Selected reviews by Neil Norman, a freelance arts critic and journalist including work for the Daily Express and The Stage.
Neil Norman is a dance, theatre and film critic, journalist and broadcaster. He writes for the Daily Express, The Stage, and has written for publications including the Evening Standard and The Independent.
He is also a playwright, short story writer and novelist.
More about Neil Norman:
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Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sheridan Smith blossoms before our eyes" "Sheridan Smith and Shirley Valentine go together like egg and chips. Just as well,…
Daily Express
Medea at the @sohoplace (2023)
★★★★
"This is hardcore theatre that takes no prisoners" "Following last week's Phaedra, another Greek heroine storms the stage in the…
Daily Express
Standing at the Sky's Edge at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A joyful, gritty show with fire in its heart" "A musical set on a Sheffield housing estate may not be…
Daily Express
Phaedra at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"An amphetamine-fuelled sex farce that turns into tragedy" "The abrupt descent into emotional darkness is convincing largely due to the…
Daily Express
Linck & Mülhahn at the Hampstead Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Ruby Thomas’s play is a rapier-sharp historical romp" "Based on real events and characters, Ruby Thomas’s play is a rapier-sharp…
Daily Express
Alex Edelman: Just for Us at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★★★★
"I had to check my ribcage for intercostal damage" "The tradition of Jewish stand-up comedians stretches back to Vaudeville and…
Daily Express
George Takei's Allegiance at the Charing Cross Theatre (2023)
★★★
"The suffering of Japanese Americans after WWII" "The dreadful treatment of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor is…
Daily Express
A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A classic tale of dreams undone" "Tennessee Williams' play about the lonely and fearful Blanche (Patsy Ferran) who arrives in…
Daily Express
Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★★
"A must-see comedy-drama that turns into something more sinister" "Lillian Hellman's 1941 play was intended as a wake-up call to…
Daily Express
Blackout Songs at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
"An intoxicating journey into addiction" "Joe White's scorching new play deals with alcohol addiction" "It is also incredibly funny, until…
Daily Express
From Here To Eternity at the Charing Cross Theatre (2022)
"A damn fine bit of kit" "Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson's musical received a lukewarm reception on its London premiere…
Daily Express
Mary at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★
"A 'lack of drama' and a 'swamp of tedium'" "Scottish playwright Rona Munro won several awards for her trilogy of…
Daily Express
Tammy Faye – A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Rupert Goold’s production delivers on many fronts" "Music by Elton John, lyrics by Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and book by…
Daily Express
A Single Man at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Simon Reade’s adaptation is more humane and less alienating" "Christopher Isherwood's autobiographical novel about a gay Englishman in Los Angeles…
Daily Express
My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"The East meets the West in a remarkable staging of a classic" "East meets West in this inventive staging of…
Daily Express
Good at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Not quite good enough to pierce the heart" "David Tennant represents the 'good' in CP Taylor's remarkable 1981 play." "...…
Daily Express
Blues For An Alabama Sky at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Slightly rambling and played by a winning ensemble" "Set in Harlem in 1930, Pearl Cleage's play is a sprightly if…
Daily Express
John Gabriel Borkman at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Ibsen’s bleakly comic drama has it all" "A banker is imprisoned for embezzlement after gambling with his clients' money to…
Daily Express
The Crucible at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Lyndsey Turner’s low-key approach lacks dramatic momentum" "Arthur Miller's play about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 has…
Daily Express
Rose at the Park Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Clever, entertaining, informative and enlightening" "Another week, another one-person show. Martin Sherman's play about the life of a Jewish woman…
Daily Express
Who Killed My Father at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★★
"Hans Kesting excels in one-man show" "The title is not a question but a statement. Based on Edouard Louis' 2018…
Daily Express
I, Joan at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★★
"Non-binary actor Isobel Thom makes theatre history" "The Globe has made history by casting a trans actor in a lead…
Daily Express
Ride - A New Musical at the Charing Cross Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Get on your bike and go!" "In 1894, Bostonian Annie Londonderry became the first woman to cycle around the world."…
Daily Express
Into The Woods at the Theatre Royal Bath (2022)
★★★★
"A perfect 'combination of innocence and malevolence'" "Following the jiggery-wokery that cancelled this production at The Old Vic, Bath's Theatre…
Daily Express
All of Us at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Immaculate comic timing' but lacks 'under the weight of its ambition" "It wrongfoots us from the start. Cerebral palsy sufferer…
Daily Express
South Pacific at the Sadler's Wells (2022)
★★★★★
"An inventive and exhilarating thing of wonder" "CHICHESTER Theatre's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's classic musical is a thing of…
Daily Express
The Great British Bake Off Musical at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham (2022)
★★★★
"A sweet treat" "Great British Bake Off: The Musical is exactly what it says on the packet — a tried-and-tested…
Daily Express
The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"All aboard for a bewitching return to Narnia" "There is a distinct echo of Harry Potter at the start of…
Daily Express
Chasing Hares at the Young Vic (2022)
★★★
"A family-inspired play with 'terrific performances'" "Sonali Bhattacharyya's family-inspired play illuminates the terrible plight of factory workers in West Bengal…
Daily Express
101 Dalmatians at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2022)
★★★
"A long way from Disney's version" "This musical version of Dodie Smith's book finds its paws in the appropriate setting…
Daily Express
Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Humorous with unerring accuracy" "Aiming for a target whose coordinates lie somewhere between farce, panto and social satire, Richard Bean's…
Daily Express
The Car Man at the Royal Albert Hall (2022)
★★★★
"Powerful, super-heated sleaze" "Welcome return for Matthew Bourne’s epic ballet noir" "Matthew Bourne’s talent as a choreographic storyteller is unassailable.…
The Stage
Oklahoma! at the Young Vic Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"We’re only sayin’ You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!" "Trailing a Tony Award from Broadway, Daniel Fish's version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's…
Daily Express
Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A story about the man who created modern New York" "Ralph Fiennes seems to alter his entire physique to play…
Daily Express
Cirque Du Soleil - Luzia at the Royal Albert Hall (2020)
★★★★
"Luzia is fresh and invigorating"" "The corporate soullessness that has anaesthetised many productions has been replaced by something approaching joy."…
The Stage
📷 Main photo: Critics - Neil Norman
