than this" "Tanika Gupta’s tale of British-Indian relations during Empire is…
The Telegraph
A Strange Loop at the Barbican Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A knotty, knowing meta-musical for our times" "Now at the Barbican, Michael R Jackson’s Pulitzer and Tony winner is a…
The Telegraph
The Pillowman at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Lily Allen all at sea in dull revival" "Matthew Dunster's production of Martin McDonagh’s playfully nasty tale is suitably sinister…
The Telegraph
42nd Street at the Sadler's Wells Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Wildly outdated, but utterly fabulous" "If you want to feel the beat of the dancing feet, this production at Sadler's…
The Telegraph
Romeo and Julie at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A casual but gut-punching reworking of Shakespeare’s star-cross’d romance" "Swapping Verona for a bedsit with a pram, Welsh playwright Gary…
The Telegraph
Standing at the Sky's Edge at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Shining a spotlight on Sheffield's brutalist Park Hill estate" "This musical, now playing at the National, has an intriguing concept…
The Telegraph
Linck & Mülhahn at the Hampstead Theatre (2023)
★★★
"The extraordinary story of an 18th-century woman charged with sodom" "Linck and and Mulhahn, an intriguing new play at the…
The Telegraph
Sound of the Underground at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A bit of a mess, but not a drag" "Coherent arguments are not the strong point of this celebration of…
The Telegraph
On The Ropes at the Park Theatre (2023)
★★★
"This tale of a Windrush boxer isn’t light enough on its feet" "Vernon Vanriel’s stirring story of injustice ought to…
The Telegraph
Jack and the Beanstalk at the London Palladium (2022)
★★
"This limp Jack and the Beanstalk proves the Palladium panto formula has grown stale" "Even Julian Clary's smut has been…
The Telegraph
Paradise Now! at the Bush Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"This clever satire of modern feminism might well be the best new play of the year" "Bush Theatre’s excellent show…
The Telegraph
Kerry Jackson at the National Theatre (2022)
★★
"Not even Fay Ripley can save this bafflingly lame comedy about class in modern Britain" "Playwright April De Angelis wants…
The Telegraph
Hex at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A captivating mix of magical and macabre" "Norris's production seems equally determined at all costs to entertain: the set pieces…
The Telegraph
Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★
"A zesty mix of giants, Titanic and Greggs sausage rolls" "The Lyric Hammersmith’s panto is a slick, gag-rich affair, heavy…
The Telegraph
Henry V at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2022)
★★★★
"Henry V thrillingly retooled as a Macbeth-style psychodrama" "Holly Race Roughan’s production is fast and slick, digging deep beneath the…
The Telegraph
From Here To Eternity at the Charing Cross Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Tim Rice’s musical sidesteps the famous surf frolic but delivers on the song’n’dance" "This reworking of James Jones’s novel skims…
The Telegraph
The Band's Visit at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★★★★
"The Band’s Visit is a magical, bijou musical to send the soul soaring" "Even without any big numbers, this tale…
The Telegraph
Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★
"Euripides goes to credit crunch Cardiff in this down and dirty ‘skank’ monologue" "It hit the stage with the force…
The Telegraph
Noises Off at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★★
"Felicity Kendal heads a cracking cast in this classy, hilarious revival" "Whether or not we strictly need another production of…
The Telegraph
Jews. In Their Own Words at the Royal Court (2022)
★★★
"A Leftie mea culpa that leaves a lot to be desired" "Following an anti-Semitism row, the Royal Court has given…
The Telegraph
The Clinic at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Social and domestic drama that’s sometimes brilliant, sometimes baffling" "This new play about a middle-class British Nigerian family has a…
The Telegraph
Silence at the Donmar Warehouse (2022)
★★
"This Partition drama is gruelling for the wrong reasons" "The testimonies from British South Asians are harrowing, but the specifics…
The Telegraph
I, Joan at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★
"Too little at stake for this 21st-century Joan of Arc" "The idea of Joan as trans is a fertile subject…
The Telegraph
Cruise at the Apollo Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A hymn to the illicit pleasures and dangers of 1980s Soho" "Jack Holden’s one-man play is a mixture of eulogy…
The Telegraph
101 Dalmatians at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A bit of a dog’s dinner, but a very tasty one too" "This long delayed musical version of the Dodie…
The Telegraph
Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"An incandescent revival" "Ellis is still a seductive presence – a sassy, wise-cracking temptress who finds the wistful subtext in…
The Telegraph
Jitney at the Old Vic Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Jitney is precisely the sort of project that could save Britain’s theatres" "This is a tremendous staging of August Wilson's…
The Telegraph
The House of Shades at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A disturbing drama" "This is a highly satisfying, old-fashioned play that serves the audience with a rich mix of the…
The Telegraph
Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Time hasn’t ravaged Mark Rylance’s triumphant return" "Butterworth’s disenchanted characters, with their irrepressible surreal comic irreverence, are not heroes, because…
Metro
Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★
"Jodie Comer makes blistering West End debut in repetitive drama" "Killing Eve star Jodie Comer makes a blistering West End…
Metro
Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★
"Mike Bartlett's modern-day Restoration comedy, feels like champagne gone flat" "It's a good premise: a boisterous satire on the lazy…
The Telegraph
The Human Voice at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★
"Ruth Wilson deserves better than this voyeuristic portrait of a woman on the verge" "The 'Affair' star tries hard, but…
The Telegraph
Bring It On: The Musical at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (2021)
★★★
"This Lin-Manuel Miranda musical doesn't dazzle like Hamilton, but the routines are great" "If you can forgive the superficial politics,…
The Telegraph
The Ocean at the End of the Lane at the Duke of York's Theatre (2021)
★★★★
"Neil Gaiman’s monsters will leave you cowering" "Shapeshifting creatures take centre stage in Katy Rudd’s production that terrifyingly evokes childhood…
The Guardian
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg at the Trafalgar Theatre (2019)
★★★★
"Both savage and compassionate" "Simon Evans's super-starry production, featuring Toby Stephens, Claire Skinner and Patricia Hodge, is both worthy tribute…
The Telegraph
Hole at the Royal Court Theatre (2018)
★★
‘I wish I liked Hole more than I did’ ‘Kendrick’s script not only has the choric feel of ancient Greek…
The Telegraph
Billionaire Boy at the NST City, Southampton (2018)
★★★★
"A hugely enjoyable take on David Walliams's so-so novella" “I could have done without shopkeeper Raj’s End of Pier stand-up…
The Telegraph
📷 Main photo: Critics - Claire Allfree
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